The ᴀssociation between Herculaneum and Mount Vesuvius goes way back to 79 AD, where the fateful eruption of the volcano smothered this town under pyroclastic material.
While this event was tragic, no doubt, it led to the unintended consequence of preserving houses, mosaics and other artifacts remarkably under volcanic debris. Among these ruins was discovered the House of Neptune, a relatively small yet ornately decorated dwelling that’s believed to be owned by a sea merchant. It is best known for the mosaic depicting Neptune, the Roman sea god and his sea-nymph wife, Amphitrite.
Read on to know what makes visiting this house stand out from others in Herculaneum.
Features of the House of Neptune
Compared to other houses in Herculaneum, the House of Neptune was not very big in size. Besides a shop and a couple of rooms, the most interesting aspect of the house is the open-air courtyard. The dining room adjacent to the courtyard is also small, and has red walls. Frescoes that adorned its insides are now in the Archeological Museum of Naples. The dining room and a few other rooms were connected to a mid-sized atrium.
One noteworthy feature of the atrium is the presence of a shrine in a corner, called a lararium. Some remnants of the lararium are now part of the Naples Archeological Museum. The few rooms in the second floor of the house also contain inscriptions and paintings that reflect the taste and of the owner and the lives of its occupants.
House of Neptune | Architectural highlights
Triclinium
The courtyard also served as a summer dining room. The word triclinium was derived from the 3-sided couch that surrounds the dining table. In the House of Neptune, the triclinium comprises a stone bench that still survives. Here, you can see still lifes of cherries and roosters, a spread of fruit, etc. consistent with the xenia theme of impressing guests with the lavish spread available at home.
The shop in the House of Neptune
One of the best preserved shops in antiquity, the shop (outside the House of Neptune and facing the street) likely served food and wine. The amphorae, or jars used to store wine, oil, etc. are still remarkably preserved. It also had a niche that is ᴀssumed to be a stove that could heat up customers’ food. The shop also had a door that connected it to the main house. It is unclear whether the owner of the house himself ran the shop, or whether it was leased to someone else on their property.
The carbonization of wood led to the preservation of lofts and a sliding lattice door inside the shop. It also preserved food remains of chickpeas and fava beans.
