To the west of the House of Hercules
The House of Hercules (IV,II,2-4), Caseggiato dell'Ercole in Italian, was excavated in 1940 and named after a small sculpture of Hercules, found in the portico, perhaps a keystone. The rooms of the complex are grouped around an internal courtyard with a communal water basin. At the north end is a vestibule with a small cult niche (room 25). On its white plaster must once have been one or more figures, but these disappeared long ago. To the east are shops back-to-back, behind a portico along the southern Cardo Maximus. To the west are some large halls. To the south are the Baths of the Lighthouse. We know the name of one of the inhabitants of the apartments in this area: Claudius Pompeius Rusticus Diocles. A dedication was found by him to Isis and the Genius cenaculi, the protective spirit of the apartment. He was a miles frumentarius, a specialized soldier, who surprisingly lived here, not in barracks.
Plan of the House of Hercules - Caseggiato dell'Ercole.After the excavations many paintings from the area were taken from the walls and stored in the Horrea Epagathiana, where they were photographed by the Istituto Centrale per il Catalogo e la Documentazione in 1958. On most of the paintings small signs were then placed, with the place of discovery and inventory number. In April and May 2008 I did some work in the House of Hercules and I discovered many traces of the removal of paintings that had been taken to the store rooms.
Room 16
A painting of judicial scenes is said to have been found in the area (inv. nrs. 10098-10101), but precisely where is not made clear. The museum guides say: "in a public building of the House of Hercules / da un edificio pubblico del Caseggiato dell'Ercole". Floriani Squarciapino, who published the paintings in 1962, says: building IV,II,5 - which is to the south-west of the House of Hercules. Signs that can be read on photos taken in the store rooms say: "IV,II,5 - ad ovest del Caseggiato dell'Ercole", to the west of the House of Hercules.
Painting of a judicial scene in a store room, upper part and lower part. Inv. nrs. 10099 and 10100.
Photos: ICCD neg. E040754 and E040818.
Painting of a judicial scene in a store room. Inv. nr. 10098.
Photo: ICCD neg. E040763.A photo of the paintings in situ was published by Pasini (1978, Pl. 59). With this photo it is easy to identify the room in which they were found: room 16 of the House of Hercules, a shop or backroom of a shop. The bricks were much damaged by the iron bars that were used to separate the paintings from the wall. Apparently "to the west of the House of Hercules" means "in the west part of the House of Hercules", or " to the west of the Porticus of Hercules", and not in building IV,II,5. The findspot is confirmed by Van Essen, who says that the paintings are in a "retrobottega" of the Portico dell'Ercole (1956-1958, 177).
The judicial scenes in room 16, in situ. Photo: Ernest Nash (Pasini 1978, Pl. 59).
The same walls today. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.Room 18
The north-west wall of room 18 has many holes, grooves and damaged spots. There can be little doubt that the grooves indicate the edge of two large fragments of a painting taken off the wall. Most likely cement that had at first been used to secure the painting (a type of intervention documented elsewhere in Ostia) was hacked away. The grooves coincide with little holes that were meant for metal hooks to support the painting on a new modern panel. A few of these holes are in the centre of the wall, indicating that two panels were made. In the area demarcated by the grooves the mortar and bricks show many little damaged spots, the result of the use of the iron bars to separate the paintings from the wall. A candidate for the painting to the right can be seen on ICCD neg. nr. E040825 (inv. 10002). On the sign that was attached to the painting in the storage room we can read: "IV,II,3 - Caseggiato dell'Ercole", IV,II,3 being the number that was assigned to the shops behind the portico. The fragment might fit between the little holes. The measurements of the painting and the wall will have to be compared, something that today cannot be done easily, because the paintings have been stacked on top of each other in the storage rooms of the museum.
The north-west wall of room 18. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.
The same wall. Photo and colours: Jan Theo Bakker
Red: ancient putlog-holes. Blue: grooves. Green: small square or rectangular holes.
