VII .7.29 Pompeii. Forum Holitorium, Foro
Olitorio, Forum Venale, Horrea Granariorum, Grain market, Vegetable market, Granai
del Foro, Granai Pubblici, Granaio, Poecile, School, Scuola.
Excavated 1816, 1822.
Now roofed and used as a deposito, a storage and display area.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. Looking south along front of pillars. Photo Wikispaces.
According to the web site of the Soprintendenza, “the building, narrow and elongated in shape, defines a stretch of the West side of the Civil Forum of Pompeii. It is shaped with a unique hall of considerable height, divided into two spaces by short cross walls. The facade on the Forum consists of a series of 'opus latericium' pillars flanking eight entrances. Inside, the building has a clay floor and does not preserve traces of wall coating. It is traditionally interpreted as a covered area for the sale of cereals and pulses”.
See http://pompei.sns.it/prado_front_end/index.php?page=Home&id=6536&lang=en
It has also been considered a space for public leisure. 19th century scholars saw a similarity with the Stoà Poikile in the ancient Agorà of Athens, hence they gave VII.7.29 the name poecile. They believed it had been a covered area, maybe decorated with paintings, where citizens could safely meet and walk.
See Mazois, F., 1829. Les Ruines de Pompei: Troisième Partie. Paris: Didot Freres, pp. 57f.
More recently it has been suggested it was a public school. An inscription written by the master Sema was found on the nearby south-east corner of the precinct of the Temple of Apollo.
According to Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss/Slaby (See www.manfredclauss.de) this read
Iulium Simplicem / aed(ilem) v(iis) a(aedibus) s(acris) p(ublicis) p(rocurandis) v(irum) b(onum) d(ignum) r(ei) p(ublicae) o(ro) v(os) f(aciatis) Sema / cum pueris / rog(at) [CIL IV, 668]
According to Bradley, this translates to
Teacher Sema with his boys, recommends Julius Simplex for the job.
See Bradley, P., 2013. Cities of Vesuvius: Pompeii and Herculaneum, 2nd Ed., Melbourne: Cambridge U.P., p. 118.
The building is also very similar to the porticoed building in a school scene in a painting now in Naples Archaeological Museum.
See Van Buren A. W., 1918. Studies in the archaeology of the Forum at Pompeii, MAAR 11, p. 74.
The building is spacious and high, and is also positioned next to the mensa ponderaria, the weights and measures bench, with bowls used as standards for liquid and dry measures, and which was usually placed close to a market. The building is currently identified as the forum holitorium, mainly devoted to the storage and sale of corn and legumes.
See Dyer, T., 1868. Pompeii: its history. Buildings and antiquities. London: Bell & Dandy, p. 110f.
According to De Sanctis, the lack of a way of isolating food from moisture, insects and rodents may mean it was a market and not a storage area. Its location means it would have been well heated in winter and hot in summer, so vegetable and farm products would have been sold in a single day.
See http://pompei.sns.it/uploads/2012_09_6_13_44_43.pdf
II.4.3 Pompeii. Part of the “Forum Frieze” found in the atrium of II.4.3.
The punishment of a scholar, the painting that suggested VII.7.29 may have been a public school.
Now in Naples Archaeological Museum. Inventory number 9066.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. Items on display and in storage.
Photographed 1970-79 by Günther Einhorn, picture courtesy of his son Ralf Einhorn.
According to Garcia y Garcia, it was Maiuri that restored the pilasters of this building and formed it into a display area.
Mostly these items on display are clay amphorae and domestic items from the houses, shops and workshops.
For the most part without provenance and classified only by type and form.
The bombing of 13th September 1943 caused the demolition of the south perimeter and part of the west wall
At least two of the seven pilasters of the entrance doorways were also demolished.
In 1946 Maiuri again restored the pilasters and roof.
See Garcia y
Garcia, L., 2006. Danni di guerra a Pompei. Rome: L’Erma di Bretschneider. (p.116-7)
VII.7.29 Pompeii. 7th August 1976. Items on display in storage area.
Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer, from Dr George Fay’s slides collection.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. 7th August 1976. Items on display in storage area.
Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer, from Dr George Fay’s slides collection.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. 7th August 1976. Items on display in storage area.
Photo courtesy of Rick Bauer, from Dr George Fay’s slides collection.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2006. Looking west through entrance doorway towards items in storage.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Tables and amphorae in storage. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Tables and architectural items in storage. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2011. Columns in storage. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2011. Amphorae and jars in storage. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2011. Items in storage. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2006. Capitals and other items in storage.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2006. Items in storage.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2006. Looking west through entrance doorway towards items in storage.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. August 2021. Looking
west towards items in storage. Photo courtesy of Robert Hanson.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. August 2021. Looking west along north side
towards items in storage. Photo courtesy of Robert Hanson.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2002. Looking north across items in storage. Photo courtesy of David Hingston.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. October 2001. Looking north across items in storage. Photo courtesy of Peter Woods.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. April 2018. Items in storage, and cart,
looking north-west. Photo courtesy of Ian Lycett-King.
Use is subject to Creative
Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License v.4 International.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. April 2018. Cart and items in storage,
looking south-west. Photo courtesy of Ian Lycett-King.
Use is subject to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial
License v.4 International.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Cart and other items in storage. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Left front wheel of cart. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Rim on left rear wheel of cart. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Right wheels of cart. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2015. Detail of right rear wheel of cart. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2018. Millstone from VII.16.19-22 House of Fabius Rufus in storage. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
PAP inventory number 57645.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2018. Puteal from I.13.8 in storage. Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
PAP inventory number 44908.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. September 2015. Terracotta puteal (from I.13.8?) with moulded decoration of columns and Bacchic figures in storage.
According to Roberts,
there are three scenes divided by columns each showing a Maenad
with tambourine and castanets with seated figures, perhaps Bacchus, and satyrs
playing the twin pipes (auloi).
See Roberts, P., 2013. Life and Death in Pompeii and
Herculaneum. London: British Museum Press, p. 153, fig. 167.
PAP inventory number 44908.
Photo courtesy of Buzz Ferebee.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2011. Puteal in storage. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. September 2015. Item in storage.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. May 2011. Plaster cast of body. Photo courtesy of Michael Binns.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. October 2001. Plaster cast of body. Photo courtesy of Peter Woods.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. August 2021. Looking south across
items in storage. Photo
courtesy of Robert Hanson.
VII.7.29 Pompeii. October 2001. Looking south across items in storage. Photo courtesy of Peter Woods.