V.4.1 Pompeii. House and bakery. Linked to V.4.2.

Excavated 1841, 1890 and 1901. Bombed in 1943.

Part 1      Part 2

V.4.1 Pompeii. March 2018. Looking north towards entrance doorway on Via di Nola, in centre, with V.4.2, centre right.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

V.4.1 Pompeii. October 2023. Entrance doorway. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

V.4.1 Pompeii. May 2005. Entrance on Via di Nola.

This doorway led to a bakery linked with a dwelling, of which the front half had already been excavated up until 1890.

Thus, from the material used, mainly predominated by limestone (Sarno stone), this house dated back to a rather ancient time, and only in later times would have been used as a bakery, as seen by the remains of decoration of the second style in the upper floor,

The doorway, once fitted with a door, led into the long and narrow entrance corridor/fauces “A”, with brick floor, in which to the right were the doorways leading into the shop at V.4.2 and with the stable “B” lit up by three windows, two overlooking into the shop and the third into the corridor; and to the left opened the entrance to a second stable “C”, linked with a third “D”. Certainly, we will not be surprised by the presence of these three stables, if one thinks of the use of animals of burden, which a bakery would have needed.

V.4.1 Pompeii. Plan from NdS.

See Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1901, p. 256 fig. 1.

The narrow corridor “A” opened into passageway “E”, where to the right was cubiculum “F”, which received its light from the adjacent garden “H”, and to the left was the kitchen/latrine “G”.

From passageway “E”, one entered into a type of atrium “I”, in whose west wall was an opening for a doorway that had been walled-up by the ancients.

To the east of this atrium was situated the small garden “H”, discovered some time ago, and decorated with now destroyed representations of xenia (hospitality) and garden views. (see photo of garden “H”, Notizie degli Scavi, 1891, p.272 and description by Jashemski.)

At the foot of the north, east and south walls was a flowerbed, interrupted in the middle of the facing, east wall by a podium, faced with marble, above which was a shallow niche embedded into the wall, and also faced with marble slabs. The flowerbed along the south wall had in its south-west corner the place for a cistern with a grooved travertine puteal and a masonry podium, also covered with red plaster.

On the north side of the atrium “I”, was the room “L” reduced in past times to a cupboard (apotheca) or small storeroom to keep the bread on shelves, the holes for the supports can be seen in the walls; the room for the stairs “a” which leads to the upper floor, and the passageway “M” by which one entered into the bakery proper and where to the left, it had an entrance to a second latrine “b” placed in the understairs of the said stairway.

The bakery “O” contained three mills “c”, of which only one was in situ and on whose upside-down catillus there was the remains of a red initial P: the oven “d” with a recess for its fuel, several podiums for supporting the tables on which the bread was manipulated, and some masonry basins/vats “e”. At the foot of the oven an iron shovel was found. The area where they stood was slabbed/paved.

At the rear of the bakery, opened room “P” with two doorways, not yet completely excavated, and which would have been in direct contact with the oven “d” by means of a rectangular hole, which would have been used in the appropriate part of the preparing and storage of the loaves.

The walls, especially the southern and the western walls, were filled with inscriptions and signs drawn by the workers of the bakery. Here I write the most important graffiti epigraphs:

SOUTH WALL, on white plaster:

1.   In rather large letters:

According to Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby (See www.manfredclauss.de) this is

German[3]um vicisse in annos II M      [CIL IV 6734]

2.   Not an easy reading: I was able to decipher only:

3.   In elegant letters:

According to Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby (See www.manfredclauss.de) this is

VIII Idus Novembr(es) / Stephanus      [CIL IV 6732]

4.

5. Two “molae” graffiti, underneath they read:

According to Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby (See www.manfredclauss.de) this is

Ex XIIII K(alendas) Apriles diaria reliquimus      [CIL IV 6733]

According to Hunink, V. (2011). Glucklich ist dieser Ort! 1000 Graffiti aus Pompeji (p.129)-

Found at the entrance of the Bakery - CIL IV 6733. EX XIIII K(ALENDAS) APRILES DIARIA RELIQVIMVS

WEST WALL, on white plaster:

6.

According to Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby (See www.manfredclauss.de) this is

Pcuidxxqee      [CIL IV 6739]

7.

8. Deeply graffitied:

The upper floor, reached by the stairway at “a”, extended over all the front part of the bakery, while it seems that the mezzanines above the oven and to the room “P”, would have been part of the adjacent house.

See Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1901, p.255-258.

V.4.1 Pompeii. March 2018.

Pilaster in exterior south-west corner at junction of Vicolo di Lucrezio Frontone and Via di Nola.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

V.4.1 Pompeii. Pre-1937-39.

Looking towards bakery wall on east side of Vicolo di Lucrezio Frontone from Via di Nola.

Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 014.

V.4.1 Pompeii. March 2018. Looking north along east side of Vicolo di Lucrezio Frontone, with side wall of bakery, on right.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

Vicolo di Lucrezio Frontone, east side, Pompeii. March 2018.

