Cova CUPBOARDSCLOSETSSHELVES 2013

CUPBOARDS, CLOSETS, AND SHELVES: STORAGE IN THE POMPEIAN HOUSE
Author(s): Elisabetta Cova

Source: Phoenix , Vol. 67, No. 3/4 (Fall-Winter/automne-hiver 2013), pp. 373-391
Published by: Classical Association of Canada
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7834/phoenix.67.3-4.0373
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CUPBOARDS, CLOSETS, AND SHELVES:
STORAGE IN THE POMPEIAN HOUSE
Elisabetta Cova
Since the nineteenth century, the alae, those open spaces lateral to the
atrium often found in Roman houses, have been associated with activities of
both display (in particular that of the imagines maiorum) and storage.1 While the
presence of ancestor masks in the alae is not supported by archaeological evidence
and thus remains a topic of debate,2 material remains of storage installations
have been documented. For example, low masonry structures and holes in the
walls of some alae have been interpreted as evidence for built-in cupboards.
While storage installations within the alae have never been studied in detail,
important observations on storage activity were included in Allison’s (2004:
51–54, 77–78) presentation of the alae as part of her fundamental analysis of the
material culture of Pompeian households. Likewise, both Kastenmeier (2007:
46–47) and Sigges (2002: 470–471) have highlighted the relationship between
built-in storage units and the alae. Little has been written about the exact
form and construction of these storage installations, and even less about the
different types of storage structures in alae and how they functioned. This
paper presents the archaeological evidence for various storage strategies found
in alae and provides preliminary observations on their typology, design, and
I would like to thank the Editor of Phoenix for her patience and guidance through this process, as
well as the two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments and criticisms. I am grateful to
Derek Counts, who read and commented on several versions of this paper, and to Anita Cova for
reconstruction drawings of the storage installations; the map and two plans were generously produced
by Professor Eric Poehler and his Pompeii Bibliography and Mapping Project. An earlier version
was delivered at the workshop “Public and Private in the Roman House” held in the Department of
Classics at New York University and I take this opportunity to thank the organizers and participants
for creating a dynamic forum to share some of my initial thoughts on storage in the Roman
house. Finally, generous financial support was provided by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
Graduate School Research Committee Award.
1
For the purpose of this article, I have retained the term ala as a matter of convenience. As
is often noted, only Vitruvius (De arch. 6.3.4–6) uses the term and suitable alternatives have been
suggested. For example Allison (2004) categorizes them as “Open-Fronted Rooms off the Sides
of Front Halls.” Leach (1997: 53) suggests that the term exedra was also used (for skepticism, see
Allison 2004: 167). Still, ala is recognized as part of a larger “convenient categorization system”
(Allison 2007: 271) used by modern scholars; moreover, unlike other terms derived from ancient
sources and traditionally used to label specific spaces in Roman houses, the word ala does not
suggest any specific function or activity associated with it (e.g., vs. cubiculum [often synonymous
with bedroom in modern treatments] or triclinium [usually identified with a dining area]; see the
comments by Allison [2004: 166–168]).
2
The assertion is associated with a passage from Vitruvius (De arch. 6.3.6); see also Mau 1899:
252; Flower 1996: 206; Clarke 1991: 6; Allison 2004: 167; Kastenmeier 2007: 46.
373
PHOENIX, VOL. 67 (2013) 3–4.

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374 PHOENIX
possible uses—considerations that also contribute to the larger discussion of the

use of space in Roman houses of the late republic and early empire.
Using the alae of a selected sample of Pompeian houses as a data set, this
paper complements previous discussions of storage and considers the flexible
nature of Roman domestic space, as well as questions of private vs. public in
particular. The data presented here detail one aspect of the results from a
larger, multi-year architectural survey of Regio VI carried out with the goal of
documenting a wide range of architectural modifications to the alae (fig. 1).3
Regio VI was chosen because of its residential character and its place among
the earliest areas of domestic building during Pompeii’s urban development.
Since this region was excavated primarily in the late eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, information derived from these early investigations is limited due to
poor excavation methods and documentation. The early date of discovery has
also meant that the preservation of the region has been impacted from long
exposure to the elements. While there are inherent limitations in a selected
data set from a single region, nevertheless this sample provides an important
base of information regarding the overall development and use of the alae and,
as noted below, the picture that emerges from the analysis is consistent with
previous scholarship.
Almost half of the seventy-nine alae (up to thirty-nine, or 49.4%) identified
in forty-eight houses of Regio VI show some form of architectural modifica-
tion. The installation of storage facilities in the space of the alae is one of the
most common documented transformations, which also include the addition of
staircases, as well as the opening of doors to create passageways to other parts
of the house. In fact, storage installations represent approximately 43.6% of all
modifications recorded (as many as seventeen out of the thirty-nine). If one
also considers in this category examples where the presence of storage furniture
is only suggested by the disposition (or, in some cases, absence) of wall or floor
decoration or its subject matter, the prominence of storage in alae becomes even
more pronounced.4 In most cases, my observations, which are based on the ex-
isting archaeological evidence and recorded features, suggest that the installation
of storage fixtures in the alae was undertaken subsequent to the alae’s original
3
These changes had been noted by Fiorelli (1875), Mau (1876, 1894, 1899), and Overbeck and
Mau (1884) as early as the nineteenth century. The preliminary results of my survey are forthcoming
in an article to be published in the American Journal of Archaeology (2015). This article analyzes the
full range of documented modifications attested in alae and also attempts to place them in the
context of broader socio-economic trends in late republican/early-imperial Pompeii.
4
For example, Pesando (1997: 103–105) has interpreted the themes of the two emblemata in
the floor of the alae on the tuscanic atrium of the Casa del Fauno (VI 12) as representations of
thefts from the house by animals, which he believes could reflect the use of the alae either as places
where cabinets and shelves displayed the family’s valuable objects or as food pantries. In the right
ala, the central floor emblema represents two shelves; on the top shelf a cat is snatching a game bird
and on the bottom is a still life with birds, fish, and mussels. In the corresponding left ala’s emblema
three white doves are removing a necklace from a jewelry box.