Purple: large irregular holes. Yellow: irregular damage of mortar and bricks.
The candidate for room 18. Inv. nr. 10002. Photo: ICCD neg. E040825.
The painting on ICCD neg. E040825 perhaps comes from the right part of the wall.Room 22
On the north-east wall of room 22 are traces of the removal of another painting. Again we see grooves and holes for metal hooks. There can be little doubt that the fragment that was removed here is seen on ICCD neg. E040816 (inv. 10006) in view of a curved groove coinciding with the curved shape of the upper right part of the painting. The sign next to it says "IV,II,3 - Caseggiato dell'Ercole".
The north-east wall of room 22. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.
The same wall, with grooves (blue) and holes for metal hooks (green). Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.
Painting in a store room. Inv. nr. 10006. Photo: ICCD neg. E040816.ICCD neg. E040850 is a photo of a rectangular fragment of a painting in situ. The ICCD provides no further information, but it is clearly the painting that can still be seen on the north-west wall of room 22. Architectural motifs can still be seen on the ICCD photo, today the painting is almost white. The top was secured with cement. The rectangular shape of the painting is remarkable: a wooden structure may have been around it in antiquity. But something else is curious. Directly to the left of the painting are holes for modern hooks, to support a modern panel, but there are no such holes to the right, and the painting was never detached from the wall. It seems therefore that the excavators changed their mind. Their first plan was to leave the paintings in the building in the rooms, on modern panels. Then they decided to take them to the store rooms, and the rectangular painting seems then to have been forgotten. Paintings in this same room are mentioned by van Essen: "terza stanza a sinistra dell'entrata su via del Pavone" (1956-1958, 168).
The north-west wall of room 22. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.
The painting on the north-west wall of room 22 in situ, in the 1950's. Photo: ICCD neg. E040850.A painting of Fortuna also comes from the House of Hercules. It was found in building IV,II,5 according to the supplement of the museum guide. The sign on the ICCD photo says "Reg. IV, Is. II, 5. Ad ovest del Caseg. dell'Ercole". It was probably this description that led the author of the supplement, Maria Floriani Squarciapino, astray. The painting can be seen on the back wall of room 11 behind the Porticus of Hercules on an excavation photo. It is on top of the blocking of a doorway that was removed by the excavators.
Painting of Fortuna. Inv. nr. 10097. Photo: ICCD neg. E040764.
The painting of Fortuna on the back wall of room 11 behind the Porticus of Hercules. Photo: Ostia neg. B2913 = Stoeger 2011, fig. 5.38.
The back part of room 11 as it appears today. Photo: Tonino Menghi.Several other walls in the west half of the House of Hercules show traces, less distinct, that may also be related to the removal of paintings. Van Essen mentions a room with paintings that he compares to work in the Baths of the Seven Sages: a bar below the Portico di Ercole, which could be room 3, 10 or 13, all bars (Van Essen 1956-1958, 168).
As we have seen in rooms 11 and 16, there has been confusion between "to the west of the House of Hercules" and building IV,II,5, to the south-west of the House of Hercules. The rooms along the Cardo of building IV,II,2-3 were meant. There are more paintings reportedly found in building IV,II,5, which I believe were actually also found in the shops to the east of the inner square. It should be noted that extensive photographic documentation exists of many paintings in situ in building IV,II,5, and that this building has hardly enough wall space to have accommodated more paintings than those documented there with certainty. The paintings photographed in situ have now largely been taken off the walls, but I found no further traces of the removal of paintings in the building. On signs in the store rooms, accompanying the paintings from building IV,II,5, the building is called "IV,II,1, house to the north of the Baths of the Lighthouse - casa a nord delle Terme del Faro". The excavation diary briefly mentions building IV,II,5 and its two rooms with paintings on July 5 1940, but seems to be completely silent about the House of Hercules.
