The House of Vettii: A Holy "Brothel"
The
House of the Vettii: A Holy “Brothel”
A
Primary Source Research Paper
Borja,
E.M., Dilla, C.G., Nombre, E.J., Pinos, C.P.
Presented
to Dr. Rey Gonzales
29,
November, 2016
Introduction
When
Mt. Vesuvius in Italy erupted in AD 79, it was so destructive that
Roman cities including Pompeii, were buried in ashes. They were left
forgotten for nearly two thousand years until the 1700’s when
Europeans became curious about what happened to the cities.1
Excavators were astonished when they discovered that majority of the
houses remained intact, and numerous material culture were
well-preserved. These included murals, mosaics, statues, and even
people.2
Along with their preservation are the glimpses it offers into the
ancient life.3
It is therefore the interest of the researchers to investigate one
of these archeological findings in Pompeii in order to draw
conclusions that would offer additional knowledge on the life in
Ancient Rome. Theresearchers
investigated the House
of the Vettii,
a Roman domus popular today for its astounding preservation. By
investigating this relic, the researchers assert that this house was
in fact a religious structure associated with fertility and not
merely an ordinary domus.
Pompeii
was founded by Samnite settlers in 6th
century BCE and later came under the Roman authority by 209 BCE
(Aldrete 221). Ever since, the small settlement expanded into a city
which started to incorporate Roman values (Aldrete 221). During these
times, Pompeii also experienced economic prosperity and was
considered to be one of the richest cities in Rome.4
The wealthy citizens exhibited this opulence by constructing lavish
homes with articualte designs.
The
House of the Vetti
One
house that exemplied this is the House of the Vetti. Excavated
between late 1894 and early 1896, it covers an area of 1,100
square meters at the northwestern section of Pompeii (refer to figure
1 and 2) (Becker). This luxurious domus in Roman and Hellenistic
design was owned by two freedmen brothers, Aulus
Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus5
.
According to historians, they were successful businessmen who used
their fortune in building their domus.6
This house is rich with well-preserved paintings, and sculptures that
show portrayals and allusions to sexuality and pornography.
Sexually
- charged Arts
One
example is the fresco of Priapus, an ithyphallic god7
often portrayed with a very enormous penis.8
The fresco depicts the deity measuring the weight of his erect penis
(see figure 3). It is located at the entrance of the domus which
connotes that the god is the ward of the household against wrong
doers.9
The
triclinium
(see
figure 4) or the dining room is also remarkable. It contains a
meter-long decorative band on the wall or showing images of cupids
and psyches performing varied human activities.10
Sexual implications in these relics are found in the characters of
Cupid and Psyche. Scholars argue that this picture was a way for the
Vettii to show their competence in Greek culture and capability in
marketing strategy. However, this can also be more than just an
advertisement. Psyche and Cupid are mythological figures associated
with love and depicted in near-pornographic themes such as in
Metamorphoses, written by Ovid few decades before the Vettii House
construction (2-8 AD).11
The
peristylium
or the courtyard is another unique feature (see figure 5). In most
Pompeian houses, this is large enough to receive visitors, but in the
Vettii House, it is much larger.12
The enlarged size could have been designed for a bigger reception of
people. The vista offered by this portion includes a symmetrically
laid out garden, black-painted walls with more details and statues of
Paris, Dionysus and some satyrs- which are all symbols of fertility, pleasure
or sex. Several paintings of the same gods and their famous scenes
are also present in other parts of the house.
These
remarkable and recurrent themes of sex and pornography are not found
in this house alone. In fact, for citizens of Pompeii, sexuality is
religious and sexual pleasure may have been central in their cult and
worship.13
The reverence of Priapus is just one of many religious-sexual
practices in Pompeii.14
As said by Harris, “In Pompeii, erotic pictures were not a vulgar
exception, they were the rule.”15
A
typical Domus Plan
The
layout of the House of Vettii also has an underlying implication to
its history. There are numerous features that make up the domus.
However, in the case of the House of Vettii, it lacked some
structures that were deemed staple(See appendices).
First
is the tablinum,
which is the master study room where the paterfamilias16
would greet his elite clients during transactions. It is prominently
located between the atrium17
and
peristylium,
and is a very essential part of the domus as it is where family
records and imagines18
were stored. Most importantly, the tablinum could be considered as
the heart of a domus, since most of the family’s memorabilia are
displayed here (Fife).
Another
missing feature are the alae
(singular:
ala),
which
are rooms on either wing of the atrium. In wealthy families, however,
the alae could be used as a storage room for the
security
of chest boxes and other family valuables. It is a given, then, that
the alae will be placed approximately adjacent the tablinum.19
Both
the tablinum and alae were rooms for personal resource, and
therefore, the absence of both accommodations depict the indifference
of the owners towards the value of domestic relations in a home. It
is then clear that disclosure of family information, whether in paper
or works of art, is quite controlled.
The
lack of shops (tabernae),
which are supposedly found open to the streets near the
entrance-should also be considered. Rather than using these spaces
for business, the owners were believed to have converted them in
rooms of storage. This unusual set-up implies that the alternative
use of these rooms could have been more important than the income the
shops offered.
