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Triangular Forum and Theaters (9) The
Triangular
Forum derives
its name from its geometric shape.
It is located on the
volcanic ridge overlooking
on its
south the Pompeian
countryside. The entrance was from Via dei
Teatri, where a
vestibule with six Ionic columns formed its monumental façade.
It was built in the second century B.C. like
the civil
Forum. The inner colonnade
has 95 Doric columns and
surrounds the area of an archaic Doric
temple with limestone columns.
The temple
was first
consecrated to Hercules
alone and then also to Minerva.
It
collapsed, probably in the II century B.C., because of the corrosion of
the southern slant of Pompeii. The ruins of the temple and the sacred
source - to which an "heroon"
was also added subsequently in sillana period, - were encircled in
sannitic period with a tufa portico, that was used for sporting and
recreational activities. In
the III century B.C. it was built, close to the Triangular
Forum, in the hollow of the slant, a first Greek
theatre and, in sillana period, another one that was covered.
The Big Theatre was completely
reconstructed in the II century B.C. in tufa style. On the side of this
theatre there was a big tufa portico
that served as a “foyer”
for the spectators. After
62 A.D. earthquake, the theatre's "peristilio"
was transformed in a school of gladiators,
with a field for exercises. In sannitic age there were also a gymnasium,
a "sacello" to Isis
and a small Temple to Zeus. After
62 A.D. the gymnasium was reduced to advantage the reconstruction of
the Temple to Isis.
House of the Cryptoportico (10) This house takes its name from a luxurious covered corridor ("cryptoporticus"). During the last period of the city it was used as a depot. That's why about sixty wine amphoras were found here. The elegant three-winged underground passage was created to permit a walk even in case of severe weather conditions. The owner had a copy of a picture gallery painted on the walls. The decoration shows a labyrinth on the skirting board and a wall with large red slabs ("orthostats") separated by herms. The upper part shows scenes from the Trojan war, from the "Plague in the Achaean field" to the "Funeral games in honor of Patroclus". At the end of the corridor the visitor found at the center of the back wall a representation of the escape of Aeneas from Troy with his father Anchises and his little son Julus. This scene constitutes the link between the Greek myth and the history of Rome: it was after the fall of Troy and the escape of Aeneas towards the coasts of Latium that his son Julus founded Alba Longa, from where Rome rose. This story represents the main theme in Virgil's Aeneid too. Among the several casts found in the garden of this house there is one of a mother protecting her little daughter and another of a slave with fetters at his ankle.
House of Menander (11) This house, like the House of
the Cupids, belonged to
Quintus Poppćus. His family, the Poppći,
were very influential and were relatives of the Empress
Poppća Sabina.
In the
right corner there is a lararium
(domestic oratory)
in the shape of a little
temple. A hall decorated with paintings of the
Iliadic cycle opens on
the atrium: "Ulysses tearing Cassandra
away from the Palladium" (but it is Ajax in the Homeric
version), "Cassandra",
"The Trojan
Horse" and
"Laocöon". The
garden ("peristilium")
is closed by a parapet decorated with herons. On the northern
side there is a room ("oecus")
with a
green background and on top a frieze portraying the rape of the Lapiths
women by the centaurs. At the
center of the floor there is a small mosaic portraying pygmies
on the Nile. At the
bottom of
the garden there is a library,
a private votive
chapel
and a rectangular exedra
framed by two other
exedras with apse. In the central exedra there is a painting of
two sitting poets: the
one reciting is Menander,
while the other one is probably Euripides.
The exedras with apse are decorated with "Artemis"
and "Aphrodite". The
private votive
chapel contains a
domestic oratory made
of masonry;
there we can see two casts of
the wooden portraits of the ancestors ("imagines
maiorum"). The reception rooms are on the
eastern side of
the garden. At the center there is
a huge hall ("oecus
triclinare"). The adjacent
room exhibits
the skeletons
of the peasants who died
in the
attempt to sack the houses after
the eruption. The house has a small bath
area. A passage on the south side leads to the rustic quarters. The
reconstruction of a farm cart (only parts in iron
and bronze are original) is
exhibited in the
stable ("equile").
A case containing 118
pieces of silverware
weighing 24 kilograms was hidden in
the basement of the house. The silverware
is exhibited
at the National Archaeological Museum
of Naples. House of Loreius Tiburtinus (12) The entrance of this house is on Via dell'Abbondanza. It was attributed to Loreius Tiburtinus or to Decimus Ottavius Quartio, whose seal was found here. There is an elegant hall opening on the garden that is decorated with friezes portraying the expeditions against Troy: the larger one on top portrays the mythical expedition of Heracles against Laomedon, while the smaller one at the bottom portrays the historical expedition of the Greeks against Priam. The owner had himself portrayed on a wall of the house bald and dressed in a long linen-tunic like a priest of Isis ("linigerus calvus"). Furthermore, he ordered the building of a long (approx. 50 meter) bathing-pool in his garden. The pool had the shape of a river ("eurěpus") and was decorated with ancient Egyptian statues (ibis, sphinxes, lions, etc.). Thus, it is assumed that people initiated to the mysteries of Isis used to meet there to attend artificial floodings of the garden that simulated the sacred and fertile floods of the Nile.
House of Julia Felix (13) This house
opening on
Via dell'Abbondanza was excavated
in the 18th. century
and brought
completely to light in the years 1952-1953.
There is a
big and
elegant garden
with a portico
supported by little marble pillars. At the center there was a summer
dining-room ("triclinium")
with marble beds
and a fountain with a
waterfall. A second entrance led into the bathroom ("balneum").
An announcement on its door
states that it could be rented
with part of the house:
"Julia Felix daughter of Spurius, rents to
respectable people an elegant
bathroom worthy of Venus, a workshop with apartment on the upper floor
and mezzanine from the first of August.
The lease will expire in five years".
Evidently Julia, who was of a noble
and rich family, didn't hesitate to sublet part of her house to make up
for the restoration costs of the building
after the earthquake of 62
A.D.. A painting of
"Apollo
and the
Muses" is in the Louvre
in Paris today, while the other paintings are
all at the National Archaeological
Museum of Naples.
Amphiteater (14) The amphitheater of Pompeii is the oldest of those we know from the Roman world. It was built after the foundation of the settlement (80 B.C.) by order of the mayors Gaius Quintius Valgus and Marcus Porcius, those who also ordered the construction of the Odeion. After the earthquake it was restored by order of the mayors Gaius Cuspius Pansa, father and son. The building was erected in a peripheral area to avoid traffic jams in the city on the occasion of shows. The monumental stairs on the outside lead to the "cavea" with the spectators' seats. It could hold up to 20,000 spectators. The main part of the steps and of the upper balcony reserved for women is still intact. The level of the arena is lower than the outside area. This means that the theatre was partly built upwards and partly set into the ground like the Coliseum. Fights between gladiators used to take place inside the arena. The games were opened by a solemn parade. The wrestlers wore heavy and completely decorated parade armours, helmets, dagger, shields and jambs. In 59 A.D. the spectators' enthusiasm led to a bloody brawl between the supporters of Pompeii and those of Nuceria. The event was "photographed" in a famous Pompeian painting. After the riots, Rome's Senate inflicted a ten-years "disqualification" on Pompeii's arena, but the measure was withdrawn in 62 A.D. because the earthquake had severely hit all citizens. Most of the gladiatorial arms exhibited at the National Archeological Museum of Naples were found in the theaters' "foyer", used as the "Gladiators' Barracks" during the last years of the city.
For further informations about the Roman city buried by the fire of the Vesuvius, visit the site www.PompeiSepolta.com/. You will find many historical news about the city-life, the typical Roman houses, the education of the Pompeian youth, the games, the sports and the "ars amatoria" of our ancestors. From the section "Visit to the Ruins" you can enter directly in the archaeological area and, virtually, in the houses, the places, the sacred and public buildings, discovering the secret of a city that will live forever in consequence of a tragic event that disseminated death and terror all over the surrounding territory.
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