DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0455
388
POMPEII
foundations of three treading vats, and on the opposite side an
oblong depression in which the press was placed. The peristyle
contains three large basins of masonry for soaking and rinsing
the clothes. A jet of water fell into the one next the rear wall
(3), from which it ran into the other two through holes in the
sides. Along the wall is a raised walk (4) on a level with the
top of the basins, into which the workmen descended by means
of steps. At the ends of this walk are places for seven tread-
ing vats, five in one group, two in the other. The wall above is
Fig. 218.— Plan of a fullery.
decorated with a long
sketchy painting, in
which the fullers are
seen engaged in the
celebration of a festi-
val, — doubtless the
Quinquatrus, the feast
of Minerva; the cele-
bration is followed by
a scene before a magis-
trate, resulting from a
fight engaged in by the celebrants,
was found in the passage at m.
A mass of fuller’s earth
From the receipts found in the house of Caecilius Jucundus,
it appears that this thrifty Pompeian, in the years 56-60 A.D.,
rented a fullery belonging to the city. In view of the nearness
of this establishment to his house, it seems likely that he was in
charge of the business here. At the time of the eruption,
however, the enterprise was in the hands of Marcus Vesonius
Primus, who lived in the house next door (No. 20), where a por-
trait herm, dedicated to him by his cashier (arcarius'), stands in
the atrium ; the house is often called the house of Orpheus, from
the large painting on the rear wall of the garden.
To judge from the election notices painted on the front of the
fullery and on the houses at either side, Primus must have taken
an active interest in local politics. He was an ardent partisan,
as witness this inscription : Cn. Helvium aed. d. r. p. (for aedi-
lem, dignum re publico) Vesonius Primus rogat,—-‘Vesonius
Primus urges the election of Gnaeus Helvius as aedile, a man
POMPEII
foundations of three treading vats, and on the opposite side an
oblong depression in which the press was placed. The peristyle
contains three large basins of masonry for soaking and rinsing
the clothes. A jet of water fell into the one next the rear wall
(3), from which it ran into the other two through holes in the
sides. Along the wall is a raised walk (4) on a level with the
top of the basins, into which the workmen descended by means
of steps. At the ends of this walk are places for seven tread-
ing vats, five in one group, two in the other. The wall above is
Fig. 218.— Plan of a fullery.
decorated with a long
sketchy painting, in
which the fullers are
seen engaged in the
celebration of a festi-
val, — doubtless the
Quinquatrus, the feast
of Minerva; the cele-
bration is followed by
a scene before a magis-
trate, resulting from a
fight engaged in by the celebrants,
was found in the passage at m.
A mass of fuller’s earth
From the receipts found in the house of Caecilius Jucundus,
it appears that this thrifty Pompeian, in the years 56-60 A.D.,
rented a fullery belonging to the city. In view of the nearness
of this establishment to his house, it seems likely that he was in
charge of the business here. At the time of the eruption,
however, the enterprise was in the hands of Marcus Vesonius
Primus, who lived in the house next door (No. 20), where a por-
trait herm, dedicated to him by his cashier (arcarius'), stands in
the atrium ; the house is often called the house of Orpheus, from
the large painting on the rear wall of the garden.
To judge from the election notices painted on the front of the
fullery and on the houses at either side, Primus must have taken
an active interest in local politics. He was an ardent partisan,
as witness this inscription : Cn. Helvium aed. d. r. p. (for aedi-
lem, dignum re publico) Vesonius Primus rogat,—-‘Vesonius
Primus urges the election of Gnaeus Helvius as aedile, a man