2. Painted wall from the House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii
(also known as the House of Castor and Pollux)
• This is an example of the type of floor to ceiling painting of the
walls in many of the rooms in the House of the Dioscuri. A
painting of Castor and Pollux gave the house its name. Like
Hercules, Castor and Pollux were Greek mythological
characters adopted by the Romans. Known to the Greeks as
Dioscuri (Dioskouri), the twin sons of Zeus and Leda, became
identified with the constellation we know as Gemini. The
painting of the Dioscuri has been removed from the house
and is now in the National Museum, Naples.
• This image shows the upper part of a wall in a room off the
Corinthian atrium. As well as the mythological figures and
architectural features, the frescoes include small but exquisite
landscapes and seascapes, one of which can be found
toward the bottom of this slide. Note the modern roof erected
to protect the painted walls.
3. Painted wall from the House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii
(also known as the House of Castor and Pollux)
4. Viridarium, House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii
(also known as the House of Castor and Pollux
• This shrine in the form of a miniature
temple is found in the viridarium
(garden) in the House of the Dioscuri.
Along the roofline of the garden wall,
the original terracotta tiles are still in
place, but covered with rubble and
weeds.
• The column on the left is typical of the
columns used throughout the house:
the upper part has fluted white stucco,
the lower part is clad with smooth red
stucco. Note the makeshift scaffolding
supporting the column on the right,
which has lost most of its stucco.
• When the House of the Dioscuri was
excavated in the 1830s, it so inspired
Ludwig I of Bavaria, who visited the
site, that he commissioned a replica to
be built in Aschaffenburg where it
became a tourist attraction.
5. Peristyle, House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii (also
known as the House of Castor and Pollux)
• The House of the Dioscuri is one of the most luxurious
houses in Pompeii. It is actually two houses joined
together, covering one third of a city block. The walls of the
major rooms are richly decorated in the Fourth Style of
Pompeiian painting featuring mythological and allegorical
scenes. The house is named after a painting of Castor and
Pollux, known to the Greeks as the Dioscuri or Dioskouri.
• The house is laid out around an atrium which opens onto a
tablinium (reception room) and the viridarium (garden)
beyond. To the right, the atrium opens onto the peristyle
surrounding another garden shown in this image.
• The two-tone columns are used throughout the house. The
three damaged columns with part of their stucco cladding
missing, clearly show the core of curved bricks. Note the
plastered and painted walls behind the columns.
6. Peristyle, House of the Dioscuri, Pompeii (also
known as the House of Castor and Pollux)
7. House of the Beautiful Courtyard,
Herculaneum
• In this house the atrium
has been replaced with a
courtyard and staircase
leading to the upper floor.
• Note the remnants of
painted plaster on the
wall and the lower section
of the balustrade. Note
also the different
materials used in the wall
behind the balcony.
8. Garden of the House of the Stags,
Herculaneum
• This house is named after a pair
of marble statues, each showing a
stag being attacked by hunting
dogs. Other statues found in the
house include ‘Satyr with wineskin’
and ‘Drunken Hercules’.
• The House of the Stags was one
of the more ‘modern’ houses in
Herculaneum, having been built
around 25 years before the
eruption of AD 79. The house was
designed to suit the site, which
looks south to the sea. The dining
room looks onto the garden
through the large doorway in the
centre of the slide. Across the
marble terrace (behind the viewer)
is a roofed pergola, additional
rooms and a sun terrace
overlooking the bay.
9. House of the Mosaic Atrium,
Herculaneum
• This image shows the garden
of the House of the Mosaic
Atrium, one of the best-
preserved houses in
Herculaneum. The marble
pool, now overgrown with
alocasia, contains a fountain,
which was in working order in
the 1980s.
• To provide shelter from the
cold winter winds, the
porticoes around the garden
were enclosed, with windows
to allow in air and sunlight. The
larger windows in the west-
facing portico had panes of
glass set into wooden frames.
10. House of the Trellis, Herculaneum
(also known as House of Craticium)
• This modest building has many
interesting features. It contains a shop,
workshop and courtyard downstairs,
and two small flats or apartments
upstairs, one accessible from the
courtyard, the other accessible from
the street. The two families who lived
here shared the same cistern. Many of
their possessions have been found,
including wooden beds, cupboards
and household shrines.
• The house gets its name from the
method of construction, opus cratium,
which is where a flimsy lattice or trellis
framework of wood or reeds is covered
with a mixture of rubble, earth and
plaster. This cheap method of
construction was commonly used for
adding upstairs rooms or second
storeys, but this is the only known
example of the method being used for
a whole building.
• Note the wall of solidified mud at the
end of the street and the modern
houses above it.
