Research project: Public and Private in the Roman House

Despite a not completely Pompeian subject, this interesting Finnish project is close enough to be mentioned, as has already been the call for paper about "Public and Private in the Roman House and Society" (deadline 15 April), to be held in New York in October 2013.

Private and Public Sphere in the Roman House: Semantics, Archaeology and Performative Theory

A collaborative study to be executed at the University of Helsinki, funded by the Emil Aaltonen Foundation. Project director: Dr Kaius Tuori

The aim and objectives of the research

Studies on the domestic space in Roman context have shown that the private house (domus) was the economic and social centre of its owner, his or her family and associated persons. Houses were designed to suit both the private life of its occupants and the demands of public life. Movement inside houses and the use of space was guided with the help of decoration and structures. The Roman house was open for outsiders to a certain extent, which made the division between public and private spaces inside the domus a very interesting topic already to Romans themselves.

The purpose of this project is to explore the public and private spheres of the Roman house from the first century BCE to the second century AD through a re-evaluation of the material remains and literary evidence. As an interdisciplinary enterprise, the project seeks to combine historical, archaeological, philological and architectural analysis to further the understanding of the function of the domus as a place for social, cultural, political and administrative action. Often overshadowed by modern presuppositions regarding the functions of spaces within a home, the tradition of assigning a single purpose to each space has only recently been subjected to serious criticism due to the contradictions of material finds with the assumptions regarding the use of that space.

More here.

Review: Federica Giacobello, Larari pompeiani.

Federica Giacobello, Larari pompeiani: Iconografia e culto dei Lari in ambito domestico. (Milano: LED, 2008). Reviewed by Lauren Hackworth Petersen in Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.04.50

Bronze statues of Apollo and the Ephebe

Tomorrow two Pompeian bronze statues will be journeying to the John Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. One is the bronze statue of Apollo the Archer, thought to have been found in the Temple of Apollo. In poor condition, the statue will undergo restoration at the Getty Museum.

The other statue is the bronze figure of the Ephebe, found in 1925 in the House of the Ephebe (I.7.10 - 12, also known as the House of Publius Cornelius Tegete). Dated to 20 - 10 BC, at some point the ephebe was transformed into a lampstand. The house itself has a lovely outdoor triclinium, so there is a good chance that the ephebe was intended for use during evening meals. At the time of the eruption, however, it had been dismantled and was lying on the floor of the 'tablinum' (room 15), covered with cloth. There are different interpretations of the reason for this! For more details about the finds in this house, see P. Allison's description. The Ephebe has recently been restored by the conservators at the Naples Museum. You can compare what it looked like at the time of its excavation to its present condition in the photo above. The Ephebe will be put on display at the Getty Museum straight away, and will probably return to Naples after a year - the time estimated for the restoration of the Apollo.

For more details of the loan to the Getty Museum, and the sources of the illustrations, see here and here.