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STORAGE IN THE POMPEIAN HOUSE 375
construction. Thus, the relative chronological phasing of these changes with

respect to the life of the house can usually be established.5
Publications on Roman furniture have described and categorized the evidence
for movable storage pieces, such as cupboards and chests;6 however, the archi-
tectural evidence for permanent storage installations within the Roman house
has not been sufficiently examined or classified. An attempt to illuminate this
particular aspect of domestic space has been made by Allison (2004), who shed
light on the widespread presence of storage in the house, including more per-
manent fixtures. Additionally, Kastenmeier’s (2007: 44–51) publication, which
studied the spaces devoted to “lavoro domestico” in Pompeian houses, included a
section on storage that reviewed the most common forms of fixed-storage instal-
lations. Basso (Basso and Ghedini 2003) discussed lower level or underground
storage spaces in her co-authored volume on subterraneae domus, while Rickman
(1971) examined large-scale storage in the Roman empire, with special empha-
sis on civil and military horrea and store buildings. Finally, in his publication
of the wooden furniture of Herculaneum, Mols (1999: 55–64, 130–137 [cat.
nos. 27–41]) described preserved storage furniture (e.g., freestanding or hung
cupboards, household shrines, freestanding or hung racks, and chests), offering
comparanda for several of the examples presented in this paper.
The attention to storage within the space of the alae is not unexpected. The
Roman house has been associated with a variety of social practices,7 in addi-
tion to the domestic, industrial, and commercial activities carried out by various
members of the household.8 Thus, the daily routine of the house required a
wide range of storage needs, from putting away foodstuffs, housewares, tools,
and supplies to securing business documents, money, and various prestige and
luxury items. Clear information about the content of the various storage instal-
lations identified in the alae of Regio VI is lacking, primarily because Regio VI
was one of the earliest excavated areas and documentation of this activity was
limited. However, literary and archaeological evidence related to storage reveals
a diverse range of options, from glassware, pottery, bronze vessels, and lamps to
dice, clothes, books, money, and tools.9 Moreover, based on literary references
(e.g., Polybius 6.53 and Pliny NH 35.6), it has been argued that the imagines
maiorum would have been displayed on shelves or within cupboards as a sign of
prestige. Kastenmeier (2007: 52) noted the scarcity of evidence for food storage
5
Absolute dates and refined chronological phasing for houses in Pompeii are notoriously difficult
to establish; however, more recent scientific investigations, for example those in insulae of Regio VI
have attempted to shed light on construction phases of the houses included in these studies. See,
for example, Jones and Robinson 2004, 2005, and 2007; Coarelli and Pesando 2006 and 2011;
Schoonhoven 2006; Coarelli 2008; Jones 2008; Pesando 2008 and 2010; Zaccaria Ruggiu and
Maratini 2008; Verzár Bass and Oriolo 2009.
6
Richter 1966; Croom 2007; De Carolis 2007; cf. Allison 2006b.
7
Wallace-Hadrill 1988, 1994; Hales 2003; Leach 2004; Dickmann 1999 and 2011.
8
Allison 1993, 2004, 2006b (esp. 387–398), 2007; Berry 1997a, 1997b; Nevett 2010: 89–118.
9
Budde 1940: 3–5; Mols 1999: 131–132; Allison 2004: 127–130, 132–134; Croom 2007: 127.

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376 PHOENIX
in Pompeian houses, suggesting that the people of Pompeii must have bought
small quantities of perishable food and consumed them fairly quickly. In gen-
eral, however, organic remains are less likely to have survived or to have been
recorded in the early excavations of Pompeii.10 Nevertheless, the complex array
of practices associated with domestic life and everyday activities, coupled with
the evidence for the Roman house as the locus for various forms of commercial
and social exchanges, dictates that storage would have been ubiquitous.
In response to a wide range of storage needs, the Romans employed an
equally diverse set of storage strategies, from larger built-in structures such as
cupboards, closets, and lofts to racks with shelves and moveable furniture. On
the one hand, smaller scale, movable chests and cabinets could be deployed
throughout the house conveniently from more private or secluded rooms to the
open areas of the atrium or peristyle, without permanently impacting the use
of particular spaces. On the other hand, because built-in storage structures
required significant architectural modifications which were not easily reversible,
the function of any space receiving such changes would have been much more
permanently altered or restricted. While ancient terminology often specifies the
function of various storage areas (e.g., apotheca is used to indicate a storeroom
often associated with wine; cella could refer to a storeroom for oil [cella olearia],
wine [cella vinaria], or for food [cella penaria]), the ancient written sources are
not especially helpful when trying to define the form, features, or the location
of storage spaces, fixtures, or furniture in Roman houses.11
built-in cupboards and walk-in closets

In the case of modifications to the alae that involve storage, the data from
Regio VI show that the most common types of storage installations, documented
in as many as eleven alae in the sample, consist of built-in cupboards and walk-in
closets. Observable features for these types of installations include low masonry
foundations along the three walls of the ala and across the front (interpreted
as an elevated base for the cupboard) and, in some cases, holes still visible in
the walls at heights ranging from about a meter to two meters from the floor
(interpreted as either holes for anchoring the cupboard or for shelving). In the
case of closets, the entire space of the ala is closed off from the atrium by wall
extensions and doors and equipped with shelving.
In the alae of Regio VI, the best-preserved examples of built-in cupboards
have been found in the Accademia di Musica (VI 3, 7), Casa di Adone Ferito
(VI 7, 18), and Casa di Orfeo (VI 14, 20).12 The use of a low foundation
10
Allison 2004: 127; Nevett 2010: 104–106.
11
Kastenmeier 2007: 13–14.
12
Other examples include alae in the Casa dei Dioscuri (VI 9, 6), Casa del Bracciale d’Oro (VI
Ins. Occ., 17, 42), and possibily House VI 5, 16, Casa dei Vettii (VI 15, 1), and House VI 17 Ins.
Occ., 9–11.

