VII .7.29 Pompeii. Forum Holitorium, Foro
Olitorio, Forum Venale, Horrea Granariorum, Grain market, Vegetable market, Granai
del Foro, Granai Pubblici, Granaio, Poecile, School, Scuola.
Excavated 1816, 1822.
Now roofed and used as a deposito, a storage and display area. It is intended that this structure will become a museum dedicated to the history of the Forum and of the work carried out by craftsmen in the city, where the visitor will be able to see not only the finds but also the casts of the victims, alongside the objects that they carried with them during their escape.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. November 2012. Looking to the west side of the forum and the front of the pillars of the Granaio. Photo courtesy Mentnafunangann.
According to the web site of the Soprintendenza, “the building, narrow and elongated in shape, defines a stretch of the West side of the Civil Forum of Pompeii. It is shaped with a unique hall of considerable height, divided into two spaces by short cross walls. The facade on the Forum consists of a series of 'opus latericium' pillars flanking eight entrances. Inside, the building has a clay floor and does not preserve traces of wall coating. It is traditionally interpreted as a covered area for the sale of cereals and pulses.
Today it is the most important archaeological warehouse in the city and houses more than nine thousand finds from the excavations carried out in Pompeii and its territory since the end of the 19th century. It keeps the terracotta pottery that was used in the last decades of the city's life to carry out daily activities, such as pots and stoves for cooking, jugs and bottles, and amphorae, the large containers used to transport oil, wine and fish sauces from the whole Mediterranean. Also exhibited are marble tables and basins for fountains that adorned the entrances of the houses and some casts of victims of the eruption as well as that of a dog and a tree. The building was built after the earthquake of 62 AD. and perhaps it was not yet finished at the time of the eruption. This structure will become a museum dedicated to the daily life and the last moments of life of the inhabitants of the city, where the visitor will be able to see not only the finds but also the casts of the victims with the objects which they took with them during their escape.”
It has also been considered a space for public leisure. 19th century scholars saw a similarity with the Stoà Poikile in the ancient Agorà of Athens, hence they gave VII.7.29 the name poecile. They believed it had been a covered area, maybe decorated with paintings, where citizens could safely meet and walk.
See Mazois, F.,
1829. Les Ruines de Pompei : Troisième
Partie. Paris:
Didot Freres, pp. 57f.
More recently it has been suggested it was a public school. An inscription written by the master Sema was found on the nearby south-east corner of the precinct of the Temple of Apollo.
According to Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby (See www.manfredclauss.de) this read
Iulium Simplicem
/ aed(ilem) v(iis) a(aedibus) s(acris) p(ublicis) p(rocurandis) v(irum) b(onum)
d(ignum) r(ei) p(ublicae) o(ro) v(os) f(aciatis) Sema / cum pueris /
rog(at) [CIL IV, 668]
According to Bradley, this translates to
Teacher Sema with his boys, recommends Julius Simplex for the job.
See Bradley, P., 2013. Cities of Vesuvius: Pompeii and Herculaneum, 2nd Ed., Melbourne: Cambridge U.P., p. 118.
The building is also very similar to the porticoed building in a school scene in a painting now in Naples Archaeological Museum (see below), from II.4.3.
See Van Buren A. W., 1918. Studies in the archaeology of the Forum at Pompeii, MAAR 11, p. 74.
The building is spacious and high, and is also positioned next to the mensa ponderaria, the weights and measures bench, with bowls used as standards for liquid and dry measures, and which was usually placed close to a market. The building is currently identified as the forum holitorium, mainly devoted to the storage and sale of corn and legumes.
See Dyer, T., 1868. Pompeii: its history. Buildings and antiquities. London: Bell & Dandy, p. 110f.
According to De Sanctis, the lack of a way of isolating food from moisture, insects and rodents may mean it was a market and not a storage area. Its location means it would have been well heated in winter and hot in summer, so vegetable and farm products would have been sold in a single day.
II.4.3 Pompeii. April 2023. Paintings of the Forum frieze, on display in “Campania Romana” gallery in Naples Archaeological Museum.