For the House of Hercules as findspot, the way in which the paintings were for some time on display in a store room is important (see also the page Notes on the preservation of the Ostian paintings). In the early 1960's Sala XI, the Hall of the Paintings, was opened in the museum. At about this time many paintings were moved from the Horrea Epagathiana to storage rooms next to the museum. On photos we see them on side walls, and on wooden panels resting on a metal frame in the centre of the rooms. On the side walls irregular areas were demarcated with wooden bars. The paintings were grouped together per building. There are groups from the House of the Charioteers, the Baths of the Christian Basilica, building IV,II,5, and building IV,II,14. Another group helps with the paintings from the House of Hercules.
On one of the wooden panels we see the lower part of the paintings with judicial scenes in room 16: top left (E040818, inv. 10100) and top right, upside down (E040763, inv. 10098). In between is a fragment with an unclear representation (E040786, inv. 10039). The sign says "Regio V, II. Semita dei Cippi". A special note is hanging down from this fragment. Bottom left are two fragments that belong together: A Genius with two snakes, and the coil of a snake (E040800, inv. 10084 and 10106). The place of discovery is reported nowhere. There is another special note below the left fragment. The painting can be seen on a photo of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, taken in February 1938, more than two years before the excavation of the House of Hercules started. Bottom right is the painting of Fortuna that we discussed above. Below the panel, standing on the ground, is a painting with curious diagonal lines (E040833, inv. 10102). We may assume that this fragment too comes from the House of Hercules.
The panel with paintings from the House of Hercules. Photo: Liedtke 2003, Taf. 24,47.
Painting with an unclear representation. Inv. nr. 10039. Photo: ICCD neg. E040786.
Painting of a Genius and snakes. Inv. nr. 10106. Photo: ICCD neg. E040800.
Painting of a Genius and snakes after restoration, taken in Feburary 1938. Inv. nr. 10106. Photo: DAI 37.1485.
Painting with diagonal lines. Inv. nr. 10102. Photo: ICCD neg. E040833.
Three more paintings seem to come from the House of Hercules. There is first of all a painting with the lower part of three deities, perhaps Jupiter, Minerva and Mars (E040753, inv. 10092). It was found "in building IV,II,5, to the west of the House of Hercules", according to the sign on the ICCD photo.
Painting with the lower part of three deities. Inv. nr. 10092. Photo: ICCD neg. E040753.In the Horrea Epagathiana this painting was to the left of a painting with vegetative motifs (E040758, inv. 10093). It may well be the painting in a bar, mentioned by Van Essen (see above). According to the sign it was also found "in building IV,II,5, to the west of the House of Hercules".
Painting with vegetative motifs. Inv. nr. 10093. Photo: ICCD neg. E040758.Below these paintings was a painting with depictions of three deities: Bacchus, Diana, and Aurora or Terra Mater (E040762, E040834, inv. 10095). According to the sign it too was found "in building IV,II,5, to the west of the House of Hercules". According to Helbig's museum guide it was found in the Horrea of Artemis (V,XI,7-8). We might be inclined to think that Helbig is correct, because the depiction of Diana would explain the name of the horrea. However, according to Rickman (1971, 63) the horrea were named after a statue found in the central courtyard of the horrea. The painting has been dated to the late second or early third century. It shows three deities in a row: two standing figures and a bust. They are turned slightly towards the left. The first figure is male, largely naked, having in his left hand a slightly curved stick of which the upper part is missing, while his right arm is lost, as is his head. To his left is a low tree, to his right an animal, according to Raissa Calza and Helbig a panther. They therefore identify the figure as Dionysus. The second and third figure are in a separate compartment. To the left is a hunting Diana, to the right a veiled, female bust. It has been suggested that this is Aurora (Raissa Calza), or Terra Mater (Helbig). Below the deities is a garden scene.
Paintings of deities. Inv. nr. 10095. Photo: ICCD neg. E040762.
The same painting. Photo: Baccini Leotardi 1978, Tav. X.
