Regio VIII occupies the southwestern sector of Pompeii and is limited in the north along Via Marina or Marine Street and Via delle Abbondanza and east of Via di Stabia. Regio also defines the southern limits of the Pompeii Forum and contains the administrative offices of the Edila Hall, Curia and the Duoviri Hall. Regio consists of 7 Insulas. Of these, Insula 2 and 4 contain buildings, which are discussed in more detail here.
Suburban Baths (Pompeii)
Suburban Baths were built outside of Pompeii just 100 meters from the Sea Gate (Porta Marina). It shows how little interest did ancient Romans of the time period gave to safety of their cities. They had no fear of invasion and in case of Suburban Baths aesthetics reasons trampled practicality.
Insula 1
Insula 2
House of the Geometric Mosaics (16)
Championnet House I (1) - It was excavated in 1799, in
1812 and in 1828 ; exceeded the corridor of entrance leads to '
atrium with impluvium in marble with remains of three columns of the
four who claimed the compluvium : both the atrium and in the
cubicles surrounding, well-preserved mosaics pavements, both
geometric patterns, which with tesserae colored; the garden is
composed of an atrium with twelve columns and the house was
completed with a lower floor.
House of Championnet II (2) - It was
discovered in 1808 : it has the typical pattern of Roman houses,
with atrium with impluvium and garden with peristyle which ran on
all four sides and of which the bases of the columns remain; in some
rooms you can see remains of mosaics used as flooring.
House of
L. Aelius Magnus (21) - It was an old house, with time incorporated into
the Terme del Sarno: after the entrance, in the corridor, small
rooms open to the sides , until reaching a large tablinum, where
however there are no signs of decorations ; in 1943 the house was
hit by a bomb which remained unexploded.
House of the Boar II
(26) -
Also called Casa di Vesbinus, it was excavated between 1887 and 1927
and is so called because at the entrance there is a mosaic floor
depicting a wild boar : other decorations of the same type or
pictorial , in the third style , are found in the rooms that open
around. atrium and tablinum; a staircase leads to the lower floor,
where there are cubicles, the kitchen and the garden.
Casa del
Ninfeo (28) - It was first explored in 1758 and later in 1886 and 1928 ;
past the entrance one enters the tetrastyle type atrium, which is
overlooked by the ruins of several cubicles and a lararium
characterized by three marble steps: several frescoes were found
here , depicting books , coins and a barrel; in the garden is the
nymphaeum from which the house takes its name.
Severus House (30) - It
is given by the union of two dwellings and excavated in 1797 , in
1883 and in 1928 : it is located near the city walls , which partly
exceeded the garden area; there are two atriums and in one of the
access corridors the remains of the pavement are visible, the atrium
is complete with impluvium and in the tablino a staircase leads to
the level below where the bedrooms are placed, while in the garden
there was a swimming pool.
House of Mosaic Doves (34) - It is so
called because of the discovery of a mosaic in the tablinum
depicting doves drinking; just the mosaics are the recurrent element
in the house, especially in the pavement : the atrium had to have
black and white tesserae, with inserts of stars, while those of the
cubicles are well preserved; from the tablinum come a mosaic with
geometric figures with four ducks on the sides and one depicting a
lion.
House of L. Caecilius Phoebus (36) - It was arranged on three
levels: the entrance floor and an upper floor, lost and a lower one;
more than a thousand square meters wide and with over ten rooms, the
house has meager remnants of wall decoration: in the atrium there is
an impluvium in tuff, while in the garden the remains of the pool
are visible.
House of Joseph II (39) - Also called Casa di Fusco it
was investigated in several stages between 1750 and 1928 : arranged
on three levels, it measures over a thousand square meters and is
divided into about eighteen rooms; the area of the atrium
preserves the impluufo in tufo and around you open cubicles, inside
of which various frescos have been found, preserved then to the
national archaeological museum of Naples, all in the third style: in
the inferior plan instead it was found the thermal area.
Insula 3
House of Hercules and Auge (4) - It presents an atrium in
which the remains of columns that supported the compluvium and
around various cubicles are visible, which at the time of the
excavation were still frescoed: in one of it the representation of
Dionysus and a Silenus was found ; then follows the tablinum and the
garden, while the hearth is still visible in the kitchen : remains
of wall decorations are in the oecus.
Boar's House I (8) - It
belonged to the family of the Coeli and presents the floor mosaic of
the entrance and atrium completely intact, in some parts arranged in
a drawing, among which stands the representation of a fortified city
and a scene of ducks and flowers , with colored tesserae, preserved
at the Archaeological Museum of Naples: in the garden the peristyle
columns are well preserved, almost all still with capitals.