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wall as a base to elevate the cupboard is a common strategy for separating the
floor of the structure from the ground, thus countering the effects of heat and
humidity.13 Although noted in early reports and publications and sometimes
described as armadi, Schränke, or with the Latin term armaria, these structures
have never been studied in detail.14 Budde’s (1940) short monograph focused
on the cupboard as a movable piece of furniture; however, in a section dedicated
to “Wand und Bibliotheksschränke” he mentions cupboards built into the wall
or using the wall as a backing. When discussing Wandschränke, Budde (1940:
29) mentions that “in other cases there are wall niches and even entire alae
provided with doors and used as large pantries.”15 More recently, Kastenmeier
(2007: 46–48) has discussed built-in cupboards (“armadi a muro”), noting their
particular presence in alae.16
A clear example of a built-in cupboard with an elevated base measuring
4.23 m deep and 2.43 m wide has been found in the only ala of the Accademia
di Musica (VI 3, 7; figs. 2a–b). Here a low stone masonry structure occupies the
entire southern half of the ala (the depth of the structure to the back of the ala
is ca 2.40 m, including a step). The structure consists of thin, low walls about
15 cm wide and 30 cm high, made of small limestone blocks, plastered and
painted on their interior face, which run along and against the south wall of the
ala and the southern portions of its eastern and western walls. Six reused tufa
blocks define the structure to the north in two steps; the top step incorporates
a fragmentary Latin inscription with six letters partially preserved. On the
western side of the ala at a height of 2.08 m from the low wall, two holes (in
the southwest corner and the middle of the wall) are aligned; a corresponding
hole in the southeast corner of the east wall is preserved at the same height, while
a second hole in the middle of the east wall, corresponding to the preserved one
on the west wall, has likely been obscured by the modern restoration in that
section. Holes for joists to support the second floor are still preserved at the top
of all three walls.
Although initially identified by Breton (1870: 266–267) as a bathtub, Fiorelli
(1875: 92–93) interpreted the features described above as fixtures for an armar-
ium promptuarium or a storage cupboard that he assumed was used for clothes.
13
Rickman 1971: 215–226; Bell 1988: 321–324.
14
For early descriptions, see Fiorelli 1875: 92–93; Mau 1876: 18–19; 1894; 1899: 252; Overbeck
and Mau 1884: 261, 336–337. The term armarium seems to have been used for both freestanding
and built-in cupboards of various sizes, but also shelved racks, since there are no other terms used
specifically to describe these types of storage structures (Mols 1999: 62; see also Rickman 1971:
197 on terms for rented storage spaces).
15
Budde 1940: 29: “In anderen Fallen wurden Wandnischen, ja selbst ganze alae mit Türen
versehen und als große Vorratsschränke benutz.”
16
Kastenmeier (2007: 46–48) notes that while Mau believed that these particular modifications
were added in the second half of the first century a.d.—an idea reinforced a century later by the
work of Strocka (1991: 88)—it is equally possible that some of these additions could have taken
place at an earlier time.

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378 PHOENIX
According to Fiorelli’s description, the low masonry walls served as a base that
would have carried wooden planks, which formed the bottom of the cupboard,
elevating it above the floor to protect its contents from the humidity of the
ground. The holes in the west and east walls would have been used for the
attachment of the cupboard’s wooden frame, which was anchored into the ala.
As evidence of the original wooden structure, Fiorelli (1875: 93) also reported
the presence of two vertical wooden boards against the south wall, still visible
at the time of his description.
Figure 3 represents a hypothetical reconstruction of the built-in cupboard with
interior shelving in the ala of the Accademia di Musica. The drawing is based
on the visible modifications to the ala, supplemented by Fiorelli’s description
and the features of smaller, movable cupboards from Pompeii and Herculaneum.
The reconstructed feature is placed on the low foundation wall, approximately
34 cm above the surface of the ala’s floor. The size of the cupboard in relation
to the space of the ala has been determined by both the dimensions of the base
and the height of the holes that would have anchored it. The structure’s frame
covers the entire top surface of the reused inscribed blocks along the front. As
suggested by the reconstruction, the cupboard would have been closed by wooden
doors similar to those for movable furniture, which, based on the archaeological
evidence, were decorated with square or rectangular beveled panels or latticework
and provided with handles.17 Evidence for door handles includes bronze rings
belonging to cupboards or chests uncovered from Pompeii and Herculaneum18
or rectangular drop handles, attached to the center of the door, as seen on a
cupboard represented on the Simpelveld sarcophagus.19 Bronze or iron “strap”
hinges (as in fig. 3) could have been used in cupboards with large doors, while
bone-and-wood examples, which could also have a decorative function, would
have been more suitable for medium to small size cupboards and chests due to
their relative fragility.20
That the cupboard was a later modification to the ala is confirmed by the
fact that its base was built directly over a floor in opus signinum with black
and white tesserae, which is still visible. De Albentis (1990: 92–93) dates the
floor to the first century b.c. and assigns the Latin inscription (which reads
D·D·FAC·C) to a public building, presumably erected by decree of the town
councilors (decuriones) after the foundation of the Roman colony in Pompeii,
suggesting that the earthquake of a.d. 62 may have been responsible for the
building’s destruction and reuse of its stones.
Another example of a built-in cupboard comes from the Casa di Adone
Ferito (VI 7, 18), where it occupies most of the ala’s space (depth 2.09 m,
width 3.10 m; figs. 4a–b). A low, u-shaped foundation of stone and mortar,
17
Croom 2007: 124–125; De Carolis 2007: 134, fig. 98.
18
Mols 1999: 105; Allison 2004: 52–53, 2006b: 29.
19
Croom 2007: pl. 11.
20
Mols 1999: 55, 107–109; Allison 2004: 53, 2006b: 30.

