A statuette could be of value as a work of art – if we remember for instance Novius
Vindex and his art collection – and as a cult object. Moreover, the fact that small-
scale sculpture was movable must not be underestimated; several authors mention the
talisman-like function of statuettes (Plut. Sulla29.6; Amm. 22.13.3; Apul. Apol.63.2).
It is not surprising that, when looking for evidence of the domestic cult outside
the Vesuvian cities, hardly any in situ evidence is to be found. Still, isolated
imported statuettes found in early Roman camps, and groups of statuettes often
preserved in the latest destruction layers of a Roman provincial town, suggest that
the domestic cult was brought by the Roman army to the provinces and spread through
local society. However, the social differentiation met with in Pompeii has not been
found outside Italy so far; this may be due to the generally rather poor state of preser-
vation of paintings (Kaufmann-Heinimann 1998: 186 –95).200 Annemarie Kaufmann-HeinimannFigure 14.5 Larariumof the House of the Red Walls (VIII 5.37) at Pompeii. Normally,
painted larariaare typical of the servants’ quarters, whereas the more expensive statuettes
stood in shrines belonging to more representative rooms. In this one case the two are
combined: a rather modest painting of the Lares and the Geniuson the back wall and six
bronze statuettes of the Lares, Mercury, Apollo, and Hercules standing in the aedicula
(photo: Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Rome. Photo Labor, Neg. D-DAI-Rom
1971.1114).ACTC14 26/04/2007 09:38 AM Page 200