House of Octavius Quartio

About

The House of Loreius Tiburtinus (more correctly the House of Octavius Quartio after its true owner) is renowned for well-preserved art, mainly in wall-paintings as well as its large gardens. It is in the Roman city of Pompeii and with the rest of Pompeii was preserved by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in or after October 79 AD.

Its Pompeian street address is II, 2, 2-5 and it is located on the Via dell'Abbondanza (or street of abundance), one of the most prosperous streets in Pompeii, and conveniently situated for both the palaestra and the amphitheatre. The section of Via dell'Abbondanza it occupied was closed off to cart traffic in ancient times.

The naming of this house was wrongly derived from electoral graffiti etched in the outer façade, some saying "Vote for Loreius" and others "Vote for Tiburtinus." In fact, the last known owner of the house was a man named Octavius Quartio, whose bronze seal was found inside the house during excavation. Some historians choose to refer to this house as the House of Octavius Quartio.

The House of Loreius Tiburtinus (Octavius Quartio) was discovered and excavated between the years 1916 and 1921 by Vittorio Spinazzola, Pompeii superintendent between 1911 and 1923. Further archaeological campaigns were conducted in 1933 and 1935 under the supervision of Amedeo Maiuri. The last excavation in 1971 was supervised by Alfonso De Francisci.

The two original structures combined to form this palatial residence were originally built during the Samnite period around the 3rd century BC. The domus covered an entire insula before the earthquake of 62 AD and had two atriums and two entrances. After the earthquake, part of the house (II 2, 4) was sold to another owner and was made independent. It is thought the arcaded terrace (loggia) and the large garden were completed at this time as well extending the area to about 1,800 m 2. Art historian John R. Clarke has suggested the expanded garden space may have been used for commercial purposes, "like that of its neighbor two blocks to the east, the Praedia of Julia Felix, citing Wilhelmina Jashemski.

The exterior walls of the complex are composed of opus incertum (stone rubble embedded in concrete) with ashlar piers, except for the easternmost corner, which was constructed with opus vittatum mixtum (a combination of brick and stone blocks). The main entrance, is flanked by two shops, the Caupona of Astylus and Pardalus (II 2,1), with remains of a food serving counter and stairs to an upper floor, and the Caupona of Athictus. This shop had only a sales counter of wood that left an imprint below the plastered east wall. It is thought these shop spaces were once part of the house but were eventually separated from the main structure and either rented or sold as both shops had doorways to the atrium of the main House at II 2,2. The Athictus shop also had a doorway leading into Room 3 (blue).

The inside of the house is fairly uniform in its organization, and matches the standard of much of the Roman architecture at the time. Unfortunately some of the house's original integrity was compromised before the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the earthquake of 62 AD and Allied bombing raids in 1943 during WWII.

The fauces (entrance) at II 2,2 opens into a rectangular atrium with an impluvium in the center. This basin collected rainwater through a hole in the roof to be used by the patrons of the house. It was later repurposed into a fountain surrounded by a bed of plants. This portion of the residence suffered extensive damage from exposure to the elements after its excavation in 1916 as well as Allied bomb damage in 1943. At the rear of the atrium, the home's tablinum (g) has been replaced with a small columned pseudo-peristyle. The columns are painted red at the base and white above. Though faded, the walls still bear evidence of painting in the Fourth style with black panels separated by yellow columns above a red dado. On the east wall is the extremely faded remains of a panel painting but it's so damaged the subject can no longer be perceived.

Patronage relationships began to evolve during the late Republic. More and more patronage extended over entire communities whether on the basis of political decree, benefaction by an individual who becomes the communities' patron, or by the community formally adopting a patron. This may account for the elimination of a formal tablinum.

A number of the rooms adjoining the atrium are also in poor repair:

Room 3 (blue) has only a small piece of stucco left of its decoration. It contains what Spinazzola described as a kiln (muffola) for the baking and glazing of small vases/pots. It is in this room that the seal ring of D. Octavius Quartio was found.

Room 4 (blue), partially destroyed in the 1943 bombing, retains no decoration at all. It is thought to have been a triclinium. Likewise, all that remains of Room 5 (blue) are bare walls. It's doorway to what is thought to be a latrine 6 (blue) is still extant, though. Room 7 (blue), also without decoration, is accessed through Room 5 (blue).

Room "a", with a yellow middle zone with black dado, once contained a panel painting of Europa and the Bull, two medallions with one particularly fine portrait thought to be the owner's daughter, and painted imitation windows as documented by a 1930 photograph. These were all destroyed by concussion in one of the 1943 bombing raids.

Ala "b", a relatively large room decorated in the Fourth Style with red panels on a dark blue ground with floating soldier figures, survived, though it has faded severely from exposure.

Room "c", thought to have been another triclinium with yellow panels bordered in red was also damaged and faded due to exposure after excavation.

A small oecus "d" also decorated in the Fourth Style depicting architectural structures and landscapes in roundels on a white ground has survived. Room "e" has managed to retain fragments of its black and white floor mosaics and a panel picture of a hunting scene framed with garlands on a yellow ground. These two rooms are thought to have been painted by a workshop located on the Via di Castricio.

Room "f" on the west side of the pseudo-peristyle is an oecus decorated in the Fourth Style with white ground panels bordered in cinnabar red above a black dado with Egyptian and cultic motifs. Among figures portrayed include Bacchus with his thyrsus and a priest of Isis with a sistrum, possibly depicting the owner. Beneath it is the inscription "Amisusius Loreius Tiburtinus." This is in addition to the election slogans referring to Tiburtinus found on the outer facade of the house.

A biga (two-horse chariot) tops one of the painted architectural structures. There are also roundels depicting maenads and satyrs. Paintings of Diana bathing to the south and Actaeon attacked by his hunting dogs to the north suggest the room was used as a sacellum to scholars conducting the damage diagnosis of the site for the Piano della Conoscenza-Grande Progetto Pompei Project in 2016. Finnish scholar, Ilkka Kuivalainen, agrees, stating the presence of Bacchus clearly indicates cultic purposes. But, site curators do not think the room was used for religious purposes. They state on site signage:

"What at first sight appear to be stringent references to the goddess Isis and her cult are none other than proof of the exotic taste, a completely secular one, with an exclusively ornamental nature, which characterized the new ruling class that was being formed in the early decades of the empire."

This room was also bomb damaged then partially restored from stucco fragments. The paintings have been attributed to the Vetii workshop.