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which is about 30 cm tall, runs across the front and along the east and west walls,
up to the back wall of the ala, creating a central open space (1.36 m deep and
1.53 m wide), where the original Second Style cocciopesto floor with travertine
chips is still visible (PPP 2: 150; PPM 4: 404). The foundation, which extends
about 1.90 m from the back of the ala, is faced with bricks on the side along the
atrium, where remains of plaster and paint are still preserved. It is approximately
45 cm wide along its sides and has a maximum width of about 50 cm along the
front, including the brickwork. Two brick wall extensions built against the side
walls of the ala (ca 26 cm deep; extending 31 cm on the west and 38 cm on
the east) enclose the front. Similar to the masonry structure in the Accademia
di Musica, the u-shaped low wall would have elevated the floor of a built-in
cupboard. The wall extensions likely served as jambs for wooden doors, which
would have rested against a lip along the front of the brick facing when closed.
The absence of holes on the ala’s walls may indicate that they served as the
side or back walls of the built-in cupboard and that the cupboard itself lacked
internal shelving (although some type of independent shelving unit could have
been used). The addition of the cupboard post-dates the construction of the ala,
since it rests directly on the earlier Second Style floor. PPM (4: 399) suggests
an early first-century a.d. date for this modification, based on the fact that at
that time other parts of the house had been modified and redecorated in Third
Style.
The remains of a low foundation wall in opus incertum, divided in half by
another low wall, are visible along the side, back and across the front of the
right ala of the Casa di Orfeo (VI 14, 20; fig. 5). This low foundation, which is
about 30 cm wide, extends for the full width of the ala (3.04 m) and a maximum
depth of 2.40 m against the east wall to the back. Holes are visible on all three
walls of the ala. On the east wall three holes are aligned vertically: the lowest
hole is at 0.77 m from the top of the structure, the remaining two above are
at 1.37 m and 2.04 m respectively; a fourth hole is aligned horizontally with
the lowest hole (i.e., at 0.77 m from the structure) approximately 1.5 m to the
south. On the north and west walls single holes of similar size correspond to
the lowest level of holes on the east wall; holes at higher levels, which likely
lined up with those found on the east wall, are no longer visible due to modern
restoration works.
Again, the low foundation wall of the Casa di Orfeo’s right ala is best inter-
preted as a base for a cupboard. The central wall that divides the foundation in
half is an interesting feature, most likely intended to provide additional support
for the cupboard’s wooden floor. The holes on the walls could have received
bearers that supported shelves or served as the anchorage points for the frame
of a built-in wooden cupboard. However, their number and regular alignment
make it more likely that they supported shelves, rather than acting as part of the
anchoring system. The walls of the ala would thus have served as the side/back
walls of the cupboard itself with three rows of shelves. Mau (1876: 18–19) put

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380 PHOENIX
forth this interpretation in a report on the results of excavations in the Casa

di Orfeo in the Bullettino dell’Instituto di Corrispondenza Archeologica, where he
provided one of the few descriptions of the form and use of this type of built-in
cupboard:
I do not consider the two masonry compartments that are visible on the floor of the back
of the right ala as part of an arca used to store objects . . ., but as bases of a wooden
cupboard: the places where the beams were, which must have supported it, are clearly
visible. Such bases for cupboards are found in many houses, and almost always in one of
the alae; the earlier presence of the cupboard can be identified either from the absence of
decoration on the walls above the bases, or from the preservation of an earlier decoration,
or from some traces of the cupboard itself, or finally from the holes of the beams that
supported the shelves, where instead the walls of the ala served as the sides and the back
of the cupboard, as in this case.21
Mau (1876: 19, n. 3) then made reference to the base in the ala of the Accademia
di Musica (VI 3, 7) discussed above, commenting that, although it might have
been used for an arca, he considered the low wall built into that house’s ala too
narrow for that use and better suited to elevate the armadio in order to protect
its contents from the humidity of the ground.
Since it seems to have been built directly over a Second Style floor decoration,
which was reported but is unfortunately no longer visible,22 the cupboard in the
Casa di Orfeo appears to have been a later modification to the ala, like the
structures in the Accademia di Musica and in the Casa di Adone Ferito. This
relative date for the installation is supported by two additional observations:
1) the fact that the area covered by the cupboard did not receive the same
preparatory plaster treatment that other parts of the ala’s walls had been given,
and was apparently awaiting new decoration at the time of the eruption and 2)
a door in the northern part of the west wall of the ala was blocked prior to
the construction of the cupboard.23 As is often the case when attempting to
date construction phases in Pompeian houses, it is not possible to say with more
precision when the transformation took place.
It is interesting to consider how these built-in cupboards might have been
used. Although in the examples cited above they do not occupy the ala’s space
in its entirety, their scale and overall depth would have required a person to open
the wooden doors of the cupboard and then step inside to deposit or retrieve
contents (e.g., fig. 3). In each case, there would have been enough lateral space
to allow a person to pivot 180 degrees to reach shelves lining all three walls.
As already noted, these shelves could have been attached directly to the walls of
the ala, if the ala walls served as side or back walls of the cupboard, or to the
wooden walls of the cupboard itself.
21
Translation by the author.
22
PPM 5: 273–274.
23
Peris Bulighin 2006: 96–97.

