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.
The Suburban Baths were built outside the city walls, roughly 100
meters from the Sea Gate (Porta Marina), in the early 1st century CE
(likely during the reign of Emperor Tiberius, 14–37 CE). As one of
the later bath complexes in Pompeii, they were constructed when the
defensive role of the city walls had diminished, reflecting a period
of relative peace and confidence in the Roman Empire. This placement
prioritized aesthetics and views over strict practicality or
fortification—large windows overlooked the Bay of Naples and the
port, emphasizing luxury and scenic enjoyment for bathers (including
maritime travelers).
The two-story structure combined public
bathing with upper-floor apartments for rent. It followed innovative
"single-axis row" bath architecture of the era: rooms progressed
linearly from cooler to warmer spaces (apodyterium/dressing room →
frigidarium/cold room with a nymphaeum and waterfall cascade →
tepidarium/warm room → laconicum/dry heat room → caldarium/hot
room). Features included an outdoor swimming pool (natatio, added
later), large southwest-facing windows for natural light and warmth,
and high-end heating. The complex was privately operated but
luxurious, with a palaestra (exercise area). It was damaged in the
62 CE earthquake and renovated (including a heated pool addition).
Famous for explicit erotic frescoes in the apodyterium, likely
catering to a male clientele from the port. The baths were among the
best-preserved due to their location and were reopened to visitors
after modern restorations.
Theatre (Large
Theatre / Teatro Grande)
The Large Theatre, built
into a natural hillside in the 2nd century BCE (one of
the earliest permanent stone theatres in the Roman
world), could seat 3,100–5,000 spectators. It hosted
comedies, tragedies, music, dance, and later
gladiatorial shows or other spectacles. The semicircular
cavea (seating) was divided into sections (ima, media,
summa) for different social classes, with excellent
acoustics. A stage building (scaenae frons) with
multiple entrances and a postscaenium (dressing area)
backed it. Connected to the theater district, it formed
part of a cultural hub and was still used for modern
performances today. It suffered damage in the 62 CE
earthquake but was under repair at the time of the 79 CE
eruption.
Gladiators' Barracks
(Caserma dei Gladiatori / Quadriporticus of the
Theatres)
Originally built around 80 BCE as a
Quadriporticus (four-sided colonnaded portico) behind
the Large Theatre, this served as a covered walkway and
promenade for theater-goers during intermissions. After
the 62 CE earthquake damaged the original gladiators'
barracks elsewhere, it was repurposed as housing and
training grounds for gladiators (familia gladiatoriae).
The central courtyard (with a possible pool) was used
for training and demonstrations. Small rooms along the
portico (Doric columns) housed gladiators (often two per
room), with additional facilities like a kitchen, mess
hall, stables, armoury, and possible upper-floor
quarters for the lanista (trainer). Graffiti by
gladiators (e.g., names like Celadus and Cresces)
survive on columns. At the time of the eruption, 18
human skeletons and a horse were found here, indicating
it was still in use. Stairs led to an ergastulum (slave
prison) below.
Odeon Pompeii (Small Theatre / Teatro
Piccolo)
The Odeon, a
covered (roofed) theatre (theatrum tectum) built around
80 BCE by local officials C. Quintius Valgus and M.
Porcius, seated about 1,000–1,500 people. It was more
intimate than the Large Theatre and suited for musical
performances, poetry recitals, concerts, mime, and
smaller or more refined audiences (including political
meetings). Excellent acoustics came from its design,
with thin walls suggesting a wooden roof. Features
included a semicircular orchestra, tiered seating,
raised tribunalia (platforms for dignitaries), a stage
with five entrances, and a postscaenium. It complemented
the larger theatre in the entertainment district.
Triangular Forum (Foro Triangolare)
The Triangular Forum, a
sacred and scenic precinct at the southwestern edge of
the city on a promontory, offered panoramic views over
the Gulf of Naples. Developed in Hellenistic style in
the 2nd century BCE with a colonnade of about 95
Doric/Ionic columns, it enclosed and protected earlier
structures while linking the theater district to
gymnasiums. A propylon (monumental entrance with three
Ionic columns) led into the triangular plaza. It
included altars, a well in a circular Doric structure,
and a semicircular seat (schola) with sea views.
Doric Temple (Tempio Dorico)
At the heart of the Triangular Forum stands the Doric
Temple, one of Pompeii's oldest structures (mid-6th
century BCE, pre-Roman/Samnite period), built with Sarno
limestone. Originally dedicated possibly to Hercules (or
Minerva/Hercules in later interpretations), it featured
7 columns on short sides and 11 on long sides in Doric
order. The temple was largely abandoned before 79 CE. At
its base were tuff altars, a heroön (founder monument),
and other pre-Roman elements. Its elevated position made
it visible from the sea, symbolizing the city's ancient
roots.
Temple of Isis
(Tempio di Iside)
The Temple of Isis, a small but
well-preserved sanctuary dedicated to the Egyptian
goddess Isis (and her family: Osiris, Harpocrates,
Anubis), was one of the first structures excavated in
Pompeii (1764). Originally built in the Augustan period
(late 1st century BCE), it was destroyed in the 62 CE
earthquake and fully rebuilt—funded by the freedman's
son Numerius Popidius Celsinus (aged 6), whose
"generosity" earned him honorary decurion status. This
highlights social mobility and euergetism in Pompeii.
