The House of the Surgeon takes its name from the wide range of surgical instruments found during its initial excavations. The age of the house has been subject to some debate. Although it predates the Roman occupation of Pompeii, modern archaeology dates its original construction to around the second century BC, rather than the fourth century BC as initially believed.

Whatever the house’s age, its life cycle is evident from the archaeology. A basic atrium house, it was updated to keep up with Roman architectural fashions, declining in its last years before the eruption of Vesuvius.

Ancient Building Materials of Houses in Pompeii

The House of the Surgeon was built in opus quadratum style from large blocks of Sarno limestone fitted together with ashlar.

Usually, this construction style was only used for the facades of houses in Pompeii and the exterior sidewalls. However, in the House of the Surgeon, it is rather uncommonly used for the atrium walls. This was one of the factors that led experts to believe that the house was of primitive construction dating back to the fourth century AD. 

Archaeological Dating of Roman Architecture

Archaeological dating dispels this theory. Reanalysis of the subsoil in the 1980s suggests that the current building dates to around 200BC. Archaeologists have also found the impluvium of an earlier atrium under the service area of the existing building, suggesting a previous domestic structure occupied the plot. 

Excavations of the current atrium and tablinum have also yielded evidence of a previous building. A third-century coin dating to 214-212BC was found amongst the rubble and plaster of remains beneath the atrium. Similar layers under the tablinum yielded a black gloss lamp dating to the third or second BC. 

This evidence suggests that the current building cannot date from the fourth century BC and, in fact, is no earlier than the second century BC. However, the fact remains that the House of the Surgeon is still an example of a pre-Roman Pompeian house. 

A Typical Atrium Style House

The overall design is of a classic atrium-style house. Shops flanked either side of a narrow fauces, which opened out onto the atrium. This room, in its turn, offered access to other rooms.Four small rooms — possibly used as bedrooms — lay to its left and right sides, with the remains of the study or tablinum facing the fauces, forming the classic fauces-atrium-tablinum axis. The tablinum was equipped with folding wooden doors, allowing it to open directly onto the atrium or remain private.

Two dining rooms flanked the tablinum. The larger of the two was an internal room for winter dining, while the smaller left-hand room was probably converted into a summer triclinium when the house was modified.

It is in this area that the House of the Surgeon’s layout deviates from the classical roman template. For rather than opening out onto a peristyle garden, the summer dining room overlooked a small collonaded portico, which opened into a hortus style garden. This hortus, which was essentially a back garden, was probably a feature of the original layout. It remained because space did not allow for the addition of a peristyle when the house was redesigned in the first century BC. 

The Redesign and Decline of a Pompeian House

The redesign of the house occurred after the Social Wars of 91-89BC. By this time, Pompeii had lost its independence and became a Roman colony. Besides the conversion of the summer triclinium, the main change was the addition of a separate service area.

A rear service entrance to accommodate deliveries and the comings and goings of the domestic staff was situated next to the kitchen. This entrance and the other service rooms were located as far from the public and leisure areas of the domus as possible. Access to the area was inconspicuous but functional. A narrow convoluted passageway leading into the atrium connected the two regions, allowing servants to deliver food to the dining rooms discretely. 

The archaeology shows that by the time of the eruption of Vesuvius, the house had declined considerably. Archaeologists discovered regularly spaced post holes cut into the atrium floor — possibly to accommodate posts that were now propping up the atrium’s roof. This new feature was probably intended to be a temporary one and could have resulted from damage sustained during the earthquake of 62AD. However, it seems that during the 17 years between the earthquake and Pompeii’s final destruction, the house’s owner could not afford to complete the repairs.

Sources

Dobbins, J, J & Foss, P, W, (2008). The World of Pompeii. Routledge: London and New York

Grant, M, (2005). Pompeii and Herculaneum: Cities of Vesuvius. The Folio Society: London

McKay, A G, (1975). Houses, Villas and Palaces in the Roman World. Thames & Hudson

Vitruvius: The Ten Books on Architecture