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In other cases the elevated masonry base is absent and the entire ala is turned
into a closet by adding rows of shelves on each of the three walls and by closing
off the ala from the atrium with a door framed by two wall extensions. The right
ala (depth 3.26 m, width 3.77 m) of House VI 13, 13 provides an example of this
type of storage solution in Regio VI (fig. 6).24 Wall extensions in opus vittatum,
measuring approximately 70 cm wide and 40 cm deep, were added to close the
ala’s opening and a new threshold (2.41 m long), made of two other reused
thresholds, was laid down between them. On all three walls, originally covered
with white plaster, at least two rows of holes are visible, in regular alignment,
at a height of ca 1.10–1.17 m and 1.88–1.93 m, respectively. There are a total
of fifteen holes preserved. On the north side (opposite the threshold) there are
four holes along the lowest row (i.e., at around 1.10–1.17 m); the top row is no
longer preserved, replaced with modern restoration. On the west wall, two rows
of three holes are preserved and on the east wall three holes are visible for the
bottom row and two for the upper row. The precision and alignment of the holes
indicate a shelving system in at least two rows. The presence of shelves is further
confirmed by grooves impressed in the plaster at the height of the holes. Earlier
interpretations, which lacked corroborating archaeological evidence, suggested
that the room was used as a library.25 However, the discovery of five amphorae
seems to indicate its use as a pantry for food storage.26 Although Gobbo (2009:
345–346) describes a poorly preserved shallow “lip” running 1.20 m along the
base of the north wall and sloping toward the east as a “zoccolo per la posa di
una struttura lignea” (a base for a wooden structure), it is difficult to understand
how this might have worked. The brick wall extensions and threshold (normally
absent from alae) argue for a date of transformation subsequent to the ala’s
construction.
Wall cupboards can be classified as a sub-category of storage cupboards found
in alae. These consist of niches built into the wall, usually plastered in the in-
side and provided with one or more shelves and, possibly, wooden doors. Al-
lison (2004: 43–48) has detailed various types of recessed wall space observed
in Pompeian houses, remarking that in some instances (“relatively high, narrow
recesses”) an association with cupboards seems warranted, although not guaran-
teed (for example, in cases where the recess was particularly shallow). Among
her sample of eleven recessed spaces of this type, two had evidence of shelving,
while two others possibly had furniture fittings; in these cases, associated assem-
blages included items of “utilitarian domestic activities, ablutions, needlework,
and lighting materials” (Allison 2004: 46). The right ala (3.10 m deep and
2.73 m wide) of the Casa del Chirurgo (VI 1, 10) in Pompeii’s Regio VI dis-
24
Another example of ala turned into a storage closet is reported by Fiorelli (1875: 422) for
the left ala of the House VI 13, 2. The material evidence for this modification is unfortunately no
longer preserved.
25
Viola 1879: 18 and PPM 5: 184, fig. 14.
26
Gobbo 2009: 346.

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382 PHOENIX
plays a recess (1.80 m tall, 0.70-.72 m wide, 0.24-.27 m deep), originally plas-
tered, although lacking at present any evidence for internal shelving or doors
(fig. 7).
open shelves or racks

In other cases, less conspicuous modifications to the alae suggest the pres-
ence of open shelves or racks. In her case study, Allison (2004: 71–80) found
that along with evidence for other forms of storage, shelving featured promi-
nently in several different room-types within the atrium sector, including alae,
but also cubicula (which she refers to as “Small Closed Rooms off Front Halls”)
and triclinia (which she calls “Medium/Large Rooms off the Corners of Front
Halls”). When material remains were recovered in association with shelving in
these rooms, both domestic and industrial storage was suggested (e.g., Allison
[2004: 74–80] notes the recovery of assemblages, which she labels as “utilitar-
ian/industrial” and “domestic utensils,” as well as amphorae, glass vessels, and
lamps). Shelves and other types of racks were a quick and convenient way to
add storage space to any area within the house. On the one hand, built-in
cupboards and walk-in closets of the type described above, as well as smaller,
movable cupboards and chests would have included shelves to help organize con-
tents. On the other hand, open shelves and racks could also be installed directly
into rooms without the need of further modification. In most cases in Pompeii
the primary evidence for shelving includes an assortment of holes, usually in a
regular pattern and repeated over two or more rows, which would have received
bearers that supported frames for shelf systems or simply the shelves themselves.
In the left ala (depth 3.89 m, width 3.12 m) off of the tetrastyle atrium of
the Casa del Labirinto (VI 11, 10), for example, two rows of four holes are
visible in the south wall at about 1.70 m and 2.30 m from the floor, respectively
(fig. 8). The regular arrangement of the holes and their relatively similar size
suggest that they provided support for shelving affixed to the wall. Already
in the nineteenth century, Overbeck and Mau (1884: 344) described this ala
as a cupboard or storage place. Given the height of the first row (1.70 m)
relative to the floor surface, the shelving may have consisted of a fixture similar
to a restored amphora rack from Herculaneum found in Insula V, 6 in the
shop of the Casa di Nettuno e Anfitrite (fig. 9) and described by Mols.27 This
amphora rack has been reconstructed in situ, attached to a modern beam that
replaced the one that originally supported an upper floor; it has two shelves with
a curved front panel to accommodate various types of amphorae. Mols (1999:
201) notes that the original number of shelves is unknown and it is possible
that the uprights extended to the floor. Restored amphora racks of similar
construction in two other shops from Insula VI, 12 and Insula Orientalis II, 9
27
Mols 1999: 62, cat. no. 31, figs. 148–149; cf. Maiuri 1958: 402–403; Croom 2007: 137;
Wallace-Hadrill 2011: 80–81.

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in Herculaneum provide additional comparanda.28 As seen below, these types of

racks are sometimes associated with lofts.
Evidence for a rack with shelves is also visible in the left ala (depth 1.75 m,
width 3.60 m) of House VI 14, 12 (fig. 10). Here six holes of similar shape and
size, arranged in three rows, are preserved on the west wall. At the lowest level,
two holes are visible at 0.76 m above the floor, a third hole is 1.22 m above this
row, and three others are aligned on the highest row ca 1.69–1.71 m. Another
hole is visible in the north wall at 1.69 m from the floor. It is likely that other
holes were originally present, but these are now concealed by the modern wall
restoration. Their regular arrangement on the west wall is consistent with a
system to support a rack of shelves; the hole on the north wall likely indicates
where the rack was anchored to the adjacent wall. The restored remains of a
rack with shelves in a shop in Herculaneum (Insula V, 12) provide a possible
point of comparison (fig. 11).29 This rack, which rests on the floor and is
anchored to the wall, features three, full-width shelves topped by two additional
ones divided into three cubbies. In the same ala of House VI 14, 12, a stone
staircase (ca 0.90 m wide) runs east-west against the south wall. Only three
steps are preserved, but it is likely that the staircase continued west behind the
ala. The hypothetical reconstruction drawing of the shelf in House VI 14, 12
(fig. 12) provided here is based on observable features in the ala, taking into
account the evidence provided by the rack of shelves found in the Herculaneum
shop (Insula V, 12, see fig. 11). The reconstruction consists of two vertical
uprights fixed to the ground and three horizontal rails; three rows of projecting
bearers are fitted to the back of the uprights and rails and inserted into holes
on the back wall. Three shelves rest on the three rows of bearers. Holes on the
adjacent side walls receive the top rail to help anchor and stabilize the rack. The
tripartite screen on the top rail follows the example from Herculaneum (Insula
V, 12) referenced above.
lofts
The construction of lofts is another architectural modification to the alae that
could be associated with storage activities, especially of larger items that were
not needed for everyday use. Lofts were also a convenient way to utilize a room
without appropriating the surface of the floor. Despite suggestions that lofts
were used as sleeping areas, possibly for slaves, the archaeological evidence to
support this interpretation is lacking.30 Moreover, although Kastenmeier (2007:
46) reports that all of the lofts among houses in her study were confined to the
28
Mols 1999: cat. no. 32, figs. 150–151 and cat. no. 33, figs. 152–153.
29
Maiuri 1958: 252, fig. 199; Mols 1999: cat. no. 34, figs. 154–155; Croom 2007: 137.
30
On the absence of spaces used exclusively by slaves in the Roman house, see George 1997a:
316–317 and 1997b; on sleeping arrangements for slaves, see Kastenmeier 2007: 46, 53; cf. Allison
2004: 134–135.