The temple sat on a raised podium with a pronaos
(portico), cella (housing statues of Isis and Osiris),
niches for other deities, and side altars. It included
an ekklesiasterion (meeting hall) for initiates and was
richly decorated with Hellenistic-style frescoes (many
now in Naples). Located near the theatre, it linked Isis
(associated with Dionysus) to performance culture. It
was among the most intact buildings at the time of the
eruption.
Sarno Baths (Terme
del Sarno)
The Sarno Baths (in Regio VIII, Insula 2,
near the Porta di Sarno) represent one of Pompeii's
latest and most ambitious bath projects, begun shortly
before the 79 CE eruption and left unfinished. This
multi-level (up to six stories) complex adapted to the
city's southern slope, incorporating advanced techniques
like reinforced concrete barrel vaulting and hydraulic
mortar. It featured separate men's and women's sections,
a large palaestra, natatio (swimming pool), and
integrated taverns/dining areas with gardens. Its design
emphasized public leisure amid urban growth, though it
was never fully operational.
Insula 1
Samnite Palaestra
(Palestra Sannitica)
The Samnite Palaestra, built in
the 2nd century BCE during the Samnite period
(pre-Roman), was a gymnasium for athletic training and
exercise. An Oscan inscription dates it. The rectangular
courtyard (about 8 × 19 m) was surrounded on three sides
by a tuff Doric colonnade (portico), with rooms opening
onto it. It served youth and citizens for physical
education, linked to the theater and Triangular Forum.
Renovated multiple times (reduced in size after the 62
CE earthquake to accommodate the expanding Temple of
Isis), it retained its function until the eruption.
Statuary and decorative elements emphasized its role in
civic and bodily training.
Temple of Venus (Tempio di
Venere)
Temple of Venus,
Pompeii's patron deity (goddess of love, beauty, and the
city's protector, tied to Sulla's colonization),
occupied a prominent terrace overlooking the sea and
plain near Porta Marina. Built after Pompeii became a
Roman colony (c. 80 BCE), on a large concrete/lava
podium (c. 29 × 15 m), it featured an Ionic colonnade on
three sides, a cella, and a travertine altar. The
sanctuary included a porticoed courtyard. It was under
reconstruction after 62 CE earthquake damage (with
evidence of building materials like lime) at the time of
the eruption. Debates exist on whether an earlier
sanctuary (possibly to a local goddess like Mephitis)
preceded it. Rich finds included a gold lamp donated by
Nero. Its location and scale underscored Venus's
importance to Pompeian identity.
Temple of Asclepius (Tempio
di Asclepio / Temple of Aesculapius and Hygeia, or
Jupiter Meilichios)
This small temple (one of
Pompeii's tiniest sacred buildings, at the corner of Via
del Tempio di Iside and Via Stabiana) dates to the
2nd–3rd century BCE. Attribution is debated: often
linked to Asclepius (Greek/Roman god of
medicine/healing) and his daughter Hygeia due to a found
medical kit and terracotta statues (one of Asclepius
wrapped in a cloak). Alternatively, it may be the Temple
of Jupiter Meilichios (a chthonic/underworld aspect of
Zeus, "sweet as honey," with cults often outside
settlements). The modest structure included a cella and
basic altar setup. It reflects Pompeii's blend of Greek,
Roman, and healing cults.
Insula 2
House of the Geometric Mosaics (VIII.2.16, also known as Casa dei Mosaici Geometrici) is a large ancient Roman domus in Pompeii, formed by merging two earlier houses in the late 3rd–2nd century BC. It features over 60 rooms and is renowned for its extensive and well-preserved floor mosaics, many with intricate geometric patterns (such as rosettes, labyrinths, and black-and-white designs), as well as more figurative ones like marine life scenes in the impluvium. First excavated in 1826 (with further work in 2013), it stands out for the quality and variety of its mosaic decorations.
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 Holconius
Rufus (VIII.4.4)
Also known as the Casa dei
Postumii or Domus M. Holconi Rufi, this large and
elegant residence belonged to the prominent Pompeian
family of Marcus Holconius Rufus. A wealthy local
aristocrat and major public benefactor in the early 1st
century AD, Holconius Rufus served multiple times as
duumvir (one of the two highest magistrates of the city)
and received the honorary titles of military tribune and
“father of the colony,” even though he never actually
served in the army. The house, located along the
bustling Via dell’Abbondanza (Street of Abundance),
features an impressive layout with a spacious peristyle,
multiple reception rooms, and fine wall decorations. It
was partially excavated in the 18th and 19th centuries
(notably in 1766, 1855, and 1861) and is connected to
several neighboring properties and shops.
House of Cornelius
Rufus (VIII.4.15)
Also referred to as the Domus
Cornelia, this well-preserved Roman townhouse stood on
the Via dell’Abbondanza, directly opposite the Stabian
Baths. It belonged to Gaius Cornelius Rufus, whose
identity is confirmed by a marble herm (portrait bust on
a pillar) discovered in the atrium bearing his name. The
house boasts a classic atrium with a elegant marble
impluvium (central rainwater basin), a tablinum, and
several richly decorated rooms. Excavated mainly between
1855 and 1893, it provides a vivid glimpse into the
daily life of a prosperous Pompeian family just before
the catastrophic eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Sculptural elements from the house, including the herm
of Cornelius Rufus, are now housed in local museums.
House of T. Mescini Gelonis (VIII.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 (VIII.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.