Looking north towards south-west corner of V.4.1 at junction with Via di Nola.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

V.4.1 Pompeii. March 2018. Looking north towards front façade with entrance doorway, in centre.

Foto Annette Haug, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Entrance.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking north across site of small garden on east side of atrium.

Nothing much remains.

According to Jashemski, this small garden area had a masonry planting bed at the base of the north, east and south walls.

The cistern puteal was near the south-west corner. Against the east wall was a podium.

There were remains of a garden painting above the plantings.

See Jashemski, W. F., 1993. The Gardens of Pompeii, Volume II: Appendices. New York: Caratzas. (p.116)

According to Boyce, the podium was an altar. In the wall above it was a shallow niche.

The inside walls of the niche were originally covered with slabs of white marble.

See Boyce G. K., 1937. Corpus of the Lararia of Pompeii. Rome: MAAR 14.  (p.39, no.117)

V.4.1 Pompeii. 1961. Looking north. The site of the small garden is on east side of atrium, on right.  Photo by Stanley A. Jashemski.

Source: The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections (See collection page) and made available under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License v.4. See Licence and use details.

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According to NdS –

In the room decorated with edibles, on the north wall and precisely in the panel representing a hunt, there was graffito -

And on the same wall, on the red band on the right, there was also graffiti: (See CIL IV 1597 and 1766 (VII.7.32))

See Notizie degli Scavi, 1891, p.272.

Drawing of COMVNIIM graffito, CIL IV 1597, referred to in NdS.

Photo © Epigraphik-Datenbank  Clauss / Slaby.

According to Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby (See www.manfredclauss.de) this read

Communem nummum dividendum censio est nam noster nummus

magna(m) habet pecuniam   [CIL IV, 1597]

According to Hunink this was from an unknown location on Via Nolana.

He translates it as

Die Stadtkasse sollen wir teilen, meiner Meinung nach, denn unsere Kasse, hat viel Geld.

See Hunink, V., 2011. Glücklich ist dieser Ort! 1000 Graffiti aus Pompeji. Stuttgart: Philipp Reclam, p. 343 n. 1012.

VII.7.32 Pompeii. Drawing of similar graffito CIL IV 1766 from the Temple of Apollo.

See Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum Vol. IV, 1871. Berlin: Reimer, Tav. XXXII, 35.

According to the Epigraphic Database Roma CIL IV 1766 referred to in NdS is from VII.7.32 and read

Communem num[---].

V.4.1 Pompeii. May 2005. Looking north across rooms on east side.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking north at west side of atrium.

In the west wall, on the left, would have been a walled-up doorway, leading into Vicolo di M L Frontone.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Stone steps “a” to upper floor.

Below the stairs and reached by a doorway in the east wall at the north end was a second latrine.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Room “L” on west side of stone steps to upper floor.

In the north wall were the holes for supporting the shelves, on which the baked bread was placed.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. South side of oven.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Oven.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. East side of oven.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking west to oven. One of the two doorways to the rear room is on the right.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Bakery area with mills, looking south from near oven.

V.4.2 Pompeii but shown as V.5.2 on photo. Pre-1937-39.

Looking north-east across bakery area towards second doorway to rear room “P”.

Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1251.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking north through “second” doorway into rear room “P” of bakery area.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking west in room “P” to rear of bakery area.

According to NdS,

“A small excavation was carried out on 13^th January 1910 in the presence of Lady Aberdeen, Vice-regent of Ireland and her entourage, in the small rustic room at the rear of the house at V.4.1 on the Via di Nola.

Other than many terracotta items of no value, a bronze bucket of oval shape was found, 0.28m high, with a wide mouth and arched moveable handles of iron, broken and restored by the ancients by means of coarse lead solders (Inv.100).”

See Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1910, p. 331.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking east in room “P” to rear of bakery area.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Room to rear of bakery area, with opening into side of oven.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Bakery area.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking south to the remains of the front of the house.

According to Garcia y Garcia, this area was bombed during the night of 16th September 1943.

This caused the destruction of the atrium and of the three rooms to the east. Part of the eastern perimeter wall also fell.

Garcia y Garcia said that in 1982, in one of these rooms he could see a large abyss caused by the subsidence of the floor into the underneath cistern.

Perhaps this was the place where the bomb fell.

See Garcia y Garcia, L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider. (p.62)

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Collapsed floor on east side of entrance corridor.

V.4.1 Pompeii. June 2012. Collapsed floor. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

V.4.1 Pompeii. May 2005. Collapsed floor.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Third room on west side from the front of the house, room “G”, kitchen/latrine.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Looking from third room “G” on west side through doorway into second room “D” and to front room “C”.

According to NdS, room “G” was a kitchen/latrine, rooms “C” and “D” were stables.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Bench or table in front room “C”, a stable on west side of the house.

V.4.1 Pompeii. June 2012. Looking west through doorway to front room “C”, with cistern mouth?

Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.

V.4.1 Pompeii. December 2007. Cistern mouth? in front room “C” on west side of the house.

Part 2