The Insula of the Menander at Pompeii: Volume III: The Finds, a Contextual Study

550 Pages·2007·6.41 MB·English

by  Penelope M. Allison

THE INSULA OF THE MENANDER
AT POMPEII
VOLUME III
the insula of the menander at pompeii
ThisseriesarisesfromtheBritishPompeiiproject,initiatedin1978.Itsaimis
tocarryoutacompletesurveyandrecordoftheinsula(city-block)contain-
ing the famous House of the Menander and to analyse and interpret the
remains, which have not been reassessed since the original Italian publica-
tionsoftheearly1930s.Thisprojectbreaksnewgroundbyadoptingaglobal
approach to the insula, rather than looking at houses in isolation, and by
seekingtointerprettheinsulainhistoricaltermsrather thanconcentrating
on the situation at the time of Pompeii’s destruction in ad 79. Emphasis is
also placedonwhatthearchaeologicalremainstell usabout societywithin
the insula. Individual volumes will deal with the architecture, the decor-
ations,theobjectsfoundduringexcavation,thesilvertreasurediscoveredin
1930underthebathsoftheHouseoftheMenander,andthewallinscriptions.
General Editor: Roger Ling
Volume I: The Structures
Roger Ling (1997)
Volume II: The Decorations
Roger and Lesley Ling (2005)
Volume III: The Finds
Penelope Allison (2006)
Volume IV: The Silver Treasure
Kenneth S. Painter (2001)
Volume V: The Inscriptions
Antonio Varone and Joyce Reynolds (forthcoming)
T H E I N S U L A O F
T H E M E NA N D E R
AT P O M P E I I
volume iii: the finds,
a contextual study
Penelope M. Allison
with a contribution by Teresa Giove
Photographs by J. Agee and P. M. Allison
Drawings by M. Varchetta, S. Cann, and P. M. Allison
CLARENDON PRESS (cid:1) OXFORD
2006
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To all the Roman artefacts specialistswithout whose meticulous
research this type of study is not possible.
This page intentionally left blank
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This volume of the series on the Insula of the Me- British Academy grant, supplemented with grants
nanderinPompeiihaditsembryonicbeginningsina from the Australian Academy of the Humanities,
catalogue which I prepared in 1989, as part of my the Society of Antiquaries, the Faculty of Classics,
doctoralresearchbutwhichwasnotincludedinthat Cambridge,andtheCravenCommittee,Oxford,pro-
thesis or its subsequent publication. This catalogue videdfunds for me to carryoutsix months’research
involved extensive research in the archives of the in Pompeii and Rome. I am indebted to the British
SoprintendenzaarcheologicadiPompei.Myprincipal Academy,theseotherfundingbodies,andtheBritish
acknowledgementisthereforetotheSoprintendenza Pompeii Research Committee for their support.
archeologica di Pompei—most notably to Professor These funds also paid for a draughtsperson to draw
Baldasarre Conticello, Professor Pietro Giovanni the artefacts that had not previously been drawn
Guzzo, Dr Antonio d’Ambrosio, Dssa Grete Stefani, during my doctoral research. Subsequent funds
andDrAntonioVarone—for permissiontocarryout fromtheBritishAcademyhavecontributedtofurther
astudyoftheartefactsfromtheInsulaoftheMenan- drawing costs. Michele Varchetta did most of the
der,heldinthePompeiancollections.Iamespecially pencildrawingsin1993andSallyCann(BritishSchool
grateful to Dssa Grete Stefani for her help with ma- at Rome) completed the rest in 1998. From these
terial in the Boscoreale Museum and the Pompeian Susan Bird produced ink drawings in 2002 and 2003,
photographic archive, to Dr Antonio d’Ambrosio for with some assistance from Mandy Mottram. I am
his assistance in the storerooms, and to Dr Antonio grateful to these draughtspeople for their contribu-
Varone for his general support and friendship. I am tions. The patchy quality of the workmanship is not
alsoindebtedtothearchivistSig.LuigiMatrone,and their responsibility but a factor of shortage of funds
thecustodiansofthestorerooms,Sig.FrancoStriano andacomplexproductionprocesswhichhasrequired
andSig.CiroSicigniano,fortheirassistance,humour, somanydiVerentstagesandhands.Iamalsograteful
andextremepatience.Thisstudywasinitiallycarried to Joyce Agee who travelled from Australia to Pom-
out while I was a British School at Rome Scholar. peii at her own expense to undertake the mammoth
AmandaClaridgewasparticularlyhelpfulintheearly taskofphotographingsome2,000artefacts.Iwishto
stages of the research with her knowledge of this thank her for her professionalism, enthusiasm, com-
material. I wish to thank both Amanda Claridge and panionship, friendship, and patience.
the British School at Rome for their support. Aspinalinjuryin1994andmyappointmentsasan
Permissiontostudytheseartefactswasfacilitatedby AustralianResearchCouncilPost-doctoralFellowand
