Houses in Herculaneum

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The House in Opus Craticium

A small atrium house that originally stood on this site was probably destroyed by the earthquake of 62 AD, and a new, cheaper house was built quickly using a wooden framework, rubble, wattle-and-daub, and plaster (opus craticium).

This allowed the owner of the house to create more living space ~ two flats and a tabernum.

The downside of building in opus craticium was that it was prone to collapse and also susceptible to fire. The building was very cramped, dark, and poorly ventilated.

If Pompeii and Herculaneum had not been destroyed in the eruption of Vesuvius, then they would have begun to follow the technique of building from brick-faced concrete, which was affordable and quick but also fire resistant, and emerged in Ostia in the 2nd century AD.

It was unusual for houses to have courtyards, but this one did, because it was necessary to let in light. However, very little light managed to filter through, and the building was still very dark.

The courtyard gave access to the staircases.

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The House in Opus Craticium 2

The walls of the building were thin. The walls in the tabernum were originally covered in plaster. The walls are constructed in opus reticulatum, however the builder was not very skilled so it has been called 'opus quasi reticulatum'.

A wooden beam that once supported the roof of the tabernum has been preserved. The top of a wooden ladder which led to an upper floor of the shop has been preserved, and the rack straight ahead was used to hold amphorae.

The courtyard had an impluvium, and a preserved wooden windlass found there shows us how water was retrieved. Opening off from the west side of the courtyard were two dimly-lit rooms, which were undecorated. 

A flight of wooden stairs led to a flat on the first floor. Two rooms in this flat were lit by windows overlooking the courtyard. These rooms have quite elaborate fourth style decoration.

Wooden furniture was found in these rooms ~ two beds and a cupboard in one room, and a bed and a cupboard in the other. The cupboards were full of objects including bronze statuettes of Jupiter, Fortuna, Aesclepius, Diana, Minerva, and a pair of Lares. There were also more mundane things such as a bronze weight, glass and pottery plates, and several glass paste beads. 

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The House in Opus Craticium 3

A second flat was accessed directly from the street via a flight of stairs. This flat was no bigger than the first, consisting of five rooms, the back ones being very dimly lit, only gaining light from windows that overlooked the atrium of the adjoining House of the Bronze Herma. 

The entrances to the outer rooms were from the balcony, which optimised the space. Some fourth style decoration has survived in this flat as well as some furniture.

There are remains of two beds, one of which is a child's. There is also the wooden pediment of a third cupboard, although this was empty. A marble statue base, and the lower half of a marble oscillum (moon plaque), carved on both sides with Dionysiac images, were found.

The building had red opus signinum floors throughout. 

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The Samnite House

The gallery is decorated with Ionic columns. The floor in the atrium is opus signinum dotted with white tiles.

The tablinum is decorated in the fourth style, and its floor is decorated in a black and white mosaic with a rosette of diamond shapes around a round, copper tile. There is a motif of heraldic dolphins in each of the mosaic's four corners.

The cubiculum has a green monochrome fresco, decorated with architectural motifs, and a small panel illustrating the **** of Europa. The room has a red and white mosaic floor and is lit by a small window. 

Objects found within the house include a mutliated statue of Venus putting on her sandal, several fragments of wooden feet from table legs carved in the form a dog running, and a basin full of small cakes.

There is an Oscan inscription in room 2. 

The upstairs flat is not decorated. 

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Changes to the Samnite House

This house retains some of its early Samnite (first style) decoration in the fauces.

It was originally built at the end of the 3rd century BC, and covered a much larger area. By the late 2nd or early 1st century BC the garden and peristyle had been sold, and the entrance to the peristyle (through the tablinum, room 4) had been blocked off.

The atrium was raised in height by adding a second floor loggia around the north and west sides. People on the upper floor could look down on the atrium through gaps between the columns that held up the roof. The first style decoration was renewed with some second style scenes.

After the 62 AD earthquake, the house was made smaller again. The gaps between the first floor columns were filled in, so that the first floor could be used as a rental flat, and a staircase was added in the north side to facilitate access to this. The first style decoration in the atrium was painted over with fourth style designs.

The House of the Grand Portal was built on the site of the Samnite House's former peristyle. It was very cramped and there was not enough room even for a proper atrium, so to compensate it had a very ornate entrance, and good wall-paintings. 

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The House of the Stags

Situated in insula IV, in the extreme west of Herculaneum on top of the seafront, this is one of the most luxuriously-decorated houses in all of Pompeii and Herculaneum. It was built sometime in the reign of Augustus or Claudius, and was completed remodelled shortly before the eruption to have stunning views.

The last owner may have been Q Granius Verus because a loaf of bread with this name stamp was found in the house ~ the Granii were a family of successful merchants. 

Entrance is through a modest side door leading into the fauces (a), which had a marble pavement. B was a small, covered atrium. C was a triclinium or oecus, from which a stunning view all the way to the seafront awaited the visitor. 

E is a huge garden, and F is a great dining room with completely open east and west walls to facilitate the view. H was a pergola, which gives a view of the Bay of Naples. Surrounding the garden is D, which is a cryptoporticus. However, it is not above ground. J was a sun terrace.

Immediately below the sun terrace was the town square with the Suburban Baths. 

Fourth style paintings covered the walls of the principal rooms. The most important rooms had polychrome opus sectile pavements.

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The House of the Stags 2

64 individual wall paintings (or pinakes) were found in the cryptoporticus. These include depictions of birds, cherubs, and plants. The floor was a mixture of mosaic and opus sectile. In between the paintings were several narrow openings which gave glimpses of the garden.

The house had an upper floor, so rooms may have overlooked the sea. The cenatio (main dining room) was lavishly decorated with a marble floor and wall dado. 

Two pairs of fine marble statues were found in the cenatio ~ two depict stags being attacked by four dogs. Of the other two statues, one is a satyr pouring wine from a skin, and the other is of a drunken Hercules. 

A marble table was also also found in the cenatio, its three legs in the form of griffin protomes. The cenatio had a mosaic of Oceanus flanked by sea creatures. 

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