House of Julia Felix

Coordinates: 40°45′6.74″N 14°29′35.84″E /40.7518722°N 14.4932889°E

A wall painting from the House of Julia Felix

Julia Felix, Felix a Roman cognomenmeaning “The For-tunate One” was an epithet of the dictator L. CorneliusSulla and his descendants in the Republican period.[1] Inthe Imperial period it was a name involving luck as well asone of the most common cognomina and slave names.[1]

1 Background

Julia Felix was a Roman woman who resided in the city ofPompeii. Julia Felix was a very wealthy property ownerwho inherited her money from her family. She owneda grand villa that took up an entire block in the city ofPompeii and it is documented by researchers as being wellfurnished and decorated until it was damaged in themajorearthquake of 62 AD. After the earthquake Julia rentedout her property to residents of Pompeii who may havelost their homes and transformed parts of her villa intopublic baths, shops, taverns, and apartments. Renting outher villa helped her earn extra income and establish her-self as a property owner, business woman, and public fig-ure in Pompeii.[2]

2 Architecture

The homes of the wealthy in Pompeii were built aroundcourtyards that were rectangular in shape into which themain rooms opened. These homes had enclosed gardensand private water supply.[3] Through the tufa period inRoman history, Pompeians used relief stucco work to addsomething extra to the architecture, marble dust for lumi-nosity, and used paints with rich colors.[4]

Portrait of a Pompeian couple inside the home of Julia Felix.(Portrait of Paquius Proculo)

3 Inside the villa

Inside their villas, Pompeians chose many different waysto express themselves. Some Pompeians would copyGreek paintings and others would choose a theme of loveor fertility, but most chose landscapes. Those found inPompeii were of local scenes, villas from along the coast,or woodland and hills. When one owner in Pompeii lostpart of his garden to a new room, he created the lost gar-den on the walls of the room.[3]

The art inside the villa of Julia Felix is also very inter-esting. Her villa contains a unique series of paintings de-picting daily life in the Pompeian Forum, including mar-ket stalls, an open-air school, conversation, and a beg-gar receiving alms from a lady with her maid. Julia Felixwas descendant of the Julii, who were Imperial freedmen,which could have influenced her choice in artwork of themiddle-class life.[5]

4 Excavation

Since the excavations of Pompeii, much has been re-vealed about the villa of Julia Felix. In as early as 1755many sections belonging to the villa began to be uncov-

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2 5 REFERENCES

ered when the city of Pompeii was excavated. A complextabernae (tavern), luxurious baths, and richly decoratedformal garden dining rooms were revealed in the firstexcavation. Between the years 1912-1935 an unknownshrine and the façade along the Via dell’Abbondanza ofthe building was uncovered,[6] but when the entire build-ing was excavated, two Roman statues were found aswell.[7]

Between the years 1998-1999 some of the most impor-tant discoveries were made by excavators. A trench foundbehind the caldarium dated back as early as the Augustanperiod. The caldarium revealed a drain that conductedwater from the hypocaust floor, that conducted heat for abath or room in a Roman home. A nymphaeum or grottoof nymphs with a waterstair fountain and triclinium wasalso discovered which was a modification put in after theearthquake of 62 A.D.[8]

5 References[1] Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World,

Volume 5, Brill Academic Publishers, 2004.

[2] Fowler, Robin (2006-05-01). “Independent Women ofPompeii”. authorsden.com. Retrieved 2007-05-08.

[3] Drummond, Andrew (1993). The World of the Romans.New York: Oxford University Press. p. 132.

[4] “Pompeii”. The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites.Princeton University Press. 1976.

[5] Silberberg-Peirce, Susan (1993). “The Muse Restored:Images of Women in Roman Painting”. Woman’s ArtJournal 14 (2): 28–36 [p. 29]. doi:10.2307/1358447.

[6] Parslow, Christopher Charles (1988). “The 89th Gen-eral Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America”.American Journal of Archaeology 92 (2): 229–284 [p.281]. doi:10.2307/505632.

[7] Parslow, Christopher Charles (1989). “The 90th Gen-eral Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America”.American Journal of Archaeology 93 (2): 243–284 [p.278]. doi:10.2307/505093.

[8] Parslow, Christopher (2001). “The 102nd Annual Meet-ing of the Archaeological Institute of America”. Ameri-can Journal of Archaeology 105 (2): 245–311 [p. 261].doi:10.2307/507273.

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6 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

6.1 Text• House of Julia Felix Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House%20of%20Julia%20Felix?oldid=631627830 Contributors: Yann,Andrewman327, Bender235, Smalljim, Neddyseagoon, JMK, Alaibot, Mikenorton, CommonsDelinker, Nev1, WereSpielChequers,S.michelle, ImageRemovalBot, Mentnafunangann, Jusdafax, Smg903, Out of Phase User, Citation bot 1, DrilBot, FAM1885, Little greenrosetta, WikiOriginal-9 and Anonymous: 8

6.2 Images• File:Edit-clear.svg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/f/f2/Edit-clear.svg License: Public domain Contributors: TheTango! Desktop Project. Original artist:The people from the Tango! project. And according to the meta-data in the file, specifically: “Andreas Nilsson, and Jakub Steiner (althoughminimally).”

• File:Pompeii-couple.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Pompeii-couple.jpg License: Public domainContributors: Unknown Original artist: Unknown

• File:Still_life_with_eggs,_birds_and_bronze_dishes,_Pompeii.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1c/Still_life_with_eggs%2C_birds_and_bronze_dishes%2C_Pompeii.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: from Le Musée absolu,Phaidon, 10-2012 Original artist: Unknown

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