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384 PHOENIX
service sector, the evidence from the alae in Regio VI suggests that they are also
found elsewhere. An example of a loft (heavily reconstructed by Maiuri) is found
in the shop of the Casa di Nettuno e Anfitrite (Insula V, 6) in Herculaneum
discussed above (382).31 Another loft is found in the shop from Herculaneum
Insula Orientalis II, 9, also mentioned earlier (382).32 Allison (2004: 78, 82)
documents at least two possible lofts (“mezzanines”) in her study and associates
them with utilitarian functions.
In the left ala (depth 3.16 m, width 3.42 m) of the Casa di Pupius Rufus
(VI 15, 5) five holes are visible in the west wall at a height of approximately
2.25–2.29 m, as well as another hole below the northernmost one at a height
of 1.09 m (fig. 13). A distinct groove line is impressed into the First Style wall
decoration immediately above the line of holes on the west wall. A hypothetical
reconstruction provided here (fig. 14) shows a row of five joists, which supported
the wooden floor of the loft, set into corresponding holes in the west wall (the
full length of the joists, and thus the depth of the loft itself, are arbitrary).
The joists rest on a horizontal support affixed to two upright vertical posts.
A parapet is included as in the restored example in the shop of the Casa di
Nettuno e Anfitrite. The floor surface for the loft corresponds to the groove
running along the western wall that preserves the impression left by the original
wooden planks. The hole set into the wall at a lower level is used here for a
smaller, horizontal support that helps frame the exposed side of the loft, where
a screen has been proposed. It is not clear whether the loft occupied only
the western part of the ala or its entire width, since the upper portion of the
east wall is missing; both options are provided here. Access is shown here via
a ladder from the front of the loft in both examples; however, it is possible
that an opening in the floor of the loft could have also provided access, as in
Herculaneum Insula Orientalis II, 9.33
Moreover, a pile of pozzolana was found by the excavators in this ala, sug-
gesting it was a convenient place to store material out of the way and partially
hidden from at least the front of the atrium.34 Further evidence of restoration
works is visible in the east wall of the ala, which had been reconstructed in opus
vittatum and plastered, as well as in the right ala and in the atrium, which was
awaiting a new decoration. The addition of a loft to the left ala occurred after
the decoration of its walls in the First Style; however, a more precise date for
the construction of the loft cannot be ascertained.
31
Maiuri 1958: 402–403; Wallace-Hadrill 2011: 80–81.
32
Maiuri 1958: 462–463, fig. 419; Adam 1984: 220–221, figs. 480–482; see also Wallace-
Hadrill 2011: 272–277.
33
Other examples of lofts in alae of Regio VI are in houses VI 13, 2, VI 15, 9 and possibly VI
13, 6.
34
On building materials left in alae, see Allison 2004: 77–78; for building materials and visibility
within Roman houses, including VI 15, 5, see Anderson 2011: 77–81.

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freestanding cupboards and storage furniture

It is very likely that freestanding cupboards were located in the alae; as noted
above, both archaeological evidence and ancient sources attest to their presence
in the atrium and in the peristyle.35 The spatial recess represented by the ala
would have been particularly suited for this purpose, allowing the furniture to be
out of more trafficked areas and partially hidden to those standing in the front
part of the atrium. Movable wooden furniture is not preserved in Pompeii, with
the notable exception of plaster casts, several of which have been described by
Mols (1999: 266–269). The discovery of furniture fittings, such as bronze ring
handles, bosses and studs, as well as bone and metal hinges reveal the original
presence of wooden furniture.36
Nevertheless, in some cases, the presence of movable furniture has been sug-
gested on the basis of the design of the floor decoration,37 as well as the per-
sistence of an older style of wall painting (or its complete absence). In the only
ala of the Casa del Poeta Tragico (VI 8, 3–5), for example, the floor displays an
elaborate black and white mosaic that has a central element and threshold dec-
orated with complex geometric motifs.38 The central element is shifted closer
to the threshold that marks the opening into the atrium; the rest of the floor
along the three walls is covered by a simple mosaic with white tesserae bor-
dered by a black band. The absence of decorative elements in this p-shaped
section of the floor and the demarcation of this space by a black border suggest
that this part may have been covered and occupied by furniture, possibly cup-
boards, which would have been placed against the side and back walls of the
ala. In their discussion of the ala in the Casa dei Dioscuri (VI 9, 6), Over-
beck and Mau argued that the Second Style wall decoration in this ala—the
only room in the house not having been redecorated in the Fourth Style (ex-
cept for a triclinium in the peristyle area)—was maintained because the walls
were covered by cabinets or cupboards.39 More recently, Strocka (1993: 324)
suggested that a large cupboard occupied the southern portion of the left ala
of House VI 17 Ins. Occ., 40–41. According to Strocka this cupboard rested
against the south wall of the ala (which was only plastered), and covered the
southern part of the east and west walls (where the Second Style decoration,
present on the rest of the walls, stopped). Interestingly, the presence of a cup-
board, which according to Strocka was 1.90 m deep, would have balanced the
difference between the depth of this ala and that of the corresponding one to
the north.
35
Sigges 2002: 464–470; Allison 2004: 51–54, 69, 88–89, 2006b.
36
Allison 2004, 2006b; see also Sigges 2002: 510–518.
37
See Ling 1998: 118.
38
PPM 4: 544, fig. 30.
39
Mau 1882: 258; Overbeck and Mau 1884: 336–337.

