Samnite House (Casa Sannitica) (Herculaneum)

The Samnite House (Casa Sannitica), located at Insula V.1 in Herculaneum (modern Ercolano, Italy), is one of the oldest private residences discovered in the site, dating back to the 2nd century BCE during the Samnite period—a pre-Roman Italic culture that occupied the area in the 5th–6th centuries BCE. This domus-style house, originally larger and occupying the entire west side of the insula, exemplifies early Italic architecture adapted to urban constraints, with later Roman modifications reflecting social and economic changes. By the 1st century CE, financial pressures likely led to subdivision: the upper floor was rented out as an independent apartment with its own entrance, and the eastern section (including a peristyle and possible hortus garden) was sold, allowing the construction of the adjacent House of the Great Portal (V.35) and House with Garden (V.33). At the time of the Vesuvius eruption in 79 CE, the house was approximately 300 years old, showcasing a blend of Samnite structural elements with Roman decorative refinements.

Excavation history includes 18th-century Bourbon tunnel explorations, which damaged parts of the site, followed by systematic open-air digs between 1931 and 1938 under archaeologist Amedeo Maiuri, who restored the atrium's columns and documented the structure. Maiuri's work highlighted its Samnite origins, describing it as preserving the architecture of that era more than any other house in Herculaneum. The pyroclastic flows preserved organic materials like wood, but early interventions and seismic activity warped floors and structures. As part of the Parco Archeologico di Ercolano, it is accessible to visitors, who often note its intimate scale and well-preserved frescoes, though access to upper levels is limited for safety.

Overall Layout and Architectural Features

The Samnite House follows a classic domus plan but is narrow and compact due to urban constraints, lacking rooms along the right side of the fauces. The layout centers on a large atrium (b), accessed via an entrance corridor (fauces, a), with six small rooms arranged around it, including cubicula (bedrooms), oeci (reception rooms), and a tablinum (study). A corridor to the south once led to the now-separated peristyle court and hortus garden. The house develops vertically over two stories, with the upper floor featuring a gallery and rented rooms, accessed by a separate entrance added in the 1st century CE.
Architectural features emphasize pre-Roman influences: the entrance portals boast tufa columns with Corinthian capitals, while the atrium includes a false loggia (gallery) with Ionic columns and stucco-lined latticework screens on three sides, creating an illusion of a two-story structure. The compluvium (roof opening) allows light and rain into the central impluvium (basin), originally in opus signinum but later marble-lined. Drainage systems include puteals for cisterns, and beam holes support upper flooring. The facade along Decumanus Inferiore includes painted plaster, column remains, and benches outside the entrance on Cardo IV. A water tower at the corner with Decumanus Inferiore regulated aqueduct pressure, with visible lead pipes. Post-earthquake changes, such as partial filling of the screen and separate upper access, reflect economic adaptations.

Room-by-Room Description

The house comprises a ground floor with the atrium and surrounding rooms, plus an upper level; labels follow standard archaeological plans (e.g., Wallace-Hadrill, Maiuri).

Fauces (Entrance Corridor, a): Narrow passageway with impressive tufa columns and Corinthian capitals at both the house entrance portal and interior portal. Walls decorated in rare First Pompeian Style frescoes imitating polychrome marble in vivid earth colors; floor in opus signinum with a dark red and white mosaic featuring a scale-type pattern. Two small cells flank the corridor.
Atrium (b): The largest and most impressive area, open-air with a central marble impluvium for rainwater collection. Walls imitate a two-story structure: lower in Fourth Pompeian Style frescoes, upper with a false loggia featuring Ionic columns and stucco-lined latticework screens on three sides (partially filled in post-subdivision). Floor in well-constructed opus signinum; much reconstructed by Maiuri.
Cubiculum (c, Right of Entrance): Small residential room with green frescoes, red and white mosaic floor, and a panel depicting the Rape of Europa.
Oecus (d, North Side of Entrance): Reception room connected to a cubiculum; black and white mosaic floor; much decoration lost, but cubiculum retains bed recess.
Small Room (f, North Side of Atrium): Provides access to service area and upper floor staircase.
Oecus (g, Northeast of Atrium): Features preserved Fourth-Style decoration, including an aedicula above a lower red frieze; lit by large window dividing it from tablinum.
Tablinum (h, Rear of Atrium): Opens off atrium rear; elaborate black and white mosaic floor with diamond shapes around a round copper tile.
Corridor (South of Tablinum): Leads to former peristyle area (now separate house); colonnade and inner court once accessible here.
Upper Floor: Gallery with railings on three sides, open on fourth; walls with paintings; rooms likely rented out post-62 CE.

Decorations, Artifacts, and Significance

Decorations span First Pompeian Style (fauces: polychrome marble imitation) and Fourth Style (atrium lower walls, oecus g: aedicula and red frieze; cubiculum c: green frescoes with Rape of Europa panel). Floors feature opus signinum (atrium, impluvium), red/white mosaic (cubiculum c), black/white (oecus d, tablinum with diamonds and copper tile), and scale-pattern mosaic (fauces). The false loggia in the atrium, with Ionic columns and latticework, creates architectural illusion, comparable to frescoes from Pella, Greece.
Artifacts include a statuette of Venus and dog-shaped table legs, indicating refined furnishings.