THE HOUSE OF THE SILVER WEDDING 301
ard adorned with a lion’s head. If we imagine a thick growth
of shrubs and flowers about the tank, we have the setting which
explains the tasteful decoration of the frigidarium in the Stabian
Baths (p. 185) and in the Baths near the Forum.
The pavement of the apodyterium is especially effective,
being composed of small bits of black, white, dark red, green,
and yellow marble and stone; near the rear wall a place for a
couch is left white.
The caldarium and the side of the tepidarium next to it
were provided with hollow walls; a hollow floor extended under
both rooms. In the left wall of the tepidarium is the bronze
mouth of a water pipe; perhaps in winter a cold bath was
taken here rather than in the swimming tank. In the caldarium
the niche for the labrum remains; the bath basin probably
stood opposite the entrance, where it could be easily heated
from the kitchen.
Above the broad hearth of the kitchen (j), which stands
against the wall adjoining the garden, are the vestiges of a
painting of the two Lares; near them a serpent is seen coiled
around an altar, on which is a large pine cone. At the end next
the caldarium is a depression in the floor, for convenience in
building a fire to heat the bath rooms. In the corner is a founda-
tion of masonry to support the vessel in which water was warmed
for the bath.
The colonnade at the left of the house (6), with its slender
eight-sided columns, seems to have been thrown down by the
earthquake of 63, and removed. In the place of four of the
columns an open-air triclinium was made, like that in the house
of Sallust. It is well preserved, and shows an interesting pecu-
liarity of construction. When the table was not in use, a jet of
water would spring from the foundation of masonry supporting
the round top. The water was conveyed by a lead pipe, and
at the rear of the colonnade one may still see the stopcock by
which the flow was regulated.
The stairway at the left of the small atrium (a) led to rooms
over the front of the house. Over the rooms at the rear, a bed-
room (7), a central room (3) taking the place of the tablinum,
and a corridor (e), was a dining room, the front of which was sup-