Description of the Remains

The city of Pompeii was shaped irregularly because it was built on a prehistoric lava flow.  Excavations indicate that the southwestern part of the town is the oldest, but scholars do not agree on the stages by which the walls were expanded or on who the builders were.  The walls are 2 miles (3 km) in circumference, and they enclose an area of about 163 acres (66 hectares). Seven city gates have been excavated.  The chief street running in a southeast-northwest direction was the Via Stabiana; it connected the Porta Vesuvio, or Vesuvius Gate (144 feet [44 meters] above sea level), in the highest part of the city, with the Porta di Stabia, or Stabiae Gate (26 feet [8 meters]), in the lowest part.  Through this gate came traffic from the Sarnus River and Stabiae.  This street was crossed by two other main streets, the Via dell'Abbondanza and the Viadi Nol (Laurence).

The public buildings are for the most part grouped in three areas: the Forum (elevation 110 feet [34 meters]), located in the large level area on the southwest; the Triangular Forum (82 feet [25 meters]), standing on a height at the edge of the south wall overlooking the bay; and the Amphitheater and Palaestra, in the east.  The Forum was the center of the city's religious, economic, and municipal life; it was a large rectangular area surrounded by a two-story colonnaded portico.  Dominating the Forum on the north was the temple dedicated to the Capitoline triad of deities: Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva.  To the east was the Macellum, or large provision market; to the south were the small sanctuary of the city Lares (guardian deities), built after the earthquake in AD 62; the Temple of Vespasian; and the imposing headquarters of the woolen industry, erected by the wealthy patroness Eumachia. Opposite the Capitolium, on the southern end of the Forum, were the meeting place of the city council and the offices of the magistrates of the city.  The large basilica, with its main room surrounded on four sides by a corridor, is the most architecturally significant building in the city; it is of considerable importance in studying the origin and development of the Christian basilica.  It served as a covered exchange and as a place for the administration of justice.  To the west was the Temple of Venus Pompeiana, patron deity of Pompeii.

Across from the basilica was the Temple of Apollo, one of the earliest in the city.  The Triangular Forum is the site of the Doric Temple, the oldest temple in Pompeii.  Between the 3rd and the 1st century BC, a theater, a palaestra (sports ground), and a small covered theater were built to the east of the Triangular Forum.  The temples of Zeus Meilichius and of Isis and the old Samnite palaestra were nearby.  In the east corner of Pompeii was the Amphitheater, and to the west a large palaestra was built to replace the old Samnite palaestra.  Baths were scattered throughout the town: the Stabian Baths (which predate the Roman period), the Forum Baths, the Central Baths (still under construction at the time of the eruption), and many baths in luxurious private homes.

But more significant than the public buildings, examples of which have been excavated at other sites, are the hundreds of private homes.  These are unique, for only at Pompeii is it possible to trace the history of Italic and Roman domestic architecture for at least four centuries. The earliest houses date from the first Samnite period (4th-3rd century BC).  The House of the Surgeon is the best-known example of the early atrium house built during this period.  The most luxurious houses were built during the second Samnite period (200-80 BC), when increased trade and cultural contacts resulted in the introduction of Hellenistic refinements. The House of the Faun occupies an entire city block and has two atria (chief rooms), four triclinia (dining rooms), and two large peristyle gardens. Its facadeis built of fine-grained gray tufa from Nuceria, the chief building material of this period.  The walls are decorated in the First Pompeian, or Incrustation, style of painting, which imitates marble-veneered walls by means of painted stucco.  The famous Alexander the Great mosaic found in the House of the Faun is probably a copy of a lost Hellenistic painting. Many of the houses from this period were decorated with elaborate floor mosaics.  The House of the Silver Wedding, with its imposing high-columned atrium, was also built during this period, but it underwent later alterations. The handsome banquet hall and the exedra, which served as a schoolroom for children of the family, were decorated in the Second Pompeian, or Architectural, style, which was popular from 80 BC to AD 14.

The large number of houses built during the Samnite period made it necessary to build fewer houses in the Roman period.  Those that were built were usually less imposing, with lower atria, but with more elaborate decoration.  The House of Marcus Lucretius Fronto is a small but elegant house of the Roman Imperial period.  The tablinum (master's office) is decorated in especially fine Third Pompeian, or Egyptianizing, style, usually dated from the early empire to the earthquake.  The House of the Vettii is typical of the homes of the prosperous merchant class of the Roman period.  Some of its rooms are decorated in the Fourth Pompeian, or Ornamental, style.  The atrium-peristyle house, with its handsome paintings, elegant furniture, and  beautiful gardens with fountains and bronze and marble sculptures, is not as typical as has generally been supposed.  There are also numerous small homes throughout the city, many of them shop houses.  Excavators now preserve as completely as possible all aspects of ancient life.  The homes of the humble are as informative as those of the wealthy. Many roofs, second stories, and balconies have been restored (Zanker).