Domus Cervorum
About
The grandest excavated house in Herculaneum, a two-story waterfront residence built/rebuilt under Claudius (41-54 CE) and expanded by absorbing a neighboring property; named for two marble sculptures of deer attacked by hounds found in its garden, and noted for well-preserved still-life frescoes. Street-facing rooms were converted to shops after the 62 CE earthquake. Fully uncovered by Amedeo Maiuri's open-air excavations of 1929-1932. Destroyed in the 79 CE eruption of Vesuvius, 38 years before this map's snapshot — included as it's an essential part of the story.
What happened here
The front door opens onto a corridor and then a roofed hall with a pool under an opening in the roof, and that hall is a public room — clients arrive at dawn to greet the owner, and the whole plan is arranged so they can be received and impressed. Behind it, a colonnaded garden with a dining room off it, three couches around a low table, guests reclining on the left elbow. Rooms are small, dark and multi-purpose; furniture is moved as needed. Walls are painted to open the space out with fake architecture and landscapes. Windows are shuttered rather than glazed. Cooking, laundry and the slaves' quarters are pushed to the edges. Street frontage is let out as shops, because it is too valuable to waste.
Sources
Roman Maps shows the empire frozen at 11 August 117 CE, the day Trajan died — its moment of greatest territorial extent. Explore the full map →