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

water and fire which were required for food preparation. These amenities get detailed treatment
in chapter two. 179
Sanctity
'Sanctity' is the domestic ritual topography: the specific places in the house where
religion was practiced. Sacrifices were often performed where cooking was done; in most
cultures the cooking and eating of food includes a measure of thanks to the earth or the gods for
the privilege of surviving another day. Sacrifices were, among other things, a kind of insurance
against not having any food to sacrifice, much less eat.
Roman household religion was diverse; various domestic deities were called upon to
protect the house, the household, its productive capacity and its reproductive capacity. The
goddess Vesta guarded the hearth, and her representation in the living flame was a reminder that
the household was alive and active. The burning hearth proved that the householders led a
civilized life, exemplified by their control of heat, light and cooked food. 180 The Penates
oversaw the family storeroom: "By preserving the grain supply in the penus [larder], they
powerfully personified the continuity of the household's means of subsistence". 181 The Lares
were essentially protective gods of place, and two of their aspects, domestici and familiae, watched
over hearth and home. They were offered first fruits, particularly products of grain and vine, and
were occasionally described as dark with smoke because of their association with the hearth. 182
Finally, the Genius represented the procreative force of the family and was closely linked to the
paterfamilias himself. The Genius also protected places such as the hearth; its associated symbol of
the serpent can be found painted or stuccoed on many a domestic shrine. 183
The household shrines found in Roman houses and shops are termed lararia or sacraria.
At Pompeii several different types of shrines have been identified. 184 Simplest is a scene of wall-
painting, usually showing Lares and a togate Genius sacrificing at an altar flanked by serpents
(Fig. 1.20). An actual altar or a hearth is sometimes found below the painting. Sometimes a small
shelf of marble or tile is built into the wall below the painting, perhaps to hold a lamp, offerings,
or a figurine. Some of these paintings (all of them in kitchens) depict items of prepared food,
such as hog heads, ham shanks, cuts of meat on spits, skewered eel, hares, game birds and wine-
179See pp. 74-77 for kitchen amenities and pp. 94-105 for dining room amenities.
180Orr 1978, 1560-1561; Orr 1973, 34-37.
181Orr 1978, 1563. See also Orr 1973, 38-44.
182Orr 1978, 1563-1569 & n. 60; Orr 1973, 4-33.
183Orr 1978, 1569-1575; Orr 1973, 45-83.
184The following typology is owed to the major studies of Pompeiian shrines: Boyce 1937; Orr 1973 & 1978,
1575-1585; Fröhlich 1991.
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