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House of P. Casca Longus, Pompeii

The House of P. Casca Longus, also known as Casa dei Quadretti Teatrali (House of the Theatrical Paintings) or Casa di Casca Longus (I.6.11), is a well-preserved ancient Roman domus in the archaeological site of Pompeii, Italy. Situated in Regio I, Insula 6, along the north side of Via dell'Abbondanza—the city's primary east-west commercial thoroughfare—this residence exemplifies a mid-sized urban home from the late Republican period, adapted for elite living amid Pompeii's bustling street life. Measuring approximately 300–400 square meters on its ground floor, it features a traditional atrium-centered layout with a secondary atrium, cubicula (bedrooms), and service spaces, reflecting a merger of two earlier structures into a cohesive unit. The house is connected internally to neighboring properties at I.6.8 and I.6.9, suggesting possible shared ownership or functional extensions. Buried under volcanic ash and pumice during the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius, it was excavated in the early 20th century, revealing high-quality Augustan-era decorations and artifacts that hint at its owner's wealth and cultural sophistication. The site's name derives from a marble table inscribed with "P. CASCA LONG," linking it to Publius Servilius Casca Longus, a historical figure infamous as one of Julius Caesar's assassins. Unlike larger estates like the House of the Faun, this domus emphasizes intimate, theatrical-themed artistry and domestic luxury. As of August 2025, it remains accessible to visitors in the Pompeii Archaeological Park, with ongoing conservation under the Great Pompeii Project addressing fresco degradation, structural vulnerabilities from ancient earthquakes, and modern environmental threats like rainfall infiltration, though no new excavations or finds have been reported this year.

History

The House of P. Casca Longus (also called Casa dei Quadretti Teatrali, or House of the Theatrical Paintings) began as two neighboring Samnite-period houses of the 2nd century BC, built in opus incertum of irregular local stone. After Sulla’s colony was planted in 80 BC, the two dwellings were joined into one modest but well-appointed atrium house of about 575 square meters on Via dell’Abbondanza (Regio I, Insula 6, entrance 11). In the Augustan age the interiors were comprehensively remodeled: Third-Style wall paintings replaced earlier schemes, the impluvium basin was sheathed in colored marble, and the compluvium was given terracotta figural water-spouts. The result was a compact urban residence suited to a prosperous Pompeian family engaged in trade or civic life, internally linked to the neighboring properties at I.6.8 and I.6.9.
The house survived the earthquake of 62 AD with visible repairs: strengthened doorways, renewed plaster, and some Fourth-Style work that was still unfinished when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD. Its modern name comes from a marble tripod table (inventory 3921) whose three lion-headed, lion-paw supports are inscribed P(VBLIVS) CASCA LONG(INVS). The piece originally belonged to Publius Servilius Casca Longus (c. 84–42 BC), tribune and the first conspirator to strike Julius Caesar on the Ides of March 44 BC. After Casca’s suicide at Philippi in 42 BC, Octavian confiscated the assassin’s property and sold it at public auction. A wealthy Pompeian collector later acquired the table; excavators found it in the garden of I.6.8–9 and moved it into the main atrium of I.6.11. Most scholars treat the inscription as evidence of a purchased trophy, not of Casca’s personal residence in Pompeii. The same owner kept silver plate and a bronze statuette in atrium cupboards, confirming a taste for high-status furnishings.
The atrium itself is decorated with small square panels of theatrical scenes drawn from the comedies of Menander, the feature that gives the house its second name. A garden opening connected the complex to an adjoining shop-house, suggesting mixed residential and commercial use typical of Via dell’Abbondanza. A fragmentary electoral graffito near the entrance (CIL IV 7170) mentions Cuspium Pansam and the Calavii, one of several families sometimes associated with the property (another traditional label is Domus of Calavius Crescens and Calavia Optata).
Excavation took place in two campaigns: Vittorio Spinazzola uncovered the façade and fauces in 1912 during his systematic clearing of Via dell’Abbondanza; the interior rooms and finds were brought to light in 1926–1927. The house escaped serious damage in the 1943 Allied bombings. Later conservation rebuilt the compluvium and installed protective coverings over the frescoes; 2010s 3-D surveys have clarified the two-phase merger and the sequence of decorative campaigns. Together the architecture, Menander panels, and the Casca table illustrate how a mid-sized Pompeian household displayed Roman cultural prestige and social mobility on one of the city’s busiest streets.

