House of Loreius Tiburtinus

The House of Loreius Tiburtinus (Also called theHouse of Octavius Quartio) is renowned for its metic-ulous and well preserved artwork as well as its large gar-dens. It is located in the Roman city of Pompeii. It, alongwith the rest of Pompeii was preserved by the volcaniceruption of Mount Vesuvius on August 24, 79 AD.

1 History

Map of Pompeii’s layout highlighting main streets. ViaDell'Abbondanza is in green

The House of Loreius Tiburtinus was excavated betweenthe years 1916 and 1921 by V. Spinazzola. It can befound on the Via Dell'Abbondanza (or street of abun-dance), one of the most prosperous streets in Pompeii.There is considerable debate over the naming of thisparticular house.[1] Its original name of Loreius Tiburt-inus was derived from electoral advertisements of sortsetched in the outer façade, some saying “Vote for Lor-eius” and others “Vote for Tiburtinus.” In fact, the lastknown owner of the house was a man named OctaviusQuartio, whose bronze seal was found inside the houseduring excavation.[2] Some historians choose to refer tothis house as the House of Octavius Quartio.Pompeii is organized into a series of insulae or rectan-gular blocks of buildings made up of a combination ofshops and residences.[3] The House of Loreius Tiburti-nus occupies almost its entire insula with a combinationof its residential area and its garden. Also included inthe insula were two cauponae (Inns where locals couldreceive a hot meal). Its location was convenient to boththe palaestra and the amphitheatre, and the section of Via

Painting on south wall of oecus

Dell'Abbondanza it occupied was closed off to cart trafficin ancient times.[2]

2 Organization

The inside of the house is fairly uniform in its organiza-tion, and matches the standard of much of the Roman ar-chitecture at the time. Unfortunately some of the house’soriginal integrity was compromised before the eruptionof Mount Vesuvius in the earthquake of 62 AD.[1]

The entryway or anteroom leads into the atrium, a largeopen room with an impluvium in the center. This basincollected rainwater through a hole in the roof to be usedby the patrons of the house. On the far side of the atriumis a modest peristyle where the original tablinum (of-fice) once was. The lack of a functional tablinum is ev-idence of the earthquake’s toll on the house’s infrastruc-ture. There are several oeci off the main atrium used asreceiving rooms with various art displayed in each room.In the House of Loreius Tiburtinus, one specific oecusthat borders the viridarium or indoor garden functionedas a triclinium or dining area where guests could be en-tertained. This room was particularly well decorated toplease the many guests that must have passed through.Bordering the garden is a summer triclinium where din-ers could recline during the warmer months.[2]

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2 5 SEE ALSO

3 Gardens

Pyramis and Thisbe in the house of Loreius Tiburtinus

The House of Loreius Tiburtinus is particularly wellknown for its extensive gardens and outdoor ornamenta-tion. Beyond the summer triclinium there was a specificarrangement of two Euripi, a decorative type of fountain.These fountains were the centerpiece for many frescoesand statuettes. The upper Epirus has a strong significanceto the excavated city of Pompeii because its decorativefrescoes are the source of the only known artist’s signa-ture: “Lucius pinxit” or “Painted by Lucius.”[2] Thesefrescoes portray the myths of Narcissus on one side ofthe fountain and Pyramus and Thisbe on the other. Theother lower Euripus is a fountain that spans the long gar-den which holds numerous types of foliage including vari-ous fruit trees. All of these fountains operate using a tech-nology called castellum plumbeum, a fairly complex wa-ter pressure system which functioned with the local watertowers, providing to several locations.

4 References[1] Tronchin, Francesca C. “An Eclectic Locus Artis: the

Casa Di Octavius Quartio At Pompeii.” Diss. BostonUniv., 2006

[2] Nappo, Salvatore. Pompeii: Guide to the Lost City. Lon-don: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1988. 32-33, 41-45, 50-51.

[3] Strabo. Geography of Strabo. Trans. H.L Jones.Loeb Classical Library ed. Vol. II. Harvard

UP, 1923. LacusCurtius.<http://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Strabo/5D*.html>.

5 See also• House of the Vettii

• House of the Faun

Coordinates: 40°45′06″N 14°29′33″E / 40.7517°N14.4924°E

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