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

DR (h) lost its former function as a dining room, and numerous work basins were added to the
SE corner of peristyle (p). Because the W. wall of garden (p) was moved to its present line after
A.D. 62, and because pillars holding up the second floor terrace in that area are constructed of
opus listatum mixtum, KI (m) and latrine (l) were installed in the last phase of the building's life.
KI thus (m) postdates the use of DR (h) as a dining room; it is not possible to ascertain the dining
room's relationship to whatever cooking area served it. DR (h) was never repaired after the
earthquake; Sampaolo (PPM I, 333) presumes that it was "utilizzato per lavori collaterali
all'attività dell'officina."
At least two rooms were built over the spaces to the N and S of the atrium; Sutherland
reconstructs three more on the E side of the atrium. Above rooms (j, k) was constructed
cenaculum {r} with a double colonnade. Cenaculum {r}, with open aspects above the house
towards both the N and S, might have been suitable for dining in seasonable weather when the
building was a house. It, like DR (h), probably lost any formal function when the fullonica was
created, due to the unpleasantness of the process (i.e. the use of urine) in garden (p) below.
After the earthquake, wide entrance (b) allowed the easy flow of people and goods
between the house and the street, watched over from the small cell (a). Atrium (e), with a stair to
the upper floor to the side of the impluvium-turned-basin, was dominated by DR◊(g) on the E,
interpreted variously as a reception room, tablinum and dining area (Fig. 5.57). Two smaller
rooms (j, k) occupied the back of the atrium, beside corridor (i) that led past the former DR (h) to
the peristyle garden (p) with its work-basins in the SE corner and service area of kitchen (m) and
latrine (l) in the SW (Figs. 1.1, 2.20, 5.56). More stairs led from garden (p) to the second floor,
most of which had been converted into a broad flat terrace used for drying clothes.
Numerous electoral recommendations flanking the entrance refer to fullones. Among
them are two by a certain Stephanus, to whom the fullery is attributed, despite another
recommendation by a woman named Spec(u)la (whom Della Corte describes as one of the
workers -- on the basis of her gender). Spinazzola describes her rather as the director of the
establishment, based on the higher and more prominent position of her name on the wall;
Stephanus' dipinti appear nearer the socle. Behind the partially-opened door of the building was
found the skeleton of an individual with a hoard of gold, silver and bronze coins worth 1,089.5
sesterces; three more individuals were recovered from the small room (a).
References
Jashemski 1993, 35; PPM I, 332-351; Sutherland 1990, 88-112; PPP I, 32-35; CTP IIIA, 10-11; Guida
Laterza 1982, 102-104; Guida 1976, 194-197; Moeller 1976, 41-43; Schefold 1957, 24-25; Della Corte
1954, 238-239, #579-581; Spinazzola II, 765-785; Maiuri 1942, 173; Boyce 1937, 110, #2; Della Corte
219