In centre (inventory number 9066) – Lezione di lettura e punizione di scolaro. (Reading lesson and punishment of a pupil.)
Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.
II.4.3 Pompeii. Part of the “Forum Frieze” found in the atrium of II.4.3.
The punishment of a scholar, the painting that suggested VII.7.29 may have been a public school.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9066.
Two marble fragments of a clipeus, large monumental medallions used in architecture that imitate the shape of a shield.
On display in “Campania Romana” gallery in Naples Archaeological Museum. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. Items on display and in storage.
Photographed 1970-79 by Günther Einhorn, picture courtesy of his son Ralf Einhorn.
According to Garcia y Garcia, it was Maiuri that restored the pilasters of this building and formed it into a display area.
Mostly these items on display are clay amphorae and domestic items from the houses, shops and workshops.
For the most part without provenance and classified only by type and form.
The bombing of 13th September 1943 caused the demolition of the south perimeter and part of the west wall
At least two of the seven pilasters of the entrance doorways were also demolished.
In 1946 Maiuri again restored the pilasters and roof.
See Garcia y
Garcia, L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider. (p.116-7)
VII.7.29 Pompeii. 7th August 1976. Items on display in storage area.
Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer, from Dr George Fay’s slides collection.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. 7th August 1976. Items on display in storage area.
Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer, from Dr George Fay’s slides collection.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. 7th August 1976. Items on display in storage area.
Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer, from Dr George Fay’s slides collection.
VII.8 Pompeii Forum. Pre-1937-39. Looking towards west side and VII.7.30 and VII.7.29, before 1943 bombing.
Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic
Archive. Warsher collection no. 1122.
VII.8 Pompeii Forum. Pre-1937-39. Looking towards VII.7.29 before 2943 bombing.
Photo courtesy of American Academy in Rome, Photographic Archive. Warsher collection no. 1709.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2006. Looking west through entrance doorway towards items in storage.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. 2016/2017.
Tables and amphorae in storage. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Tables and amphorae in storage. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Tables and architectural items in storage. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2011. Columns in storage. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2011. Amphorae and jars in storage. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2011. Items in storage. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2006. Capitals and other items in storage.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2006. Items in storage.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2006. Looking west through entrance doorway towards items in storage.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. August 2021. Looking
west towards items in storage. Photo courtesy of Robert Hanson.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. August 2021. Looking west along north side
towards items in storage. Photo courtesy of Robert Hanson.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2002. Looking north across items in storage. Photo courtesy of David Hingston.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. October 2001. Looking north across items in storage. Photo courtesy of Peter Woods.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. 2016/2017. Items
in storage, and cart, looking north-west. Photo courtesy of Giuseppe Ciaramella.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. April 2018. Cart and items in storage,
looking south-west. Photo courtesy of Ian Lycett-King.
Use is subject to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
License v.4 International.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Cart and other items in storage. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Left front wheel of cart. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Rim on left rear wheel of cart. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Right wheels of cart. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Detail of right rear wheel of cart. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2018. Millstone from VII.16.19-22 House of Fabius Rufus in storage. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
PAP inventory number 57645.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2018. Puteal from I.13.8 in storage. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
PAP inventory number 44908.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. September 2015.
Terracotta puteal in storage,(from I.13.8?) with moulded decoration of columns and Bacchic figures. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
According to Roberts,
there are three scenes divided by columns each showing a Maenad with tambourine and castanets with seated figures, perhaps Bacchus, and satyrs playing the twin pipes (auloi).
See Roberts, P., 2013. Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum. London: British Museum Press, p. 153, fig. 167.
PAP inventory number 44908.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2011. Puteal in storage. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. September 2015. Item in storage.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2011. Plaster cast of body. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. October 2001. Plaster cast of body. Photo courtesy of Peter Woods.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. August 2021. Looking south across
items in storage. Photo
courtesy of Robert Hanson.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. October 2001. Looking south across items in storage. Photo courtesy of Peter Woods.