HOUSE OF MENANDER-REGIO I

The House of Menander is one of the best preserved and largest domus in Pompeii, with almost 1,800 square meters of floor space.

Scholars believe that its owner, Quintus Poppaeus Sabinus, was related to Emperor Nero's second wife, Poppaea Sabina, and that he also owned the domus in Pompeii now known as the House of the Golden Cupids.

The House of Menander is named after a fresco, found inside, depicting a famous playwright who lived around 300 BC, whose name is written on the hem of his robe and on the scroll he holds.

This suggests that the owner was a real theatre enthusiast.

The domus, the oldest part of which dates as far as back as three centuries before the eruption, was built, like many others, on two floors, had an elegant atrium with a central basin for collecting rainwater, the impluvium, covered with marble, and a peristyle adorned with a black and white mosaic floor. This was one of the few houses in the city to have a private spa inside. Right here, in the calidarium, the room where the hot water was, in addition to the extraordinary frescoes, you will find a special mosaic with sea creatures.

When you visit it, you will discover that its most precious treasure is its magnificent frescoes, mostly of the fourth style, like those in the atrium depicting scenes inspired by the events of the Trojan War narrated by the Greek poet Homer, with characters such as Helen, portrayed nude while her husband Menelaus pulls her by the hair, and the unfortunate priestess Cassandra, who could foresee tragedies but was condemned by the god Apollo never to be believed.

Along the inner courtyard is the room with theatre-inspired frescoes, including the portrait of Menander that gives the domus its name, and masks used by actors. 

Here’s an interesting fact: in a room below the baths, archaeologists discovered a chest containing a silver table service probably used for banquets, consisting of no less than 118 pieces and now kept in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples.