running all the way through the mountain of earth form the tunnels
leading to the arena,the central area where bloody gladiatorial com-
bats and wild animal hunts (see “Spectacles in the Colosseum,” page
260) occurred. (Arena is Latin for “sand,” which soaked up the blood
of the wounded and killed.) The Roman amphitheater stands in
sharp contrast, both architecturally and functionally, to the Greek
theater, home of refined performances of comedies and tragedies.
A painting (FIG. 10-14) on the wall of a Pompeian house
records an unfortunate incident that occurred in the amphitheater.
A brawl broke out between the Pompeians and their neighbors, the
Nucerians, during a gladiatorial contest in 59 CE. The fighting left
many seriously wounded and led to the closing of the amphitheater
for a decade. The painting shows the cloth awning (velarium) that
could be rolled down from the top of the cavea to shield spectators
from sun and rain. It also features the distinctive external double
staircases (not visible in FIG. 10-13) that enabled large numbers of
people to enter and exit the cavea in an orderly fashion.
HOUSE OF THE VETTII The evidence from Pompeii re-
garding Roman domestic architecture (see “The Roman House,”
page 247) is unparalleled anywhere else and is the most precious by-
product of the catastrophic volcanic eruption of 79 CE. One of the
best-preserved houses at Pompeii, partially rebuilt, is the House of
the Vettii, an old Pompeian house remodeled and repainted after the
62 CEearthquake. A photograph (FIG. 10-15) taken in the fauces
(foyer; see FIG. 10-16) shows the impluvium in the center of the
atrium,the opening in the roof above, and, in the background, the
peristyle garden with its marble tables and splendid mural paintings
dating to the last years of the Vesuvian city. At that time, two broth-
ers, Aulus Vettius Restitutus and Aulus Vettius Conviva, probably
freedmen who had made their fortune as merchants, owned the
house. Their wealth enabled them to purchase and furnish the kind
of fashionable townhouse that in an earlier era only patricians could
have acquired.Painting
The houses and villas around Mount Vesuvius have yielded a trea-
sure trove of mural paintings, the most complete record of the
changing fashions in interior decoration found anywhere in the an-
cient world. The sheer quantity of these paintings tells a great deal
about both the prosperity and the tastes of the times. How many
homes today, even of the very wealthy, have custom-painted murals
in nearly every room? Roman wall paintings were true frescoes (see
“Fresco Painting,” Chapter 19, page 504), with the colors applied
while the plaster was still damp. The process was painstaking. First
the painter had to prepare the wall by applying the plaster (mixed
with marble dust if the patron could afford it) in several layers with
a smooth trowel. Only then could painting begin. Finally, when the
surface dried, the painter polished the wall to achieve a marblelike
finish.
In the early years of exploration at Pompeii and nearby Hercu-
laneum, excavators focused almost exclusively on the figural panels
that formed part of the overall mural designs, especially those de-
picting Greek heroes and famous myths. Workers cut the panels out
of the walls and transferred them to the Naples Archaeological Mu-
seum. In time, more enlightened archaeologists halted the practice
of cutting pieces out of the walls and began to give serious attention
to the mural designs as a whole. Toward the end of the 19th century,
August Mau, a German art historian, divided the various mural
painting schemes into four so-called Pompeian Styles. Mau’s classifi-
cation system, although later refined and modified in detail, still
serves as the basis for the study of Roman painting.10-14Brawl in the Pompeii amphitheater, wall painting from House
I,3,23, Pompeii, Italy, ca. 60–79 ce.Fresco, 5 7 6 1 .Museo
Archeologico Nazionale, Naples.
This mural painting records a brawl that broke out in the Pompeii
amphitheater in 59 CE. The painter included the cloth awning that
could be rolled down to shield the audience from the sun and rain.10-15Atrium of the House of the Vettii, Pompeii, Italy, second
century bce,rebuilt 62–79 ce.
Roman townhouses had a central atrium with an impluvium to collect
rainwater. Cubicula (bedrooms) opened onto the atrium, and in Hellen-
ized houses such as this one, builders added a peristyle garden at the rear.246 Chapter 10 THE ROMAN EMPIRE1 ft.10-15A
Peristyle,
House of
the Vettii,
Pompeii,
second
century BCE.