Queen
Carolina's home (14) - It was excavated between 1809 and 1839 and has the
characteristic of having a low wall in the atrium, with the four
sides of the pillars supporting the roof , at the center of which is
the marble impluvium : remains of a staircase ensure the presence of
an upper floor, while in the garden there is a masonry basin and a
lararium which is accessed via four steps and supported by two
columns.
Diana's house (18) - It was explored in 1826 and in 1840 and
is a modestly sized dwelling: the rooms all open around the atrium,
which has remains of impluvium and puteal ; the kitchen still has
the hearth and the remains of a staircase ensure that it has an
upper floor: there are few decorations found inside.
House of
Sex. Decimius Rufus (21) - It opens with an access corridor along which
is the entrance to the kitchen which still preserves the oven and a
cubicle; in the garden, on a column of the peristyle a graffiti was
found with the name that was then given to the house: in the same
room is also a lararium which was covered with white stucco and red
stripes.
House of Plotilla (24) - Also called Casa d'Apolline and
Coronide it is characterized by a long entrance corridor that leads
directly into the peristyle which still has the remains of columns:
around it all the rooms of the house, including kitchen and latrine,
open.
Bread House (31) - It was explored in 1818 : the atrium has an
impluvium in tufa and around it various environments including an
oecus , a closet, two bedrooms, triclinium and tablinum, while in
the garden, which presents the remains of the colonnade, a exedra.
Insula 4
House of T. Mescini Gelonis (9) - It was also used as a laundry :
the atrium has remains of impluvium and a marble table and
around it there are several small rooms, which in total, in the
house, are twelve; then follow tablinum and peristyle: the
decorations are scarce.
House with Atrio Tetrastilo (34) - Also
called Casa di Onfale it is so named both because of the atrium
of the tetrastyle type that is observed just past the entrance,
and for the discovery, in the tablinum, of a fresco depicting
Hercules and Omphale : in the same environment also a painting
by Diana and Endymion and Hippolytus ; remains of paint are
visible in different rooms of the house.
Insula 5
House of the
Rooster I (2) - It was excavated in 1840 , 1881 and 1943 :
the house is characterized by two atriums, one of which has an
altar and several cubicles that still retain the remains of
plaster ; the garden, on the other hand, preserves capitulated
columns that were part of the peristyle and several frescoed
walls: in the same room there are the oecus , an exedra and a
triclinium, while in the kitchen there remains a hearth and a
lararium with faded frescoes.
House of a Potter (9) - It is named
for the discovery of numerous objects, such as bowls and lamps
in ceramics : the house presents the classic model of Roman
houses, like atrium with impluvium tuff, surrounded by cubicles,
tablinum and the garden peristyle that preserves almost
completely the columns with capitals and grooves along the
stucco sides are intact.
Doctor's House (24) - Also called the
House of Judgment of Solomon it was excavated in 1841 and 1882 :
the second name of the house is due to the discovery of a fresco
depicting pygmies during the judgment of Solomon , but from the
same environment also come a fresco of pygmies feasting and a
another of pygmies on the Nile ; the house has no particular
architectural variations, except for the rectangular-shaped
impluvium.
Lime House (28) - Also known as the House of Popidius
Celsinus, it was explored at various times between 1815 and 1943
and has an atrium with tufa impluvium , around which there are
various environments such as cubicles and oecus that show traces
of plaster and floors: once past the tablinum accesses the
peristyle with numerous surviving columns that enclose the
garden area.
House of the Red Walls (37) - Also called Casadellà
Family Fabia lent some electoral inscriptions on the facade:
passed the entrance leads directly to the atrium with impluvium
and lararium a niche in which were discovered six statuettes in
bronze and painted part still central; in various environments
traces of wall decorations are preserved, some entirely intact
and with a characteristic Pompeian red coloring.
House of
Acceptus and Euhodia (39) - It was explored in 1881 and two bodies
were found inside it : one of a child , whose cast and skeleton
of a woman was executed ; remains of wall decorations are
conserved in numerous rooms of the house and almost all
characterized by a plinth in black with drawings of plants and
central panels in yellow, while statuettes in marble are
preserved in the archaeological museum of Naples.
Insula 7
House of the Sculptor (24) - It was excavated in 1773 , 1796 and 1867 and has a rather complex architecture, as it is divided into two sections on different floors: the lower part is where the atrium is located and was used as a craft workshop, while the upper part was dedicated to daily life with cubicles, triclinium and garden; several frescoes have been found, including a fragment found in the peristyle, depicting Nilotic scenes.