House of the Centenary

The House of the Centenary (Italian Casa del Centenario, also known as the House of the Centenarian) was the house of a wealthy resident of Pompeii, preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. The house was discovered in 1879,^[1] and was given its modern name to mark the 18th centenary of the disaster.^[2] Built in the mid-2nd century BC,^[3] it is among the largest houses in the city, with private baths, a nymphaeum,^[4] a fish pond (piscina),^[5] and two atria.^[6] The Centenary underwent a remodeling around 15 AD, at which time the bath complex and swimming pool were added. In the last years before the eruption, several rooms had been extensively redecorated with a number of paintings.^[7]

Although the identity of the house's owner eludes certainty, arguments have been made for either Aulus Rustius Verus or Tiberius Claudius Verus, both local politicians.^[8]

Among the varied paintings preserved in the House of the Centenary is the earliest known depiction of Vesuvius,^[9] as well as explicit erotic scenes in a room that may have been designed as a private "sex club".^[10]

^ Massimiliano David, "A Chronology of the Excavations in Pompeii," in Houses and Monuments of Pompeii: The Works of Fausto and Felice Niccolini (Getty, 2002, originally published in Italian 1997), p. 219.
^ August Mau, Pompeii: Its Life and Art, translated by Francis W. Kelsey (Macmillan, 1907), p. 348; Roger Ling, "A Stranger in Town: Finding the Way in an Ancient City," Greece & Rome 37 (1990), p. 204.
^ Wilhelmina F. Jashemski, "The Vesuvian Sites before A.D. 79: The Archaeological, Literary, and Epigraphical Evidence," in The Natural History of Pompeii (Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 7; Jean Pierre Adam, Roman Building: Materials and Techniques (Routledge, 1999), p. 143.
^ James L. Franklin, Jr., Pompeis Difficile Est: Studies in the Political Life of Imperial Pompeii (University of Michigan Press, 2001), p. 147.
^ James Higginbotham, Piscinae: Artificial Fishponds in Roman Italy (University of North Carolina Press, 1997), pp. 22, 269.
^ Michele George, "Repopulating the Roman House," in The Roman Family in Italy: Status, Sentiment, Space (Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 307; Adam, Roman Building, p. 618.
^ John R. Clarke, Looking at Lovemaking: Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art 100 B.C.–A.D. 250 (University of California Press, 1998, 2001), p. 161.
^ Mau, Pompeii: Its Life and Art, p. 559, was a proponent of Claudius Verus, citing CIL IV.5229. Matteo Della Corte argued for Rusticus Verus, as discussed by Franklin, Pompeis Difficile Est, p. 134. Franklin finds Rusticus more likely than Claudius.
^ Annamaria Ciarallo, Gardens of Pompeii («L'Erma» di Bretschneider, 2001), p. 22; Haraldur Sigurdsson, "Mount Vesuvius before the Disaster," in The Natural History of Pompeii, p. 31.
^ Thomas A.J. McGinn, The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: A Study of Social History and the Brothel (University of Michigan Press, 2004), pp. 164–165. The room is most often taken to be one of the bedrooms (cubicula), which are sometimes decorated with erotic art in private Roman houses.

[1] Massimiliano David, "A Chronology of the Excavations in Pompeii," in Houses and Monuments of Pompeii: The Works of Fausto and Felice Niccolini (Getty, 2002, originally published in Italian 1997), p. 219.

[2] August Mau, Pompeii: Its Life and Art, translated by Francis W. Kelsey (Macmillan, 1907), p. 348; Roger Ling, "A Stranger in Town: Finding the Way in an Ancient City," Greece & Rome 37 (1990), p. 204.

[3] Wilhelmina F. Jashemski, "The Vesuvian Sites before A.D. 79: The Archaeological, Literary, and Epigraphical Evidence," in The Natural History of Pompeii (Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 7; Jean Pierre Adam, Roman Building: Materials and Techniques (Routledge, 1999), p. 143.

[4] James L. Franklin, Jr., Pompeis Difficile Est: Studies in the Political Life of Imperial Pompeii (University of Michigan Press, 2001), p. 147.

[5] James Higginbotham, Piscinae: Artificial Fishponds in Roman Italy (University of North Carolina Press, 1997), pp. 22, 269.

[6] Michele George, "Repopulating the Roman House," in The Roman Family in Italy: Status, Sentiment, Space (Oxford University Press, 1999), p. 307; Adam, Roman Building, p. 618.

[7] John R. Clarke, Looking at Lovemaking: Constructions of Sexuality in Roman Art 100 B.C.–A.D. 250 (University of California Press, 1998, 2001), p. 161.

[8] Mau, Pompeii: Its Life and Art, p. 559, was a proponent of Claudius Verus, citing CIL IV.5229. Matteo Della Corte argued for Rusticus Verus, as discussed by Franklin, Pompeis Difficile Est, p. 134. Franklin finds Rusticus more likely than Claudius.

[9] Annamaria Ciarallo, Gardens of Pompeii («L'Erma» di Bretschneider, 2001), p. 22; Haraldur Sigurdsson, "Mount Vesuvius before the Disaster," in The Natural History of Pompeii, p. 31.

[10] Thomas A.J. McGinn, The Economy of Prostitution in the Roman World: A Study of Social History and the Brothel (University of Michigan Press, 2004), pp. 164–165. The room is most often taken to be one of the bedrooms (cubicula), which are sometimes decorated with erotic art in private Roman houses.

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