Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum

by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill

Overview

Few sources reveal the life of the ancient Romans as vividly as do the houses preserved by the eruption of Vesuvius. Wealthy Romans lavished resources on shaping their surroundings to impress their crowds of visitors. The fashions they set were taken up and imitated by ordinary citizens. In this illustrated book, Andrew Wallace-Hadrill explores the rich potential of the houses of Pompeii and Herculaneum to offer new insights into Roman social life. Exposing misconceptions derived from contemporary culture, he shows the close interconnection of spheres we take as discrete: public and private, family and outsiders, work and leisure.


Combining archaeological evidence with Roman texts and comparative material from other cultures, Wallace-Hadrill raises a range of new questions. How did the organization of space and the use of decoration help to structure social encounters between owner and visitor, man and woman, master and slave? What sort of "households" did the inhabitants of the Roman house form? How did the world of work relate to that of entertainment and leisure? How widely did the luxuries of the rich spread among the houses of craftsmen and shopkeepers? Through analysis of the remains of over two hundred houses, Wallace-Hadrill reveals the remarkably dynamic social environment of early imperial Italy, and the vital part that houses came to play in defining what it meant "to live as a Roman."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780691029092
Publisher:	Princeton University Press
Publication date:	07/28/1996
Edition description:	Reprint
Pages:	272
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 10.00(h) x (d)

About the Author

Andrew Wallace-Hadrill is Professor of Classics at the University of Reading in England.

Table of Contents

List of Plates

List of Figures and Tables

Preface

Note on Form of References to Houses

Pt. I The Social Structure of The Roman House

Ch. 1 Reading the Roman House

Ch. 2 The Language of Public and Private

Ch. 3 The Articulation of the House

Pt. II Sampling Pompeii and Herculaneum

Ch. 4 Houses and Urban Texture

Ch. 5 Houses and Households

Ch. 6 Houses and Trade

Ch. 7 Luxury and Status

Ch. 8 Epilogue

Appendix: List of Houses Surveyed

Notes

Glossary

Bibliography

Index

Editorial Reviews

Winner of the James R. Wiseman Award, Archaeological Institute of America

One of Choice's Outstanding Academic Titles for 1994

From the Publisher

[In] this splendidly illustrated book . . . Wallace-Hadrill argues for a new understanding of urban life in the early [Roman] empire. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in Greco-Roman study.

Religious Studies Review - Richard S. Ascough

Wallace-Hadrill's book now joins the ranks of the revisionist studies [of Pompeian society], but far surpasses them in the breadth of its vision and the fundamental nature of its challenge to the Maiurian orthodoxy. Wallace-Hadrill belongs to a rare breed, the social historian who has an intimate first-hand knowledge of the archaeological evidence; and this book is a fitting witness to the benefits which such a range of interest can bestow. It is a major statement in its field, and will set the agenda for future generations of researchers into Pompeian society.

Burlington Magazine - Roger Ling

[In] this splendidly illustrated book . . . Wallace-Hadrill argues for a new understanding of urban life in the early [Roman] empire. This book is highly recommended for anyone interested in Greco-Roman study.
— Richard S. Ascough

Religious Studies Review

Wallace-Hadrill's book now joins the ranks of the revisionist studies [of Pompeian society], but far surpasses them in the breadth of its vision and the fundamental nature of its challenge to the Maiurian orthodoxy. Wallace-Hadrill belongs to a rare breed, the social historian who has an intimate first-hand knowledge of the archaeological evidence; and this book is a fitting witness to the benefits which such a range of interest can bestow. It is a major statement in its field, and will set the agenda for future generations of researchers into Pompeian society.
— Roger Ling

Burlington Magazine