ProfessorRogerLing,onbehalfoftheBritishPompeii aUniversityofSydneyU2000ResearchFellowmeant
Research Committee, whoinitially suggestedthatmy that, for the next six years, my research was slowed
catalogueshouldformanappendixinVolumeIofthis and all available time was taken up with other pro-
series. My presentationof a paper at the Fourth Con- jects. In 2000, with support from Roger Ling and
ferenceofItalianArchaeology,heldatQueenMaryand Joyce Reynolds, I was awarded an Australian Bicen-
WestWeld College, University of London (2–5 January tennialFellowshiptospendWvemonthsatCambridge
1990) resulted in encouragement from a number of to work on the manuscript. I wish to thank the
conference participants, particularly the late Dr Tim MenziesCentreforAustralianStudies(King’sCollege
Potter, Dr Thomas Rasmussen, and Dr Ellen Macna- London) for this fellowship, the Faculty of Classics,
mara,toproduceaseparatevolumeontheseartefacts. Cambridge,forappointingmeasavisitingfellowand
Iamgratefultothemforthissupport. Joyce Reynolds for her hospitality and support while
Consequently, Roger Ling and I put a proposal to atCambridge.MyAustralianResearchCouncilLarge
the British Pompeii Research Committee to include Grant awarded in 2001 provided the necessary re-
another volume in the series. In 1993, the award of a sources to see this project to completion.
viii acknowledgements
Thisprojectwouldnothavebeenpossiblewithout tions. None of them can be held responsible for any
the support and assistance of many Roman artefact errors or misunderstandings.
specialistswhohavesharedtheirknowledgewithme I am also grateful to those who have helped with
and have checked and amended many of my cata- the Wnal stages of the manuscript. These include Dr
logue entries. Most notable among these are Dr Andrew Fairbairn for his patience in preparing the
Lyndsay Allason-Jones (bronze artefacts), Dr Paul drawingsandphotographs for themanuscript andin
Arthur (amphorae and mortaria), Mrs Nina Crummy proof-readingandstandardizingofthetext. Iamalso
(bone artefacts), Mrs Kay Hartley (mortaria), Dr Bri- gratefultoProfessorsRogerLingandGraemeClarke
gitta HoVmann (glass artefacts), Dr Ralph Jackson for reading the manuscript and for their comments.
(surgical implements), Dr Catherine Johns (jewel- In addition, I wish to thank Hilary O’Shea, Dorothy
lery), Dr Philip Kenrick (terra sigillata), Professor McCarthy, Enid Barker, Kathleen McLaughlin, and
Bill Manning (iron tools and locks), Dr Stefan Mols Sue Tipping of Oxford University Press for seeing
(furniture Wttings), Professor David Peacock (am- this project to fruition, Dr Aedeen Cremin for her
phorae), Joyce Reynolds (inscriptions), Dr Paul dedicatedassistancewithproof-readingandindexing,
Roberts (pottery), Dr Jeremy Rossiter (dolia), Dr andSimonThodeyandSueFraserforcopingwithme
Jean-Paul Wild (weights), Professor Elizabeth Will during this frustrating time.
(amphorae). I am also grateful to Nina Crummy, Throughout the fourteen years that this volume
Ralph Jackson, and David Reese for providing me has been gestating Roger Ling and Joyce Reynolds
with manuscripts on their recent work in Pompeii. have provided me with constant support and
Last but not least I am most grateful to Dssa Teresa encouragement and I wish to reiterate my sincere
Giove who has provided her catalogue of the coins thanks to them, and to the British Pompeii Re-
from the Insula of the Menander, currently held in search Committee, for providing me with the
the Numismatic Collection of Naples National Mu- opportunity towork on this material and bring it to
seum, for inclusion in this volume. In general, these publication.
scholars did not study the actual artefacts in this Penelope M. Allison
catalogue but have provided identiWcations from the Canberra
drawings and photographs and my written descrip- August2005
CONTENTS
List of Plates xi
List of Figures xxxix
Abbreviations xlvi
PART I: BACKGROUND
1. Introduction 3
2. Methodology 7
3. Terminology for type classiWcation and artefact function 16
PART II: CATALOGUE OF FINDS
4. House I 10,1 41
5. House I 10,2–3 48
6. Casa del Menandro (I 10,4) 56
7. Units I 10,5 and I 10,6 154
8. Casa del Fabbro (I 10,7) 158
9. House I 10,8 214
10. Unit I 10,9 231
11. Casa degli Amanti (I 10,10–11) 232
12. Unit I 10,12 247
13. Unit I 10,13 248
14. House I 10,18 251
15. Objects found in disturbedvolcanic deposit above Insula I 10 256
16. Casa del Menandro Supplement 258
17. Casa del Fabbro Supplement 275
18. Casa degli Amanti Supplement 284
PART III: SUMMARY AND ANALYSES OF ROOM
ASSEMBLAGES
19. House I 10,1 289
20. House I 10,2–3 293
21. Casa del Menandro (I 10,4) 298
22. Units I 10,5 and I 10,6 335
23. Casa del Fabbro (I 10,7) 337
24. House I 10,8 350
25. Unit I 10,9 357