00:00Pompeii was one of the most infamous cities of the ancient Roman Empire, a place of wealth,
00:05decadence, and breathtaking beauty, frozen in time by one of history's most catastrophic disasters.
00:11Founded in the 7th or 6th century BC, this thriving metropolis of nearly 15,000 people
00:17flourished as a bustling trade hub, its streets lined with dark pagan temples, vibrant markets,
00:23and lavish villas. But in 79 AD, disaster struck. When Mount Vesuvius erupted, a massive cloud of
00:31superheated ash and pumice rained down on the city, burying it in an instant. Thousands perished where
00:37they stood, their bodies encased in layers of volcanic debris. Over time, their forms decayed,
00:43leaving behind eerie, hollow cavities in the hardened ash, natural death masks of Pompeii's final moments.
00:50Archaeologists later filled these voids with plaster, revealing the hauntingly detailed figures
00:55of men, women, and children frozen in their last desperate attempts to escape. Among the most
01:01extraordinary ruins left behind is the House of the Vettii, an opulent mansion once owned by two
01:06freed slaves, Aulus Vettius Restitutus and Aulus Vettius Conviva, who rose from bondage to become
01:13wealthy wine merchants. Their home, adorned with vivid frescoes, ornate courtyards, and extravagant
01:19banquet halls, offers a rare glimpse into the luxurious lifestyles of Pompeii's elite. Now,
01:25join us as we step back in time and explore the astonishing remains of the House of the Vettii,
01:30one of Pompeii's most breathtaking treasures.
01:32We're here in Region 6, Block 15, and this is a large house by Pompeian standards, 1100 square meters.
01:45Originally, there was a much older house here that was extensively restored in the Augustan period,
01:52removing the typical tiblinum, or reception hall, to be found in the atrium space.
01:56And then, with new ownership, it was redecorated by the Vettii after 62, when the earthquake that rocked the city.
02:08And we know from their names that they were freedmen, Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus,
02:17and they're typically referred to as brothers, but they could have been freed at the same time
02:23from the Gaines Vettia that was living in Pompeii. Now, their names appear on site on bronze seals and
02:32graffiti throughout the house, which was excavated between 1894 and 1895. Much has been made of the
02:41decorative plan that they would have overseen, and many scholars have commented on their freedmen status
02:49and their taste in art. Scholars typically define the frescoes that the Vettii commissioned as fourth
02:57style Pompeian wall paintings. What's important for us is that we explore these scenes that have
03:04underlying images, countless scenes from daily life, and extraordinary myths depicting the divine
03:13reward of the gods and their brutal punishment. Just down the street from the Castellum Akwai,
03:20you have the house of the Vettii, and this is truly a magnificent triumph of conservation work.
03:26It's a site that was closed for 20 years, and what's so impressive about it is the level of
03:29conservation. What's also impressive about it is that you have whole cycles preserved in situ. What
03:36normally happens with so many of the famous houses discovered from Pompeii is that you have those
03:41individual central panels ripped out and finding their way into private collections, finding their
03:46way into the Bourbon collections, and into the Museum of Naples. Instead, we have by and large the majority
03:53of the artwork from top to bottom preserved on site, and at the end of 20 years of
03:59restoration, we have a triumph and an amazing experience that really is unparalleled for
04:06anywhere else in Pompeii. And this is a site that's going to be open daily, and it's another example
04:13of the incredible work that's being done in Pompeii. So much of it now is geared toward the conservation
04:18work, and there's so much more of Pompeii that you can explore today, but this one, this site of House of
04:24the Vedii is one that you must see. Let's explore the House of the Vedii. We enter through the phalcase,
04:34which would be the entry point into the house, and we are greeted by this figure, the fertility god,
04:40who is often shown with an erect penis. Now, part of the reason that you have Priapus depicted as such
04:48is because he is a god of fertility, but he's also with the phallus warding off the evil eye. And then
04:55the owner and the art program has now begun. It's also a way not just of eliciting laughter from the
05:02guest, and laughter wards off the evil eye, but it's also a way to measure in the value of the Vedii.
05:10The member is being weighed on a scale against the bag of money, and the bag of money is associated
05:20with the god of commerce, and that's a deity that's going to be frequently depicted throughout the
05:25House of the Vedii. In fact, there's a marble version in the peristyle court in the back, so we
05:32have lots of themes repeated throughout the experience of the House of the Vedii. After the entryway,
05:38we're in the atrium space, and this is the main hall of any Roman house. So just past the entrance,
05:45you're stepping to a place which is grand and monumental. With a hole in the roof, we have the
05:51compluvium-impluvium section to gather and store the rainwater. And you've got a staircase that leads
05:59up to the upper floors, which are not preserved, and you have a whole series of beautifully decorated rooms
06:06surrounding the atrium space to accommodate guests, even serving as cubicula or bedrooms.
06:12You also have prominently in the atrium the remains of two strong boxes or treasuries
06:18once made in bronze, attesting to the wealth of the owners. And you also have several scenes of daily life,
06:27of slave attendants, of guests, of possibly the owners of the house. And on one side, you have the entrance
06:37into the area where slaves would be doing their work, managing the household. And in that space,
06:44there is the lararium, the household shrine. And on the other side, you have what has been identified as a winter
06:53triclinium. And here you have countless scenes and so many of his myths surrounding you as you dined.
