5. Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous: Houses and Villas at Pompeii

Roman Architecture (HSAR 252)

Professor Kleiner discusses domestic architecture at Pompeii from its beginnings in the fourth and third centuries B.C. to the eruption of Vesuvius in A.D. 79. She describes the plan of the ideal domus italica and features two residences that conform to that layout. She then presents the so-called Hellenized domus that incorporates elements of Greek domestic architecture, especially the peristyle court with columns. The primary example is the famous House of the Faun with its tetrastyle atrium, double peristyles, and floor mosaic of the battle between Alexander the Great and Darius of Persia at Issus, a Roman copy of an original Greek painting. She concludes by highlighting the suburban Villa of the Mysteries and notes the distinction between plans of Roman houses and those of Roman villas.

00:00 - Chapter 1. Introduction and the Ideal Domus Italica
15:28 - Chapter 2. Early Pompeian Houses and the Ideal Hellenized Domus
25:07 - Chapter 3. Hellenized Houses in Pompeii
38:32 - Chapter 4. Chapter 4. The House of the Faun
54:00 - Chapter 5. Additional Pompeian Houses

Complete course materials are available at the Open Yale Courses website: http://open.yale.edu/courses

This course was recorded in Spring 2009.