DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0287
23O
POMPEII
Various divinities are painted on the outside of houses. The
largest picture of this kind is at the corner of Abbondanza
Street, on the east side of Insula VIII. iii. It contains figures
of the twelve gods, distinguished by their attributes — Vesta,
Diana, Apollo, Ceres, Minerva, Jupiter, Juno, Vulcan, Venus
Fig. 102. — Large street altar.
Pompeiana, Mars, Nep-
tune, and Mercury. Un-
derneath are the two ser-
pents, facing each other,
on either side of a painted
altar; near the altar are
other figures that cannot
be plainly distinguished,
probably of men offering
sacrifice. This is not a
shrine — there is no place
for the offerings. The
owner of the property
(house of the Boar), de-
sired to place his house-
hold under the protection
of these gods, perhaps
also to preserve the cor-
ner from defilement.
We often find roughly
sketched figures of sin-
gle gods, to the guardian
care of whom the master of a house wished to commit his inter-
ests— most frequently Mercury, the patron divinity of traders,
and Bacchus; but also Jupiter, Minerva, and Hercules.
Sometimes merely a pair of serpents are painted on a wall, in
order to give a religious association to the place, as a means of
protection. In one case (east side of Insula VI. xi) an explicit
warning is scratched on the plaster beside them : Otiosis locus
hie non est; disccde, morator, — ‘ No place for loafers here; move
alone:! ’
POMPEII
Various divinities are painted on the outside of houses. The
largest picture of this kind is at the corner of Abbondanza
Street, on the east side of Insula VIII. iii. It contains figures
of the twelve gods, distinguished by their attributes — Vesta,
Diana, Apollo, Ceres, Minerva, Jupiter, Juno, Vulcan, Venus
Fig. 102. — Large street altar.
Pompeiana, Mars, Nep-
tune, and Mercury. Un-
derneath are the two ser-
pents, facing each other,
on either side of a painted
altar; near the altar are
other figures that cannot
be plainly distinguished,
probably of men offering
sacrifice. This is not a
shrine — there is no place
for the offerings. The
owner of the property
(house of the Boar), de-
sired to place his house-
hold under the protection
of these gods, perhaps
also to preserve the cor-
ner from defilement.
We often find roughly
sketched figures of sin-
gle gods, to the guardian
care of whom the master of a house wished to commit his inter-
ests— most frequently Mercury, the patron divinity of traders,
and Bacchus; but also Jupiter, Minerva, and Hercules.
Sometimes merely a pair of serpents are painted on a wall, in
order to give a religious association to the place, as a means of
protection. In one case (east side of Insula VI. xi) an explicit
warning is scratched on the plaster beside them : Otiosis locus
hie non est; disccde, morator, — ‘ No place for loafers here; move
alone:! ’