Roman Domestic Religion
THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF
PP138
House of the Ceii (I. vi. 15)
Cult Space Type:
Cult Room
Date:
79 A.D.
Associated
Cult Spaces:
-
Structural type:
Sacrarium
Room function:
Sacrarium/Cult Room
Description:
Located off the southwest corner of the garden was a cult room. The room had an irregular rectangular plan with a window opening onto the garden on the northwest wall and a small ionic semi-column leaning against the door jamb on the right of the entrance. Wall paintings, both within the room and on its exterior walls, are attributed to the fourth style. Inside the room, the paintings, on a white background, all have a red plinth on which plants sat. The middle register included depictions of cupids bearing Isiac ritual objects such as a situla, a crown of roses, a tambourine, and a drinking horn. In the upper, was another crowned figure, perhaps a Maenad, with a thyrsus and a sceptre. On the wall paintings outside the room, Isiac elements also appear.
References:
Allison 2004, p. 211; Bassani 2008, pp. 216-217 (#28)
Image reference:
Haug 2014 (Via Pompeii in Pictures)