House of Julia Felix

Coordinates:
40456.74N
40.7518722N 14.4932889E

142935.84E

A wall painting from the House of Julia Felix

Julia Felix, Felix a Roman cognomen meaning The Fortunate One was an epithet of the dictator L. Cornelius
Sulla and his descendants in the Republican period.[1] In
the Imperial period it was a name involving luck as well as
one of the most common cognomina and slave names.[1] Portrait of a Pompeian couple inside the home of Julia Felix.
(Portrait of Paquius Proculo)

Background

3 Inside the villa

Julia Felix was a Roman woman who resided in the city of

Pompeii. Julia Felix was a very wealthy property owner
who inherited her money from her family. She owned
a grand villa that took up an entire block in the city of
Pompeii and it is documented by researchers as being well
furnished and decorated until it was damaged in the major
earthquake of 62 AD. After the earthquake Julia rented
out her property to residents of Pompeii who may have
lost their homes and transformed parts of her villa into
public baths, shops, taverns, and apartments. Renting out
her villa helped her earn extra income and establish herself as a property owner, business woman, and public gure in Pompeii.[2]

Inside their villas, Pompeians chose many dierent ways

to express themselves. Some Pompeians would copy
Greek paintings and others would choose a theme of love
or fertility, but most chose landscapes. Those found in
Pompeii were of local scenes, villas from along the coast,
or woodland and hills. When one owner in Pompeii lost
part of his garden to a new room, he created the lost garden on the walls of the room.[3]
The art inside the villa of Julia Felix is also very interesting. Her villa contains a unique series of paintings depicting daily life in the Pompeian Forum, including market stalls, an open-air school, conversation, and a beggar receiving alms from a lady with her maid. Julia Felix
was descendant of the Julii, who were Imperial freedmen,
which could have inuenced her choice in artwork of the
middle-class life.[5]

Architecture

The homes of the wealthy in Pompeii were built around

courtyards that were rectangular in shape into which the
main rooms opened. These homes had enclosed gardens 4 Excavation
and private water supply.[3] Through the tufa period in
Roman history, Pompeians used relief stucco work to add Since the excavations of Pompeii, much has been resomething extra to the architecture, marble dust for lumi- vealed about the villa of Julia Felix. In as early as 1755
nosity, and used paints with rich colors.[4]
many sections belonging to the villa began to be uncov1

ered when the city of Pompeii was excavated. A complex

tabernae (tavern), luxurious baths, and richly decorated
formal garden dining rooms were revealed in the rst
excavation. Between the years 1912-1935 an unknown
shrine and the faade along the Via dellAbbondanza of
the building was uncovered,[6] but when the entire building was excavated, two Roman statues were found as
well.[7]
Between the years 1998-1999 some of the most important discoveries were made by excavators. A trench found
behind the caldarium dated back as early as the Augustan
period. The caldarium revealed a drain that conducted
water from the hypocaust oor, that conducted heat for a
bath or room in a Roman home. A nymphaeum or grotto
of nymphs with a waterstair fountain and triclinium was
also discovered which was a modication put in after the
earthquake of 62 A.D.[8]

References

[1] Brills New Pauly: Encyclopedia of the Ancient World,

Volume 5, Brill Academic Publishers, 2004.
[2] Fowler, Robin (2006-05-01). Independent Women of
Pompeii. 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. Womans Art
Journal 14 (2): 2836 [p. 29]. doi:10.2307/1358447.
[6] Parslow, Christopher Charles (1988). The 89th General Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America.
American Journal of Archaeology 92 (2): 229284 [p.
281]. doi:10.2307/505632.
[7] Parslow, Christopher Charles (1989). The 90th General Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America.
American Journal of Archaeology 93 (2): 243284 [p.
278]. doi:10.2307/505093.
[8] Parslow, Christopher (2001). The 102nd Annual Meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America. American Journal of Archaeology 105 (2): 245311 [p. 261].
doi:10.2307/507273.

REFERENCES

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 green
rosetta, 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: The

Tango! Desktop Project. Original artist:
The people from the Tango! project. And according to the meta-data in the le, specically: Andreas Nilsson, and Jakub Steiner (although
minimally).
File:Pompeii-couple.jpg Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/11/Pompeii-couple.jpg License: Public domain
Contributors: 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 Muse absolu,
Phaidon, 10-2012 Original artist: Unknown

6.3

Content license

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