KITCHENS AND DINING ROOMS AT POMPEII ... - Get a Free Blog

Bek succeeds in showing that views were constructed for the benefit of those inside the dining
room. However, it is not true that tableaux were especially constructed for the benefit of the host
and guest of honor. The traditional arrangement of diners (Fig. 1.27) clearly shows that the faces
of the entire company were crowded near the center of the room. Any pleasantries visible to the
host or guest of honor were also enjoyed by the others (at least on the lectus medius and lectus
imus; guests on the lectus summus had a difficult view out of the room). 218
Bek describes the scene set for dinner guests as one that evolves (by the Imperial period)
into a kind of 'theatrical stage' or 'picture show' which all guests can simply observe and enjoy:
"...the panorama or tableau of the triclinium is evoked by means of natural or
naturalistic, figurative and associative, or even literary components. The motifs
cherished are those related to the cult of nature and fertility or to the realms of
gods of love, hunting, agriculture and wine. ...The scene of imagination is so to
speak drawn in the guise of a picture in front of the room, a tableau to behold,
not a level of reality in which to participate." 219
Dinner was not simply a voyeuristic pleasure. It was an experiential pleasure marked by sounds
of conversation and music, the smells of food and other diners, the feel of a cool breeze in
summer and a warm brazier in winter, and interesting sights. 220 At a well-planned event, guests
were physically comfortable with all aspects of the meal.
A dining room's environment involves not only the view at hand, but also the degree of
light and heat which the room receives according to the season and the path of the sun. Several
authors stress the importance of arranging rooms in a house according to the season in which
they can be used to greatest advantage. Vitruvius provides us with the most detailed
information about seasonal architecture. His concern has largely to do with available light
sources:
Now then, there is the greatest need of light in triclinia and other chambers.... 221
These (Displuviate atria) are outstandingly useful for winter chambers because
their high compluvia do not obstruct the windows of the triclinia. 222
218 The sample of dining rooms in this thesis failed to reveal a pattern of special vistas designed solely for
the host and guest of honor (see chapter three, pp. 147-149).
219 Bek 1983, 87; see also Jones 1991 for the theatrical experience of dining.
220 Pliny emphasizes the ability of a dining room to catch fresh breezes, especially in the summertime (see
pp. 100, n. 214)
221 Vitr. 6.6.7, on "farm buildings": Cum autem in tricliniis ceterisque conclavibus maximus est usus luminum...
(Loeb text, author's translation).
222 Vitr. 6.3.2: Haec hibernaculis maxime praestant utilitates, quod compluvia eorum erecta non obstant luminibus
tricliniorum. (Loeb text, author's translation).
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