Antiquities Exhibits

I just completed the new Wikipedia page for the House of the Prince of Naples in Pompeii based on my English translation of Hauser in Pompeji Volume 1: Casa del Principe di Napoli. I have managed to condense the book into an article for those of you who didn't feel like plowing through the entire academic text which I have made available on academia.edu. I even incorporated most of the color images and offer a big shout out to Carole Raddato who provided some of them via Wikimedia Commons. This is the most complex Wikipedia page I have ever published! Image: Atrium with impluvium of the House of the Prince of Naples in Region VI of Pompeii courtesy of Carol Raddato.

Fourth Style Frescos of the Casa del Principe di Napoli, Regio VI, 7,8 in Pompeii. I am working on the illustrations for my translation of Houses in Pompeii, Volume 1, Casa del Principe di Napoli and have also uploaded the color photographs of its Fourth Style frescos from the book to Wikimedia Commons so they can be used for teaching and research independent of the embedded images in the book. (Under U.S. law these images are in the public domain because the original artist has been deceased for more than 70 years.) Roman wall paintings in Pompeii are divided into four periods that were originally delineated and described by the German archaeologist August Mau, 1840–1909. These periods are usually referred to as First, Second, Third, and Fourth but are also known as Incrustation, architectural, ornamental, and intricate. Wall paintings were not only used for decoration, as Roman interiors often had no windows, but were used as a guide to function and social orientation for invit...

In my work on the translation of Hauser in Pompeji, I discovered that a female-headed herm with a phallus was found in one of the cubiculum of the House of the Prince of Naples. I found this particularly interesting as I have seen a number of herms in various museums around the world but not one like that. I did a little more research and found that herms featuring the male-female god Aphroditus were produced in the 5th century BCE on Cyprus. The worship of Aphroditus sprea d to Athens in the 4th century BCE then subsequently to Rome. Surviving Roman statues of Aphroditus have been dated as late as the 3rd century CE. Anyway, this prelude brings us to today's featured "Antiquities Alive" artifact: Herm of Aphroditus, Greek, at the National Museum in Stockholm, Sweden. This male-female god was associated with the Moon and according to Macrobius, at its sacrifices men and women exchanged clothing. Philostratus described the rituals, saying the image or the impersonator...