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386 PHOENIX
conclusions
In her study of Pompeian households, Allison (2004: 77–78, 107) noted that,
while there was no clear pattern of use among the thirteen alae (from nineteen
houses) she examined, evidence for shelving, cupboards, and other containers
implied that these spaces (as well as other rooms off of the atrium area) were
commonly used for storage during the final occupation phase. The results pre-
sented here, derived from a survey of seventy-nine alae from forty-eight houses,
provide additional data to support her conclusion, since storage installations rep-
resent a clear majority among the modifications that characterize the alae of Re-
gio VI. Archaeologically, storage-related features in alae exhibit a broad range of
forms, from structures built directly into the space (e.g., large-scale cupboards
on elevated platforms and raised lofts) to the complete transformation of the
ala into a closet or the simpler, but equally functional, installation of shelves
along the walls. In most cases these transformations can be documented as later
modifications and, although the exact point within the life cycle of the house
cannot be determined with any precision, they characterize the alae during the
final occupation prior to the eruption.
Evidence for substantial modifications to the alae provides an important op-
portunity to reflect on what these changes can tell us about the use of domes-
tic space and, even more significantly, the distinction (if such a distinction in-
deed existed) between private and public within the house. Once architectural
modifications were carried out and storage installations added to the alae, they
transformed and, to a certain extent, permanently defined the nature of those
spaces. These transformations were not always absolute (e.g., shelves on a single
wall or a loft that occupied only part of the ala) and therefore did not always
exclude other activities. Nevertheless, the construction of built-in cupboards,
closets, lofts, or even open racks of shelves represented changes that restricted
the flexible use of the space, jeopardizing any versatility in function that it may
have once enjoyed.
Wallace-Hadrill and others have viewed the alae, prior to any significant
modification, as spaces complementary to the atrium;40 their positioning as open-
fronted rooms (to borrow Allison’s descriptive terminology) leading into the
atrium integrated the alae within a larger area of free circulation. As such,
among other activities, the alae were likely linked to the various social rituals of
reception and display that ancient sources document for the atria of elite houses.
Domestic storage is often considered characteristic of secluded and out of the
way “service” areas and something avoided in more public spaces accessible and
visible to visitors.41 Thus Kastenmeier (2007: 10) has suggested that service
40
Wallace-Hadrill 1994: 12, 2007: 283; cf. Richardson 1988: 289; Dickmann 1999: 38–39;
Flower 1996: 206; Sewell 2010: 150.
41
For example, the idea of marginalized service areas features prominently in the social reading
of elite Roman houses provided by Wallace-Hadrill (1988: 77–81).

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quarters, including storage areas, were clearly separated and almost hidden from
the residential parts of the house. To the contrary, however, Allison has shown
that even though the atrium sector served as the principal circulation area for
household members and the main reception space for those entering the house,
storage furniture was not only prevalent, but openly displayed in the atrium of
Pompeian houses, at least at the time of the eruption.42 Storage items, such as
wooden cupboards and chests, were the most common type of furniture found
in atria and she concludes that along with activities of reception and display,
atria also served more utilitarian functions related to domestic storage.43 Allison
writes (2006a: 347): “instead of being furnished only with display furniture to
impress the visitor, as assumed by most scholars . . . the front hall can be found to
have been filled with a great range of household paraphernalia.” Furthermore,
evidence for the storage of bulk items in the atrium, such as amphorae, may
also indicate commercial activities, which were often associated with the house.
Nevett (2010: 111), too, has emphasized the widespread nature of domestic
activities and storage in particular in the “atrium-peristyle axis,” remarking that
“contrary to what we might assume, amphorae, chests and other storage equip-
ment were not something to hide away so as not spoil the gracious effect of
architecture and wall paintings.” In fact, one could argue that by storing objects
in more open and high-traffic areas access to them would be better controlled
in contrast to storage installations hidden away in more secluded spaces of the
house.
A similar argument can be made with some confidence regarding the alae—
spaces that commonly received significant, permanent, and visible modifications
to provision storage. The difficultly, of course, is understanding whether this
phenomenon of visible storage in public areas like the atrium represents a later
development or reflects the continuation of an earlier, established practice. Al-
lison (2006a: 348) denies the modern distinctions between public and private,
even male and female, in the interpretation of the use and organization of space
in Pompeian houses. Accordingly, she writes (2006a: 347): “Pompeian house-
holders did not hide their other activities and utilitarian domestic materials, or
their women and their children, from the public eye, nor prohibit them from us-
ing this more public space [i.e., the atrium].” Dickmann (2011: 55) approaches
the question of the use of domestic space differently, preferring to define areas
by “degrees of accessibility.” According to Dickmann’s argument, the acces-
sibility of individual areas could be modified based on the circumstances, the
time of the day, and/or the status of the users. This approach redefines the
concepts of “public” and “private” spaces as “accessible” and “not accessible,”
respectively, and reinforces the flexible and temporal nature of domestic space.
In this context, the structural modifications to the alae documented here fixed
42
Allison 1993: 4–7; 2004: 65–70; 2006a: 347.
43
Allison 1993: 4–6 and 2004: 69–70.

