Evidence: Everyday Life Flashcards
housing, leisure activities, food and dining, clothing, health, baths, water supply, sanitation
Ornate Frescos
Baths
Significance of baths and their use as a social realm
Gender Separation
Baths
Separation of men and women in the baths indicate a social division
Frigidarium
Baths: Types of Baths
A cold bath.
- Demonstrates a knowdlege of health benefits
Tepidarium
Baths: Types of Baths
A warm bath
Calidarium
Baths: Types of Baths
A hot bath
The Stabian Baths
Baths: Evidence
The variety of baths in the Stabian Baths of Pompeii show its popularity.
The Central Thermae
Baths: Evidence
A bathing location in Herculaneum.
- Female area is significantly smaller and less elaborate than the men’s
- No frigidarium
Popular Activities
Leisure Activities
- Entertainment (gladitorial games, theatre, pantomimes etc.)
- Prostitution
- Gambling
- Drinking
- Visiting baths
- Playing sport/music
- Painting
The Lupanar
Leisure Activities: Evidence
A brothel in Pompeii.
Considered a social hub based on graffiti that included sports tournaments, advertisements and propaganda, as well as prostitution.
Pompeiian Amphitheatre
Leisure Activities: Evidence
- Could fit up to 20,000 people
- Location of gladiator fights, pantomimes etc.
- Centre of Pompeiian entertainment
Palaestra
Leisure Activities: Evidence
Sports field in Herculaneum.
Gladiators often trained here, evidenced by the helmets, tools and weapons found on site.
Men’s Baths (Thermae)
Leisure Activities: Evidence
Bath house in Herculaneum.
Divided into four sections for men and women, including changing rooms and wall cracks to store clothing. It included frigidariums, tepidariums and calidariums.
Fishbones in Macellum
Food and Dining: Evidence
Macellum - provisional market in Pompeii
Indicates that seafood was sold and consumed to the point of being a staple of diet in Pompeii.
Fresco of Political Candidate Distributing Bread
Food and Dining: Evidence
- Pompeii (idk where but less to remember!)
- Use of food as a political strategy
- Reveals that bread must have been an important part of the diet
- Supported by carbonised bread remains
Dolia in House of Neptune and Amphitrite
Food and Dining: Evidence
House of Neptune and Amphitrite is in Herculaneum.
Dolia for the storage of olive oil was found in the shop annexe, indicating the use of olive oil for cooking.
Thermapolium of Asselina
Food and Dining: Evidence
Thermapolia (serve ready-made food) in Herculaneum.
Indicates that it was common for individuals to eat out.
Statue of Eumachia
Clothing: Evidence
Pompeii
Eumachia - wealthy freedwoman, business woman and priestess
Palla - a type of cloak worn by women when outdoors; a woven rectangle fastened by brooches, meant to cover the woman from head to toe (yay modesty!)
Painting from the Lararium of the House of the Vettii
Clothing: Evidence
Pompeii
Magistrates - government officials of high rank
Toga praetexta - a white toga with a purple border, easily recognisable as a symbol of status
Bronze Statue form the Villa of the Papyri
Clothing: Evidence
Herculaneum
Unnamed woman
Stola - a long, pleated, sleeveless robe that could be worn by Roman wives to symbolise their modesty in marriage; also worn by priestesses
Statue of Marcus Nonius Balbus
Clothing: Evidence
Herculaneum
Balby - a member of the senatorial elite and an influencial political figure
Knee-length tunic with a belt, identifying him as a working man despite his status.
Surgical Tools from the House of the Surgeon
Health: Evidence
- Only evidence of medical practice in Pompeii
- Over forty instruments (bronze or steel)
- Similarity to modern tools reveal the advancement of the health industry
Fresco from the House of Siricus
Health: Evidence
Pompeii
- Shows a surgery occurring on the leg of the Greek hero Aeneas
- Shows that even painful surgeries were operated on conscious patients
River Sarno
Water Supply
Pompeii’s main source of water.
- Serinum aqueduct brought water into the city
- Stored in the castellum aquae (water tank), near the Vesuvian Gate
- Siphoned into three main pipes to feed into latrines, baths and public fountains
Bold can be used as sources!
Bath Tap
Water Supply: Evidence
Pompeii
The intricate taps may have been found on the baths at the villas of the wealthy elite.
Water Fountain
Water Supply: Evidence
Herculaneum
Three water fountains have been excavated in the city, one of which is carved with a gargoyle head.
Waste in Pompeii
Sanitation
Sewage system was…inadequate.
Waste flushed out onto the streets, hence stepping stones and high paths.
Waste in Herculaneum
Sanitation
Complex underground sewage system resulted in superior hygiene and cleanliness.
Latrines
Sanitation
It’s a toilet.
Flowing water moved the waste along so no flush-flush.
Private Latrine
Sanitation: Evidence
Pompeii
- Would have been found in luxury villas
Stepping Stones
Sanitation: Evidence
Pompeii
Tall steping stones allowed people to cross the road without stepping in flowing waste 🤮
Public Latrine
Sanitation: Evidence
Herculaneum’s communal latrines consisted of consecutive holes in a stone bench.
Public latrines commonly had no cubicles and could accomodate up to 20 people at a time.
Domus/Atrium house
Housing
- Earliest type of homes
- Had a hortus (back garden) instead of a peristyle
- E.g. House of Sallust in Pompeii
Peristyle House
Housing
- Peristyle is 4-sided colonnade surrounding an inner courtyard
- Introduction of peristyle reflected Greek influence and a changing focus on the atrium as a formal reception area
- Tablinum was as the meetng area and the peristyle garden was the main domestic area
Entry to houses
Housing
- Fauces (neck) is a narrow entryway that opens into the Atrium
Fauces funnel
Parts of an atrium
Housing
- Atrium is the first room of the house, led into by the fauces
- Each atrium has a hole in the roof called a compluvium
- Rainwater that fell through the compluvium collected in the impluvium, a pool
Rooms off the atrium:
- Tablinum (reception room in houses with a peristyle garden)
- Cubicula or bedrooms
Impluvium features
Housing
- A shallow pool in the centre of the atrium, beneath the compluvium
- Water drained from the impluvium into a cistern beneath it. From this, it could be drawn using a well
- Some had mosaic floors. In the House of the Faun, the impluvium had a Faun statue in the middle of it
Tablinum
Housing
- A reception room located off the atrium
Lararium
Housing
- Sacred household shrine located in the atrium
- Can be found in the houses of the wealthy, e.g. House of the Centenary of Julius Polybius
Staircases
Housing
- House of the Beautiful Courtyard in Herculaneum had an atria which was replaced with a courtyard and staircase leading to the upper floor
Culina
Housing
- Kitchen
- Consisted of a hearth for cooking and a sink with a drain pipe that fed into the drain of the adjoining latrine
- E.g. House of the Vettii: original bronze pots and pans can be seen in the kitchen
Triclinium
Housing
- Dining room
- E.g. House of Julia Felix had stone benches
- Larger houses had 2 triclinia: summer and winter
- Summer triclinia was outside and refreshed by fountains
