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

formal dining, or benches, tables and chairs for more casual meals could be laid out. Often a
separate kitchen, garden, court or latrine is part of the complex. 25
(4) Houses with 26 or without 27 (work)shops
Houses comprise 42.7% of the number of buildings in the sample, but 79% of the total
ground area (and nearly half of that belongs to the five largest houses). Shelter and sustenance of
the household are their primary functions. Commercial, industrial or horticultural areas are
integral to some houses, but non-residential components are not an important criterion in
distinguishing between houses. Houses that have (work)shops and houses that lack them show
no significant differences in house size, the number or size of rooms, or layout; they differ only in
location. For commercial reasons, (work)shops appear in houses that front major streets.
Houses are distributed fairly evenly throughout the sample. Those located along the Via
Stabiana and the Via dell'Abbondanza tend to have long, narrow fauces, leaving space along their
facades for (work)shops. It is common to see (work)shops, (work)shop-houses or eating
establishments (building categories 1-3) at intersections, as they depend on location to exploit the
heaviest flow of potential customers. Houses, being more selective in choosing clients and guests
to invite within, gain some relief from the indiscriminate bustle by avoiding the placement of
entrances at street corners.
All houses retain common features: a narrow entrance corridor (fauces), an atrium, and a
secondary open area, either a court, garden, colonnaded garden, or peristyle. 28 Despite a basic
similarity in plan, houses appear in an exceptionally wide range of sizes (88.3-2502.8 m2 and 10-
25 I.4.11 has two back rooms (b, c), the latter of which may have been used for dining, a separate kitchen off
of (a), and a back garden (d) with a latrine. I.6.8-9 has extra storage jars and a stove in the NE corner of
atrium (c), and dining areas on the ground floor at (d) and on the second floor {k}. In I.7.13-14, a small
bedroom (2) flanks the counter; behind is a court (3) with a hearth, and a room (4) probably used for dining.
A stair leads to another possible dining room on the upper floor, and a latrine (7) and perhaps another
kitchen (6) take up the back of the building. A dining room (2) and another room (3) serve I.8.8, which has a
hearth against its W wall and a latrine in the NW corner. In I.8.15-16, there is a small bedroom (3) behind
the counter, a room (4) with benches for seating customers, a kitchen (5), a dining-room (6), bedroom (8) and
court (7). I.9.4 is attached to a small room (13) and a dining room (7) behind the counter. Behind the
counter of I.9.11 is a bedroom (2), a small room with supports for benches (for cooking or eating, it is not
clear); a large room (4) lies to the side and in back there is a large court (5) with a latrine (7).
26 Examples of houses with (work)shops from the study sample include: I.4.1-3, I.4.5-6+25+28, I.8.1-3, I.8.4-
6, I.8.8-9, I.9.1-2, I.9.3-4, I.9.5-7, I.10.2-3, I.10.10-11.
27 Examples of houses without (work)shops from the study sample include: I.4.9, I.4.22, I.6.2+16, I.6.4, I.6.11,
I.6.13-14, I.6.15, I.7.1+20, I.7.2-3, I.7.7, I.7.10-12, I.7.19, I.8.14, I.8.17+11, I.8.18, I.9.8, I.9.12, I.9.13, I.10.4+14-17,
I.10.7, I.10.8, I.10.18.
28 All houses except for I.9.3-4 have an impluvium in the atrium, and all have a secondary open area except
for I.8.18.
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