07:02And the key background color is white. It is a glorious example of the level of restoration
07:10that we see in the house of the Vedii.
07:12Leaving the atrium space, we go to the first room off the Perostyle Court. And this is one of the most
07:24magnificent rooms in all of Pompeii. One of the greatest rooms in the house of the Vedii. Look at those colors.
07:32It's a place reserved for dining. It's a triclinium room. And when we take a look at representations of
07:43dining, we see that people are reclining on the clini. There are three of them. And you'd be served
07:49your meal by slaves. And you'd be looking at the art and commenting on it. Well, in this room,
07:57there's plenty to talk about. Number one, you have incredible framework for the main scenes. You have
08:04lots of little vignettes as well. But your attention would have been drawn to the three central panels.
08:11Let's take a look at the first one on the far wall that gives the name to the room, the Ixion room.
08:17And this is telling the story of Ixion, the King of the Lapiths.
08:21And he was punished. But Ixion himself was sent down to the underworld, placed on a burning spinning
08:30wheel for all of eternity. And this scene is the scene of Daedalus and Pacify. And the story goes
08:38that Minas received a beautiful bull from the sea god, but didn't sacrifice it. So he was punished.
08:46In what way? His wife, Pacify, became lustful after this bull and wanted to make love to it.
08:54So Daedalus, the craftsman, constructed a wooden cow that Pacify could slip into and then make love to
09:02the bull. And you see here in this scene, the actual wooden bull, you see Pacify, you see Daedalus,
09:09who's constructed, and his son Icarus, ultimately doomed to fly too close to the sun and crash down
09:17into the sea. So you have lots of story threads that are being able to be drawn together just from
09:24one scene. This is the scene of Ariadne, who had been abandoned by Theseus. Ariadne had helped Theseus
09:34defeat the Minotaur in the labyrinth in Crete. And that Minotaur was the offspring of Pacify and the bull.
09:42So you have so many different connective threads and the overlying examination of the relationships
09:50between mortals and the gods and that interaction between them.
09:56As noted before, there is no tablinum space off the atrium. This room, the oikis or reception hall
10:06for entertainment and dining, probably was the stand-in for the tablinum space. And it is
10:12magnificent. It's large and impressive, accommodating lots of people. One of the great standout features
10:18in this room is the small frieze that encircles the entire space. There are these wonderful mythological
10:28scenes of figures acting out scenes from real life, from making and selling floral crowns and garlands,
10:38to making perfumes from the extract of oil from flowers, to treating woolen cloth in the guise of fullers.
10:49These are incredible windows into the real activities that took place in the city of Pompeii and Roman cities,
11:00and quite possibly were attached to the work of the vettii themselves.
11:07Now let's turn to the peristyle, a garden space surrounded by columns. It was a place
11:12for having a stroll after a meal. It was a place to enjoy nature. And this space today has been
11:20landscaped anew based upon a precious study of the environment. And of course, you have the remains of
11:26many marble artifacts, including fountains and statuary. And if you look down, you can even see the
11:34extensive remains of lead piping. The walls surrounding the peristyle are beautifully decorated as well.
11:43And at the base of all the walls, you have a continual rendering of plants,
11:49alternated with fountains, with water gushing off the top.
11:54House of the Vettii is extraordinary, and it is attributed to the two Vettii brothers,
12:00who come into quite a bit of fortune. And what they do is they have extensive redecoration,
12:06and the fresco cycles are some of the most interesting and the best preserved in all of Pompeii.
12:13So what you have are incredibly rich details of mythological cycles. You have an incredible array
12:21of active cupids in scenes from daily life, and you have overall an experience that brings you back in
12:29time to the time of the Pompeians right before the eruption of Vesuvius in 79.
12:35In the peristyle court of the house of the Vettii, brilliant colors and scenes of daily life.
12:47And then you have a beautifully reconstituted peristyle garden with plantings and casts of the
12:55original statuary today in the museum in Naples. Makes for an incredible experience.
13:02And what is also so special is the vibrant colors that are preserved in red and also yellow.
13:15Here we are in another fascinating triclinium space off the peristyle court, and the program
13:21of the mythological scenes is going to be very much related to those in the room of Ixion.
13:27Here you have a room with so many different myths. It's exciting.
13:40And you have the punishment of Dursey.
13:47There's a marble version of this from the house of Caracalla in the Naples Museum.
13:51It becomes very obvious then with this brief examination of the house of the Vettii just how
13:59sophisticated the programmatic display was with statuary, with the architecture, and of course with
14:07the frescoes. And so many of the themes in the house of the Vettii focused on the punishment of those
14:14mortals that challenged the gods who disobeyed the gods. Hope you join us again for more exploration
14:22of the house of the Vettii and other houses of Pompeii. There's so much more to explore in this wonderful
14:28ancient city. Hey, I'm Darius Aria for Ancient Rome Live. We bring you antiquity throughout the Mediterranean
14:36daily Pompeii, Rome, throughout the Mediterranean.
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