Pompeii Social Status

Water, Wealth, and Social Status at Pompeii: The House of the Vestals in the First Century Author(s): Rick Jones and Damian Robinson Source: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 109, No. 4 (Oct., 2005), pp. 695-710 Published by: Archaeological Institute of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40025694 . Accessed: 17/09/2013 21:26
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The detailed studyof the House of the Vestalsat Pompeii revealshow water features were central to the house's structural changes from the late first century B.C. The owners of the house invested heavilyin fountains and pools as key elements in the display of their wealth to visitors and alike. This article relates the structuraldevelpassers-by opment of the House of the Vestalsto the social history of decorativewater usage, from an initial investment exploiting the pressurizedwaterprovided by the new aqueduct early in the Augustan period to the responses to crises following the earthquake of A.D. 62.*…show more content…
This can be observed in the impluvium of the Narciso atrium (27), from which the fountain was removed when the pipes were lifted and the drain out to Vicolo di Narciso was blocked. A low wall was built with bricks around the edge of the impluvium to create a small pool of still water. In the large peristyle (39) there was a series of changes leading to a radical rebuilding and decoration program. A large step was inserted in the southern end of the pool (fig. 10), presumably to reduce the amount of water needed, suggesting that the piped systemwas still functioning but could not be relied on. The step was faced with waterproof plaster and painted blue to match the rest of the pool. The overflow drain of the pool also remained. Such overflow mechanisms indicate that running water in the pool was provided by aqueduct water.59 The changes to the pool signal that at first there was an expectation that the pre-earthquake system could be retained. Presumablyduring the 60s such hopes were frustrated. The period after the earthquake, therefore, must be seen as one when various strategies were attempted, before the final policy of wholesale redesign was adopted. The bath suite shows the same pattern, with its final removal securely dated to the 70s. In the large peristyle (39), there was still a desire for water features, which determined the major reorganization of the whole northern end of the house. Access