IX.13.5 Pompeii. House of M. Fabius Ululitremulus.

Casa dei Fabi or House of the Fabii.

Linked to IX.13.4 and IX.13.6. Partly excavated 1913, 1970.

IX.13.5 Pompeii. May 2005. Entrance doorway, house – not excavated.

IX.13.5 Pompeii, centre left, with IX.13.6, centre right. October 2022. Looking north-east to doorways. Photo courtesy of Klaus Heese.

IX.13.5 Pompeii, centre right. December 2018.

Looking towards entrance doorways on north side of Via dell’Abbondanza. Photo courtesy of Aude Durand.

IX.13.5 Pompeii, centre right. October 2017.  

Looking towards entrance doorways on north side of Via dell’Abbondanza.

Foto Taylor Lauritsen, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

IX.13.5 Pompeii, centre right. October 2017. Detail of upper doorway.

Foto Taylor Lauritsen, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

IX.13.5 Pompeii, centre right. October 2017. Detail of doorway.

Foto Taylor Lauritsen, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

IX.13.5 Pompeii, on right. October 2017. Detail of doorway threshold, at west end, with pilaster dividing IX.13.4, on left.

Foto Taylor Lauritsen, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

IX.13.5 Pompeii, on left. October 2017. Detail of doorway threshold, at east end, with pilaster dividing IX.13.6, on right.

Foto Taylor Lauritsen, ERC Grant 681269 DÉCOR.

IX.13.5 Pompeii. December 2005. House – centre doorway – not excavated.

According to Della Corte, found on the west (left) of the entrance doorway was a graffito –

Fabius Ululitremulus cum Sula rog(at)     [CIL IV 7963]

Also found were names of other dependants of Fabio –

(Fullones) Calamus, Leno, Pegte (?)   [CIL IV 9125-9132]

Ephebus, Ricinus, Gerulus (or Glerus)  [CIL IV 9116]

See Della Corte, M., 1965. Case ed Abitanti di Pompei. Napoli: Fausto Fiorentino. (p.337)

According to Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby (See www.manfredclauss.de), these read as –

C(aium)  Cuspium  Pansam  et

L(ucium)  Popidium  L(uci)  f(ilium)  Secundum  aed(iles)  o(ro)  v(os)  f(aciatis)

Fabius  Ululitremulus  cum  Sul(l)a  rog(at)       [CIL IV 7963]

Fullones       [CIL IV 9125a]
Fullones       [CIL IV 9125b]
Fullo[nes]    [CIL IV 9125c]

Roma       [CIL IV 9126a]
Roma       [CIL IV 9126b]

Scripsit  Calamus  cum  atramentario  Leno  E[p]hebus  hac       [CIL IV 9127]

Fullones

Ricino  Pegte  rog(at)           [CIL IV 9128a]

Fullones  Pegte  rog(at)       [CIL IV 9128b]

Fullones  Eno  Cn(aei)  f(ilio)  Rul[l]i  roga(mus)       [CIL IV 9129]

Mortu(u)s

Cirulus

Nonas

poste[r]u    [CIL IV 9132]

Mortu(u)s

Gloerus

posteru Nonas      [CIL IV 9116]

IX.13.5 Pompeii, in centre. 1961.

Looking towards doorways to IX.13.4, IX.13.5 and IX.13.6 on north side of Via dell’Abbondanza. 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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IX.13.5 Pompeii. December 2005. Entrance doorway. 

There was a small painting on either side of the doorway.  

These were surrounded by the chessboard decoration still visible at IX.13.6. 

Aeneas was on the right-hand side of the door and Romulus on the left.  

See Fröhlich, T., 1991, Lararien und Fassadenbilder in den Vesuvstädten. Mainz: von Zabern. (F72, p. 339/40).

IX.13.5 Pompeii. May 2005. Remains of painted plaster between IX.13.4 and IX.13.5.

Visible on the left of the plaster is one red square of the checkerboard pattern that covered the façade.

Visible on the right of the plaster are the remains of the figure of Romulus, head, shoulder and cloak.

IX.13.5 Pompeii. Copies by A. Sanarica of paintings of Romulus and Aeneas.

See Spinazzola V., 1953. Pompei alla luce degli Scavi Nuovi di Via dell’Abbondanza (anni 1910-1923). Roma: La Libreria della Stato, Tav. XVII.

IX.13.5 Pompeii. 1915. Entrance with walls decorated with a checkerboard pattern and paintings of Romulus and Aeneas.

Photograph courtesy of Parco Archeologico di Pompei.

IX.13.5 Pompeii. 1913. Painting of Romulus carrying a trophaeon.

See Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1913, p. 145.

IX.13.5 Pompeii. Graffito found on left side of entrance doorway (now lost).

Fullones ululamque cano non arma virumq(ue)       [CIL IV 9131]
According to Della Corte, the previous inscription was the well-known couplet QVISQVIS AMAT VALEAT PEREAT and perhaps this following inscription was intended to be a hexameter in which, as it seems, a hymn (?) where the owl (ulula), the bird sacred to Minerva, protector of the fullones, is contrasted with the song of the Aeneid.

See Della Corte in Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1913, p. 147-8.

According to Milner, quoting Della Corte 1913, this was found on the left hand side of the doorway beneath the inscription quisquis amat valeat pereat.

Della Corte thought the two inscriptions were in the same hand.

See Milner, K., 2014. Graffiti and the Literary Landscape in Roman Pompeii. Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. 250, p. 264.

According to Cooley, a graffito was found on the façade near the picture of Aeneas –

Fullones ululamque cano, non arma virumque    [CIL IV 9131]

She translated it as –

“I sing of fullers and an owl, not of arms and a man” 

She said that this graffito had been modified from the famous opening words of the Aeneid, well-known by and often quoted by the Pompeians.

The original was written as “arma virumque cano” (translation – I sing of arms and a man).

The owl was a symbol of fullers, because of its link with their patroness, Minerva. 

The parody also puns on the fuller’s name (ululam cano).

See Cooley, A. and M.G.L., 2004. Pompeii: A Sourcebook. London: Routledge. (p.71-2)

See also Garcia y Garcia, L., 2005. Pupils, Teachers and Schools in Pompeii. Roma: Bardi editore. (p.142)

IX.13.5 Pompeii. 1913. Painting of Aeneas, his father Anchises and son Ascanius fleeing from Troy.

See Notizie degli Scavi di Antichità, 1913, p. 144.

IX.13.5 Pompeii. May 2005. Remains of painted plaster between IX.13.5 and IX.13.6.

When excavated it would have had a small painting of Aeneas, surrounded by a chessboard pattern.

See Varone, A. and Stefani, G., 2009. Titulorum Pictorum Pompeianorum, Rome: L’erma di Bretschneider, (p.469,471-72)

IX.13.5 Pompeii. Remains of painted plaster between IX.13.5 and IX.13.6