From
the ignorance of economic affairs due to the absence the tabernae;
to the indifference in domestic relations due to the lack of the
tablinum
and alae,
the
House of Vettii defies the common notion of a Roman home. Adding the
recurrent themes of sexuality and fertility from the artifacts found,
the House of the Vettii must have been a worship house or venue for
carrying out the cult of Priapus. Religious activities could have been
done in large space at the peristylium.
Furthermore,
a closer inspection of the existing floor plans of the House of the
Vettii (see Figure 6) a small room at the left side of the kitchen
will be observed. This the cubiculum,
smaller bedrooms , or antechamber for servants which surround the
peristylium. The presence of vivid
pornographic paintings (see figure 7) in these rooms imply that these
private chambers were in fact, sex chambers; where visitors were
expected to receive sexual services from prostitutes.20
Take note, however, that prostitution or brothels in general, were
not considered as a flaw in their society. In fact, as all remaining
artifacts discovered at the ruins of the House of the Vettii
suggests, these sexual acts were even celebrated through the spouses
of religion.
Conclusion
Given
the evidences presented above, the researchers argue that the House
of the Vettii was dedicated as a place of worship. This assumption is
based on two proofs. First, the House of the Vettii diplays art that
are charged with sexual themes. Some of these portrays couples
copulating and of dieties associated with fertitlity. The people of
Pompeii had great reverence to these mythical creatures as they are
associated with protection and security21.
These are the only pieces that could be found in the House of Vettii
and nothing that portrays family relics which were typical of a
domus. This is the second evidence. The House of the Vettii lacked
features that are usually found in domestic Roman houses. For
instance, it lacks tablinum
(room dedicated for family relics and where business transactions
were done22).
Another, the house also lacks an alae where the family kept their
valuables. The absence of these parts only suggests that the domus
was not used domestically. In conlcusion, if the house of the Vetti
lacks rooms that are important in everyday life of ancient Romans and
if arts portraying religious fertility are the
ones consistently found inside the house, then it can be assumed that
the House of Vettii was indeed a place of worship.
Appendix
A
floor plan of a typical Roman domus
Figure
1. Map of Pompeii. The red figure indicates the location of the House
of the Vettii
Figure
2. The Interior of the House of the Vettii
Figure 3. The painting of Priapus
Figure
4. The triclinium
Figure
5. Peristylium
Figure
6. Floor plan of the House of the Vettii
Works Cited
Allison,
Penelope M. "Casa dei Vettii." Pompeian Households: An
On-line Companion
www.stoa.org/projects/ph/house?id=18
. 2006.Web. 26 Nov. 2016
Becker,
Jeffrey. Pompeii: House of Vettii.
painting/a/pompeii-.
Web. 26 Nov. 2016
Harris,
Judith. “Pompeii Awakened”. New York: St Martin's Press, 2007.
119 – 131. Print.
Jashemski,
W.F.” Changing Viewpoints in the House of the Vettii Peristyle”
Rochelle NY:
Cartzas
Brothers. Print. 1979.
McManus,
Barbara. The Atrium. www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/atrium2.html.
2007. Web.
28
Nov.2016
Violanti,
M. The Roman Domus. 2013. www.ancient.eu. Web. 26 Nov. 2016
Warmus,
Therese. The Marriage Made in Heaven.
http://inside.fdu.edu/fdupress/0310020. 2003.
Web.
16 Nov 2016
1
Harris, Judith. Pompei
Awakened. New York: St Martin's Press,
2007. p x.
2
They are displayed in a museum in Italy today
3
Becker, Jeffrey. Pompeii:
House of Vettii. n.d. 26 November
2016.
www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ancient-art-civilizations/roman/wall-painting/a/pompeii-
4
There were 2,000 slaves in Pompeii before the AD 62 earthquake that
struck the city. After this, the rich upper class fleD Pompeii which
in turn thrust many slaves into upward mobility and became
“nouveau-riche”. See Harris, Judith.
Pompei Awakened.
New York: St Martin's Press, 2007.
5
The brothers’ names can be found on the preserved graffiti in
front of the house. Domus refers to a typical Roman house.
6
Allison, Penolope Mary. The
House of Vetti. http://web.mit.edu.
Web. 28 Nov 2016.
7
Loosely translated to “straight penis”. He is often portrayed to
have a very prominent phallus.
8
Harris 121
9
Harris 119
10
Violanti, M. The
Roman Domus. 11 August 2013.
www.ancient.eu. Web. 26 November 2016.
11
Warmus, Therese. The
Marriage Made in Heaven. 2003.
http://inside.fdu.edu/fdupress/0310020.
Web. 16 Nov 2016
12
Jashemski, W.F. Changing
Viewpoints in the House of the Vettii Peristyle.
Rochelle NY: Cartzas Brothers, 1979.
13
Harris 117
14
Harris 121
15
131
16
The master of the household
17
Large, central room; originally the bedroom of the mother of the
family
18
Busts of famous ancestors
19
McManus, Barbara. The
Atrium. February 2007. 28 November
2016.
20
Harris 121
21
Harris 121
22
Business transactions were done in the house in ancient Rome (Harris
117). For example, if a family engages in shoe making, for instance,
the actual selling of shoes would most likely take place in the
tablinum.
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