The House of Menander dominates most of the insula I.10 in the southern quarter of Pompeii. It was a high-status townhouse, combining visible wealth with an exact implementation of the social language of the elite through its décor and architecture. 

Its location near the edge of Pompeii and evidence of agricultural activity on the premises show that the owner’s business interests were not separate from his home.

History of the House of Menander

The house began as a basic atrium house, built in the third century BC. A century later, its back hortus or garden was replaced by a newly fashionable Hellenized feature, the central peristyle.

By the first century AD, the house was at its peak. A seal in the servant’s quarters suggests its owner was a Quintus Poppaeus, a relative of the Empress Poppaea. A bathhouse was added, along with an entertainment suite and a stable yard and servant’s quarters to the southeast of the house.

Redecoration was in progress when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. We know this because all the valuable silverware was packed away, and only a skeleton staff was in residence to oversee the work.

Architecture and Layout

Whoever the owner of the House of Menander was or had been, they had made good use of the house’s architecture as an expression of wealth and status. Features usually found in public architecture were used to mark entrances and key views. For example, tufa Corinthian columns framed the house’s entrance and engaged columns were added at the opening of the tablinum. 

Usually found in temples or public basilicas, these features were deliberately placed at key points on the visual axis. As a result, casual passersby in the street and clients waiting in the atrium would have no doubt about the importance of the owner.

The peristyle garden was the visual nexus of the house, a link between the public and private. It ended the public fauces-atrium-tablinum axis and marked the beginning of the house’s private zone, surrounded as it was by dining and reception rooms open to the master’s guests. 

But even these private zones used visual displays to emphasise the owner’s standing. For diners in the summer triclinium, the focal point of the view from the room was the ancestral shrine, framed once again by columns. By highlighting the shrine in this way, the master of the house reminded his guests of his long and illustrious pedigree, for even friends needed reminding of their place within the social hierarchy.

Decor

The house’s decor was of superior execution, with the main areas decorated in the latest, fourth-style frescos. The themes of this decoration varied across the house. There were scenes from the Nile in the atrium, while in the east wing were various episodes from the Trojan War. In the garden rooms, the theme was poetical and theatrical, in keeping with the function of entertaining. One of the poets portrayed, Menander, was the name its modern excavators bestowed on the house.

The Economic Function

The house was close to the rural areas surrounding Pompeii and seems to have acted as an agricultural unit as well as an elite townhouse. The stable yard contained evidence of carts and farming tools, probably used at the owner’s farm, where no doubt vines and olives were grown for profit.

This may seem unusual, but it was not incompatible with the house’s function as an elite residence. The Roman businessman liked to be in the hub of economic activity. It was not an advantage to be spatially removed from your economic interests.

The atrium and tablinum within the house acted as the owner’s office, where he received clients and conducted business. So there was no reason why manual activities could not occur on the property, as long as they were away from the public zones. The stable yard was peripheral and had a separate entrance onto the street. This location meant it was near at hand but in no way diminished the standing of the rest of the house.

The Importance of Location

The House of Menander’s location also emphasises the importance of business to the owner. The streets around the house were busy with fullers, carpenters and weavers. The area was a hive of industry and trade — despite being on the periphery of town and well away from the forum.  

Why was this? By 79AD, space around the forum, the centre of business in Pompeii, was at a premium, prompting enterprises to move outwards towards the city limits where space was readily available. In all probability, the owner of the House of Menander made the most of this movement of trade. His house already dominated its insula spatially. He likely also rented out local properties that he had acquired to his clients.

His house, located in a prosperous business area of Pompeii, was a statement of his success. The location of the house and its physical design declared its importance and that of its owner.

Resources

Dobbins, J and Foss, P (2008) ‘The World of Pompeii’. London: Routledge.

Ling, R (1983) ‘The Insula of Menander at Pompeii: Interim Report’. The Antiquaries Journal 63:34-57.

Raper, R A, (1977) ‘The Analysis of Urban Structure’ in D Clarke (ed) Spatial Architecture. London: Academic Press.

Wallace-Hadrill, A (1994) Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum (New Jersey: Princeton University Press.