Domus dei Dioscuri

Panel 81 - Location

The house was built in the 4th century AD by altering an earlier insula (apartment building) belonging to the Case a Giardino.

Panel 81 - Figure 1Plan of the domus with the mosaics
(L. Giammiti)

The building is separated from the street by a long wall and subdivided into a residential sector (A-G) and a bath sector (H-L), connected by a passage, and had at least two storeys.

Panel 81 - Figure 2Reconstruction section of the domus
(E. Subias Pascual)

The vestibule (B) leads into an open courtyard (C) and then into a long L-shaped corridor (D), onto which opens a reception room (E) decorated with a polychrome mosaic depicting the Dioscuri (the divine twins who protected trade).

The corridor also gives access to a public room (F) embellished by a polychrome mosaic representing Venus, which in turn leads into the private rooms (G).

Panel 81 - Figure 3Detail of the mosaic with the Dioscuri Panel 81 - Figure 4Watercolour drawing of the mosaic of Venus
(L. Giammiti)

It has been suggested that the owner of the house was Volusianus Lampadius, who was urban prefect in AD 365-366.

See also:

The Residential Districts of the Upper-Middle Class