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

evidence for suites of upper-floor rooms. These houses are so few and their own differences so
great, that their vital statistics are essentially meaningless except in contrasting their size to
smaller subgroups (Fig. 3.1). A casa grande develops in one of two ways: it is built as a single unit
that expands over time, retaining its architectural coherence, or it is formed through the
combination of several smaller pre-existing houses. Both possibilities are represented in this
sample; given their small number and dominance of the archaeological record, their composition
warrants brief review.
I.4.5-6+25+28, the largest house in the sample, is composed of two atrium-peristyle
houses (at #5, 25) and one small house (at #28); the house is consequently concentrated around
the series of three parallel peristyle gardens that step down the sloping topography of the insula
(Fig. 5.10). I.6.2 was once an extremely large house when joined with I.6.4, with suites of rooms
gathered along the length of the cryptoporticus beneath its spacious garden (Fig. 5.15). Even in
its reduced condition after A.D. 62, its sheer size and series of atrium, porticoed garden and large
open garden justify its inclusion in this subgroup. I.7.1 has one of the largest peristyle gardens in
the city, beneath which was an extensive cryptoporticus connected to the Vicolo del Paquio
Proculo, which was a private alley controlled and used by this house alone (Fig. 5.19). The other
casa grande in this insula, I.7.10-12, is a combination of at least two distinct atrium houses, one
with a sizable garden (Fig. 5.21). Moreover, a connection between this house and I.7.19 to the
south (a casa media) probably indicates a third house owned (although not necessarily occupied)
by the same person, further increasing the size of the property (Fig. 2.5). The residential core of
I.10.4+14-17 is centered on a spacious peristyle garden, with an open garden to the west and a
stable and small atrium house (at #16) added on to the east side (Fig. 2.8).
All case grandi have multiple nodes upon which suites of rooms are focused, often more
than one atrium, and either multiple gardens or a single garden or peristyle of monumental size.
The combined ground area of the nodes in these five houses more than equals the combined
ground area of the nodes of the eighteen case medie. 34 The combined ground area open to the sky
of the case grandi exceeds that of the case piccole and case medie put together. 35 The owners of case
grandi could afford to maintain a good deal of clear space. Their gardens were not only decorated
with plantings, fountains and statuary, but in some cases were horticultural plots, growing
produce for household use. 36
34 Total ground area of nodes for five case grandi: 3988.2 m 2 ; for eighteen case medie: 3977.1 m 2 ; for nine case
piccole: 668.6 m 2 .
35 Total ground area open to the sky for five case grandi: 1908.1 m 2 ; for eighteen case medie: 1244.5 m 2 ; for
nine case piccole: 108.1 m 2 .
36 Jashemski 1993, 34, 40, 47 mentions vegetable cultivation in the gardens of these large houses: I.6.2 (30),
I.7.10-12 (23), I.10.4 (50). I.7.1 (9), I.7.10-12 (23) and I.10.4 (c) had outdoor dining couches placed in
association with fountains in the centers of their peristyle gardens.
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