CHAPTER XXXIX

_THE HOUSE OF EPIDIUS RUFUS_

The house of Epidius Rufus, built, like those previously described, in the pre-Roman time, presents a pleasing example of a Corinthian atrium. In one respect it resembles the oldest Pompeian houses, such as that of the Surgeon; in the place of the peristyle is a garden extending back from a colonnade at the rear of the tablinum. In a period when large peristyles were the fashion, a Pompeian of wealth and taste, whose building lot was ample enough to admit of an extension of his house toward the rear, contented himself with a single group of rooms arranged about one central apartment.

The arrangement of rooms is seen at a glance (Fig. 149). The vestibule, like that of the principal entrance in the house of the Faun, had a triple door at the end toward the street (shown in Fig. 150), which was no doubt left open in the daytime. Entering, one would pass into the fauces ordinarily through the small door at the right (p. 248), the large double doors between the vestibule and the fauces only being opened for the reception of clients or on special occasions.

The front of each ala (7, 13) is adorned with two Ionic columns. At the corners of the entrances are pilasters, the Corinthian capitals of which have a striking ornament, a female head, moulded in stucco, looking out from the midst of the acanthus leaves. The eyes and hair are painted, and in one instance the features of a bacchante can be recognized.

In the right ala is an elaborate house shrine, built like a temple with a facade supported by columns, raised on a podium five feet high (Fig. 151). On the front of the podium is a dedicatory inscription to the Genius of the master (p. 270).

The tablinum originally opened on the atrium in its full width, the entrance being set off by pilasters at the corners. It was then higher; when the entrance was changed the height was reduced to about twelve feet. The sixteen Doric columns about the impluvium, well preserved for the most part, are only a trifle over fourteen feet high.

[Illustration: Fig. 149.--Plan of the house of Epidius Rufus.

1. Raised sidewalk. 2. Vestibule, with side door. 7, 13. Alae: in one (7) a house shrine. 15. Stairway to rooms over 17, 21. 17. Sleeping room, with alcove. 18. Andron. 19. Tablinum. 20. Dining room. 21. Kitchen. 21 _b_. Hearth. 22. Colonnade. 23. Gardener's room. 24. Vegetable garden. 25. Flower garden.]

The contrast between this atrium and the lofty halls of the houses of Sallust and the Faun was indeed marked. Here the atrium had become more like a court than a hall; yet the impluvium, paved with tufa, was retained, and we find the same arrangement for the flow of water as in many houses with Tuscan and tetrastyle atriums. On the edge of the impluvium at the rear is the pedestal of a fountain figure which threw a jet into a basin resting on two rectangular standards; the places of these, as well as the course of the feed pipe, are indicated on the plan. Behind the pedestal is a round cistern curb; another jet rose in the middle of the impluvium.

The apartment at the right of the tablinum (20) was a dining room. Of the smaller rooms about the atrium, three (6, 8, and 12) were sleeping rooms for members of the family; some of the others were so poorly decorated as to prompt the suggestion that they were intended for slaves. That next the stairs (14) was a storeroom; the traces of the shelving are easily distinguished. Under the stairs was a low room (16), perhaps used for a similar purpose; the small double room (17) was also low, and used as a sleeping room.

[Illustration: Fig. 150.--Facade of the house of Epidius Rufus, restored.]

The domestic apartments were reached by the andron (18). In the kitchen (21) is a broad hearth (_b_); a dim light was furnished by narrow windows. The little room at the entrance of the kitchen (_a_) was perhaps a storeroom; the closet, as often, was in the corner of the kitchen.

At the opposite end of the colonnade is the gardener's room (23). The main part of the garden (24), as indicated by the arrangement of the ground, was used for vegetables; the small flower garden at the rear (25) was on a higher level.

In the house originally there was no second floor. In the Roman period, apparently near the end of the Republic, a large upper room--probably a dining room--was built over the kitchen; and there may have been one or two small storerooms at the head of the stairway which was built in one of the side rooms of the atrium.

Traces of the first and third decorative styles are found in the atrium; but the most interesting remains are those of the last style. The alae and several rooms were redecorated shortly before the destruction of the city. The dining room (20) contains a series of paintings illustrating the contest between Apollo and Marsyas; they are skilfully displayed in a light architectural framework on a white ground. On the wall at the left (at _a_) Apollo is seen with left foot advanced, striking with his right hand a large cithara which rests against his left shoulder. Opposite him (at _b_) is Marsyas, playing the double flute; on the intervening panels (_d_, _e_) are the Muses, who are acting as judges in the contest of skill. The painting at _c_ seems to relate to Apollo, but the subject has not been explained. The choice of subjects such as these may have been influenced by the cult of the early divinity of the city; but it probably implies a taste for poetry and music on the part of the proprietor.

[Illustration: Fig. 151.--Transverse section of the house of Epidius Rufus, restored.

Ala Door of Andron Front of Tablinum Door of Dining room Ala with Shrine]

There were no shops in the front of this house, but in one respect our restoration of the facade (Fig. 150) can not be taken as indicating the appearance of such houses in general. Here the front line was set back several feet from that of the adjoining houses on either side, and the space thus gained was given to a terrace or ramp about four feet high, mounted by steps at either end. The elevation of the front entrance above the sidewalk and the placing of the approaches at the ends of the ramp gave the house an appearance of seclusion.

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