Deities in shops

In shops we find simple niches, as might be expected. We should be cautious however: elaborate paintings around the niches may have disappeared completely. Such a simple niche can be seen in the back wall of a shop in Building II,IX,2, later incorporated in the Hall of the Group of Mars and Venus.

A shop in building II,IX,2 with a niche in the back wall.
Photo: Klaus Heese.

In a shop next to the vestibule of the Horrea Epagathiana et Epaphroditiana a niche was created with red bricks in a yellow wall. A damaged triangular area above the niche is all that remains of a small tympanum.

The niche in the shop to the south of the vestibule.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

Further down the road, in Building I,VIII,5, niches were installed in the back wall of four consecutive shops. The four niches are clearly contemporaneous, even though the first three have a curved top and the fourth one a little tympanum. Polychromy was achieved by alternating red and yellow bricks. The first two niches are in the centre of the wall, the third is a bit to the left (as seen from the street) because of the presence of a doorway. The fourth one is also at the left end of the back wall, but for a different reason. The back walls of the first three shops and the left end of the back wall of the fourth shop are contemporaneous and shared with building 8. All niches are in this wall. The remainder of the back wall is shared with building 7. Apparently then no permission was given to damage the outer wall of building 7 by hacking out niches. A fifth simple square niche was installed in the later filling of the doorway in the back wall of the third shop.

Plan of building I,VIII,5 with the position of the niches. North is to the right.
After Scavi di Ostia I.

We may assume that there was some tie between the shops. Most likely the same goods were sold here, a situation that is today quite common in the souks of North Africa. Doorways in the back walls of the second and third shop led to the contemporaneous building 8. This consists of two large rooms, both accessible from the street through wide passages, one with a large basin. This was a commercial building where the goods sold in the shops were manufactured or stored.

The row of shops. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

The niche in the first shop. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

The niche in the second shop. Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

The niches in the third shop. Photo: Daniel González Acuña.

The niche in the fourth shop. Photo: Daniel González Acuña.

A bit further on, niches can be seen in the back wall of two shops in the House of the Harbour Mosaic, where fish was sold. One is in the shop with the harbour mosaic that gave the building its name. The other is in an adjacent shop. In the reverse side of the wall containing this second niche, a blocked niche is found, precisely opposite the second niche. It was a wall-niche with a vault, hacked out and later filled with bricks. The two niches in this wall could not exist simultaneously, because the thickness of the wall, two feet, does not allow the depths of two niches back to back. The niche that was given up was much higher and wider than the later one.

The shop with the harbour mosaic, with a niche in the back wall.
Photo: American Academy Rome.

A niche in the back wall of an adjacent shop.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

The wall with the same niche, seen from the other side.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

In the House of the Muses a niche was hacked out in a lateral wall of a shop. The niche is precisely opposite a door leading to a neighbouring shop. This door was hacked out as well. In the vault of the niche are remains of plaster. It looks as if a red and yellow figure is discernible, wearing a short mantle, its left arm raised, its right arm perhaps running parallel to the body. But this might well be fantasy.

The shop seen from the street. The niche is in the centre of the right wall.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

Detail of the niche
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

In a lateral wall of a shop next to the entrance of the Baths of the Lighthouse a low floor-niche was hacked out. A vertical joint in the masonry starts from its right side and ends a little above the niche. Apparently a somewhat higher niche was planned. On the back and sides of the niche are remains of plaster with red paint and traces of a thin superimposed white layer.

The niche in a shop next to the entrance of the Baths of the Lighthouse.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

Detail of the niche
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

A most curious floor-niche can be seen in a lateral wall of a shop in the complex of the Garden Houses (the shop with a staircase in building III,IX,25). It is 0.95 high, 1.16 wide, but only 0.13 deep. Some holes around the niche might be related.

A shop in building III,IX,25 with a curious, shallow floor-niche in the left wall.
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.

Detail of the niche
Photo: Jan Theo Bakker.