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

illustrate this phenomenon with a series of examples drawn from insula I.7 (See Figs. 2.5, 5.19-5.23
for maps, and Gazetteer entries for more detailed exposés of these examples).
I.7.4 is a large (work)shop with a hearth in the northwest corner of room (1), next to a
stairway to the upper floor and balcony (Figs. 5.20, 5.73). A tripod was found on the hearth;
cups, bowls, and jars of fruit and nuts were stored nearby. A bronze oinochoe had fallen from
the balcony over the street, suggesting drinking (and dining) upstairs. None of the residents
could have gone upstairs to dinner without passing the stove by the stairs. The wide front door
must have been open to some degree to let in light, and let out cooking smoke. Cooking is
shielded slightly from the street by room (2), offering a modicum of privacy. In smaller
(work)shops, such as I.7.6, meals may have been cooked on the threshold. Anyone passing by
would have been briefly in the presence of the meal. After the meal, residents could walk down
the street to the lunch counter at I.7.8-9 (Fig. 5.83), or the diner at I.7.13-14 (Figs. 5.92-5.93) to
share wine, snacks and conversation with friends.
(Work)shop-house I.7.5 was built on the same plan as its neighbor to the west, except it
has a large reception room (d) at back that probably doubled as a tablinum and a dining room
(Figs. 5.20, 5.75-5.77). Room (d) is well-decorated and set up for three dining couches; the family
and guests who ate here could gaze through a wide window through court (c) to the street. A
small stove was built at the east edge of the court, and cooking wares were stored in a near
corner. Guests who came for a meal passed the latrine on their right, and the stove on their left
when they reached the court. The owner used the court to ventilate both the kitchen and latrine.
He did not attempt to hide those amenities, but instead constructed an elegant dining room that
was lit by the same court. The cooking process was part of the dining experience.
In the casa piccola I.7.2-3, meals were more intimate; dinette (c) faced away from the street
(Figs. 5.20, 5.71-5.72). The dining area was small and plain, but equipped with a cupboard
(perhaps for serving wares), and a pavement marked out for couches. Cooking was done on a
tripod and cooking vessels collected in court (g) at the back of the house. Architectural
boundaries of rank and status were distinguished but not overemphasized. The lack of multiple
cooking and dining areas suggests that the free family and any slave staff ate in close proximity,
even if they might not have eaten at the same time. The 'status' of a dining area would have
changed if the family and guests left, and the room was taken over by the staff.
The residential core of casa media I.7.7 was located down a long fauces that had two doors
along its length (Fig. 5.20, 5.79-5.82). Kitchen (i) and dining room (b) were located on either side
of the entranceway. Both were accessible from the atrium, even as they were invisible to each
other. Guests in the well-decorated dining room could enjoy the large panels of Herakles myths
painted on the walls as they waited for dinner to be brought in from the kitchen around the
corner. There was a careful architectural separation of service and dining areas.
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