#pompei

Stabian Baths in Pompeii

A fantastic fresco from the Casa dei Ceii.

"Here’s what we know about Julia Felix: she lived in Pompeii from at least 62 CE. She was possibly illegitimate but was definitely not a member of the social and cultural elite. She worked for a living setting up and running a very interesting business and, by 79 CE, she had planned to shift her focus from managing a business to owning property. We know all these things because twentieth-century excavations at her business uncovered an advert, carved in stone and attached to the external wall of her huge building. It reads:

"To rent for the period of five years from the thirteenth day of next August to the thirteenth day of the sixth August, the Venus Bath fitted for the nogentium, shops with living quarters over the shops, apartments on the second floor located in the building of Julia Felix, daughter of Spurius. At the end of five years, the agreement is terminated."

This find illuminated the building it was attached to, bringing what otherwise looked like a very large anonymous domestic house into dazzling focus. With this description of the purpose of each room written by the owner herself, archaeologists and historians could see the site through a whole new lens and they realised that they had discovered a Roman entertainment space for the working middle classes. It is, so far, a completely unique find and it is magnificent. It offers us, as modern viewers, two amazing things: a little glimpse into the lives of the commercial classes of the Roman Empire who are so often completely and utterly invisible, and a brutal reminder that so much of what we ‘know’ about Roman women in the Roman world comes from rules concerning only the most elite.

We’ll do that second part first, because it’s the least fun. Roman written and legal sources are pretty universal in their agreement that although women could own property, they could not control it; they had no legal rights, could not make contracts and were to be treated as minors by the legal system for their entire lives. In order to buy or sell property women required a male guardian to oversee and sign off on any transactions. This is a basic truism of women in the Roman Empire, repeated ad nauseum by sources both ancient and modern including me, and it is undermined by Julia Felix’s rental notice. 

The rental ad makes it pretty clear that Julia Felix is the owner-operator of a business complex including public baths, shops and apartments (there’s more too, as we’ll see), and she doesn’t seem to require anyone else to help her rent it out. She names her father – sort of; ‘Spurius’ might just mean that she is illegitimate – but this is effectively a surname, a personal identifier to differentiate her from other Julia Felixes in the area. It doesn’t mean her father was involved. Furthermore, the use of her father’s name as an identifier suggests that Julia didn’t have a husband and was either unmarried or widowed in 79 CE. The strong implication of her advert is that Julia Felix was an independent lady, a honey making money and a momma profiting dollars who could truthfully throw her hands up to Destiny’s Child.

Paul Delvaux (1897-1994):

1. “Chrysis” (1967), oil on canvas, 140 x 160 cm.

2. “The Blue Sofa” (1967), oil on canvas, 180 x 140 cm.

3. “Pompei” (1970), oil on canvas, 260 x 160 cm.

Mural fresco from the Triclinia building of Villa Moregine, Palestra Grande, Pompeii - Parco Archeologico

In 2000, road works in Moregine, near Pompeii, led to the chance discovery of the remains of an architectural complex, whose decoration had been completed shortly before the eruption of 79 AD.

(English / Español / Italiano)

Euterpe, musa de la música.

Fresco mural del edificio de los Triclinia de Villa Moregine, Palestra Grande, Pompeii - Parco Archeologico

En el año 2000, unas obras viales en la localidad de Moregine, cerca de Pompeya, llevaron al descubrimiento casual de los restos de un complejo arquitectónico, cuya decoración se había completado poco antes de la erupción del año 79 d. C.

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Euterpe, Musa della musica.

Affresco murale dall' edificio dei Triclinia di Villa Moregine, Palestra Grande, Pompeii - Parco Archeologico

Nel 2000 alcuni lavori stradali in località Moregine, nei pressi di Pompei, portarono alla scoperta casuale dei resti di un complesso architettonico, la cui decorazione era stata ultimata poco prima dell'eruzione del 79 d.C.