Architecture and Layout

The dwelling follows the classic Pompeian atrium house plan, formed by joining two older properties into a single residence. The merger created a main atrium at the front and a second courtyard farther back, which improved light, air circulation, and the usable floor area on a tight urban lot.
The principal entrance, the fauces, opens south from Via dell’Abbondanza into the primary atrium. This courtyard is roughly 6 to 8 meters on a side. A rectangular opening in the roof, the compluvium, admitted daylight and rain. Water fell into the impluvium below, a basin whose floor is faced with colored marble. On the north side of the basin stands a terracotta puteal, the wellhead that gave access to the cistern under the atrium floor. Terracotta rainwater spouts around the compluvium directed runoff into the basin, a typical Roman solution for collecting and storing water inside the city.
Rooms open off the atrium on three sides. On the east wall two cubicula (bedrooms) are entered through separate doorways; the northeast corner also leads into further inner chambers. Structural pilasters strengthen this wall. On the west and south sides the layout is more symmetrical: alae (wing rooms) sit at the far corners of the atrium, and a tablinum (the owner’s reception and record room) likely stood on axis with the entrance, though later changes have blurred some of its original limits. Behind this public core the secondary atrium provided extra light and space, probably used for service rooms or more private family quarters.
Rustic rooms for storage, a kitchen, and latrines occupy the service wing. Internal passages connect this area with the neighboring units I.6.8 and I.6.9, so the household could move goods and staff without going out onto the street. Staircases rose from the cubicula to an upper floor that no longer survives. Those rooms would have held additional bedrooms or workspaces.
The foundations are built in opus incertum. After the earthquake of AD 62, brick and tuff were added to strengthen walls against further shocks. The combined plan made the most of a constrained city plot: it kept a spacious, well-lit atrium sequence while remaining compact and inward-looking. From the front rooms there were also clear views out toward the busy street.

Decorations and Frescoes

The House of the Theatrical Panels (Casa dei Quadretti Teatrali, also known as the House of Casca Longus) at I.6.11 is prized for its Augustan-period frescoes in the Third Pompeian Style. These walls combine slender illusionistic architecture with theatrical and natural motifs that advertise the owners’ literary taste and Hellenizing culture.
The fauces, the narrow entrance corridor, still carries a Third Style scheme. A faded geometric zoccolo (baseboard) in muted tones runs along the lower wall. Above it the middle zone is divided into three parts: a central yellow field containing a painted aedicula (a shrine-like framed panel) and red side panels that once held small landscape vignettes, now largely lost. The upper zone is gray. The floor is simple lavapesta. Together these elements form a quiet, carefully staged passage from the street into the atrium.
In the atrium the east wall, especially the northeast corner, preserves the paintings that give the house its modern name. Small framed panels, painted in the Augustan period and later spared when much of the house was redecorated after the earthquake of 62 AD, show masked figures in scenes drawn from Greek drama. Several compositions recall New Comedy of Menander; others include tragic subjects such as a scene from Hercules Furens with Megara, Amphitryon, and Lycus. The figures stand in stage-like groupings against colored grounds. Around them run floral tendrils, birds, candelabra, theatrical masks, and thin painted pilasters that sometimes rest on bases with faces or masks. The west wall uses a yellow ground; the other walls are predominantly blue, divided by black bands. The overall palette of vivid reds, yellows, and blues, together with the geometric zoccolo, still conveys the intended impression of refined luxury, even though exposure since excavation has faded many details.
The cubicula opening off the atrium retain fragments of the same decorative language: birds, quiet landscape views, and slender architectural frames meant to suggest calm and cultivated leisure. After the earthquake of 62 AD later painters working in the Fourth Style respected the quality of these Augustan panels and left most of them in place rather than covering them completely.
The result is a compact but eloquent example of how a Pompeian household of the early imperial period used wall painting to display education, theatrical culture, and status the moment a visitor stepped through the door.

Artifacts and Discoveries

Excavations at the House of P. Casca Longus (I.6.11), also called the House of the Theatrical Paintings, brought to light a compact but telling group of luxury objects. Most came from storage cabinets in the atrium and point to a household that collected fine dining ware and display pieces rather than burying large hoards.
The standout find is a set of marble tripod table legs (inventory 3921). Each support is carved with a lion head above a lion paw. The tops carry the inscription P(VBLIVS) CASCA LONG(INVS) and close variants. These legs were first recovered in the garden of the neighboring houses I.6.8-9 and later moved here by the excavators. The name belongs to Publius Servilius Casca Longus, the conspirator who struck Julius Caesar first in 44 BC and died at Philippi in 42 BC. After the assassins were condemned, their property was confiscated and sold. The table almost certainly entered this Pompeian house through one of those public auctions.
Alongside the marble supports the atrium cabinets yielded silverware, bronze tableware, a silver plate, and a small bronze statue. Together they show a taste for refined table service and visible display rather than everyday kitchen use.
Near the entrance a damaged graffito reads Cuspium Pansam (Calavius) rog(at) (CIL IV 7170). It is usually read as an electoral endorsement, perhaps linking the house to the Calavii family, though the identification is not certain. No important ecofacts or additional treasure deposits were recorded.
Taken together, the finds tie ordinary Pompeian domestic life to the aftermath of late-Republican politics. Confiscated Roman goods moved through the market and ended up in a modest but well-appointed house whose walls were later decorated with Third-Style theatrical panels inspired by Menander. The architecture remains functional, the paintings and objects add a layer of cultural display, and the site is still open to visitors on guided routes, with digital reconstructions available for closer study of the atrium and its furnishings.