CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Religion in the House
Annemarie Kaufmann-Heinimann
Religion, amazingly to the modern eye, was present everywhere in the Roman house.
For some media – namely sculpture – we can fall back upon information given by
ancient writers like Pliny the Elder or Cicero, whereas there is hardly any comment-
ary by a contemporary author which might help us to understand the underlying
meaning of the myths painted on the walls of Pompeian houses or displayed on mosaic
floors of the later empire.
Our best source of archaeological information for getting an insight into a multi-
tude of media, all present together, is the house interiors in the cities buried by the
eruption of Vesuvius inad 79. There a large quantity of the original furnishings
has been preserved. If for instance we look at the small House of the Ara Massima
in Pompeii (VI 16.15 –17) (Stemmer 1992), owned by people of the lower middle
class, the mass of religious and mythological motifs is baffling: Narcissus and the
couples of Bacchus and Ariadne, Luna and Endymion, Mars and Venus represented
in the wall paintings of the dwelling rooms, the Lares and the Geniuspainted on
the larariumwall, Eros depicted on the handles of two bronze vessels, a sphinx used
as a table foot. Evidence from other houses, such as lampstands, fountains, decor-
ated couches, and garden sculpture, adds to the picture – not to mention small
items like jewelry, often decorated with religious subjects. What was the meaning of
all this? Were the Pompeians particularly pious people? Were any cult activities going
on in their houses?
The phenomenon of religious subjects in a domestic context is, of course, not
restricted to the cities near Vesuvius. There is evidence for it in all parts of the Roman
empire and down to the late Roman period, for instance the mythological mosaics
adorning sumptuous villas in north Africa (Dunbabin 1978), or the great dish decor-
ated with Dionysiac scenes which forms part of the late Roman silver treasure from
Mildenhall (Painter 1977). By studying some specific examples of interior decora-
tion, therefore, we can try to discover what they meant to Roman imperial society.
First, however, it is important to know where this style of life had its roots.ACTC14 26/04/2007 09:38 AM Page 188