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388 PHOENIX
their degree of accessibility more permanently. Once the space of the ala was
modified, it would have been less susceptible to the sort of external factors that
helped renegotiate levels of accessibility as suggested by Dickmann.
While the alae were initially tied to the plan and organization of the atrium
house, substantial architectural transformations in some houses indicate that the
use of these spaces changed over time. It is possible that changes to the alae
were a consequence of the disruption and reorganization of space caused by the
earthquake(s) that preceded the eruption.44 Evidence for makeshift conditions
and a general state of disrepair could therefore account for changes in the use
of space that would fulfill more basic and practical needs of everyday household
management in a state of emergency. Yet the recognition that space was con-
stantly in flux reminds us that we face various pitfalls when we attempt to apply
a single interpretation for how domestic space functioned at any given moment,
much less over the long occupation and use of the house.45 Ultimately, any
hypotheses regarding a “disruption from the norm” can only be documented in
cases where the functions associated with certain spaces remain fixed and static—
an untenable consideration given the great flexibility and shifting dynamics of
household activities that recent scholarship has established. And while it is
tempting to consider the installation of storage features in the alae against the
backdrop of the changing dynamics of social action in the Roman house and
thus suggest that the use of the alae was “downgraded” to more practical or
mundane functions, the evidence indicates that we should allow for multiple
explanations. In the end, it was the performance of the daily routine in the
house—and the convenience of availability—that determined how the space of
the ala was used, whether as a suitable place for safe-guarding valuables and
other household items, stashing things to the side to avoid disrupting traffic or
being detected, or as an open showcase accessible to an extended cast of social
actors going about their daily business.
Department of Foreign Languages and Literature–Classics
University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
PO Box 413
Milwaukee, WI 53201
U.S.A. covae@uwm.edu
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Schoonhoven, A. V. 2006. Metrology and Meaning in Pompeii: The Urban Arrangement of
Regio VI. Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei 20. Rome.
Sewell, J. 2010. The Formation of Roman Urbanism, 338–200 B.C.: Between Contemporary
Foreign Influence and Roman Tradition. JRA Suppl. 79. Portsmouth, R.I.
Sigges, B. 2002. Vita cognita. Die Ausstattung pompejanischer Wohnhäuser mit Gefäßen
und Geräten—untersucht an ausgewählten Beispielen. Unpublished diss., University of
Cologne.
Strocka, V. M. 1991. La Casa del Labirinto (VI, 11, 8–10). Häuser in Pompeji 4. Munich.
—— 1993. “Pompeji VI 17, 41: Ein Haus mit Privatbibliothek,” RM 100: 321–351.
Verzár Bass, M., and F. Oriolo (eds.). 2009. Rileggere Pompei 2: L’insula 13 della Regio
VI. Studi della Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei 30. Rome.
Viola, L. 1879. “Gli scavi di Pompei dal 1873 al 1878,” in M. Ruggiero (ed.), Pompei e
la regione sotterrata dal Vesuvio nell’anno LXXIX 2. Naples. 7–85.
Wallace-Hadrill, A. 1988. “The Social Structure of the Roman House,” PBSR 56:
43–97.
—— 1994. Houses and Society in Pompeii and Herculaneum. Princeton.
—— 2007. “The Development of the Campanian House,” in Dobbins and Foss 2007:
279–291.
—— 2011. Herculaneum: Past and Future. London.
Zaccaria Ruggiu, A., and C. Maratini. 2008. “Saggi e ricerche nell’insula 7 della Regio
VI, informatizzazione dei dati, GIS,” in Guzzo and Guidobaldi 2008: 177–187.

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Figure 1. Pompeii. Plan of Regio VI indicating houses with alae, including those with
documented modifications (courtesy of Eric Poehler, Pompeii Bibliography and Mapping
Project [PBMP]).

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157.32.42.234 on Wed, 14 Feb 2024 08:22:04 +00:00
PHOENIX
a. b.
Figure 2. Pompeii. Accademia di Musica (VI 3, 7): (a) plan (courtesy of Eric Poehler, PBMP),
(b) ala with masonry base and step (photo: author).
Figure 3. Hypothetical reconstruction of built-in cupboard with base in the ala of the
Accademia di Musica (VI 3, 7), Pompeii (drawing: Anita Cova).

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157.32.42.234 on Wed, 14 Feb 2024 08:22:04 +00:00
PHOENIX
a. b.
Figure 4. Pompeii. Casa di Adone Ferito (VI 7, 18): (a) plan (courtesy of Eric Poehler, PBMP),
(b) ala with masonry base and brick jambs (photo: author).
Figure 5. Pompeii, Casa di Orfeo (VI 14, 20): right ala with base for cupboard (photo:
author).

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PHOENIX
Figure 6. Pompeii, House VI 13, 13: closed-off right ala with evidence for shelving
(photo: author).

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Figure 7. Pompeii, Casa del Chirurgo (VI 1, 10): right ala, niche for wall cupboard
(photo: author).

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PHOENIX
Figure 8. Pompeii, Casa del Labirinto (VI 11, 10): left ala, detail of holes in south wall
(photo: author).

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Figure 9. Herculaneum, Insula V, 6, drawing of amphora rack from shop (after Mols
1999: fig. 149).

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PHOENIX
Figure 10. Pompeii, House VI 14, 12: left ala with holes for shelving and staircase
(photo: author).

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Figure 11. Herculaneum, Insula V, 12, shelf in shop (after Mols 1999: fig. 154).

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PHOENIX
Figure 12. Hypothetical reconstruction of rack of shelves installed in the left ala of House
VI 14, 12, Pompeii (drawing: Anita Cova).

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Figure 13. Pompeii, Casa di Pupius Rufus (VI 15, 5): left ala with holes for loft (photo:
author).

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PHOENIX
Figure 14. Hypothetical reconstruction of loft in the left ala of the Casa di Pupius Rufus
(VI 15, 5), Pompeii, showing loft occupying western half (right) and entire width (left)
of the ala (drawing: Anita Cova).

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Cova CUPBOARDSCLOSETSSHELVES 2013

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Cova CUPBOARDSCLOSETSSHELVES 2013

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CUPBOARDS, CLOSETS, AND SHELVES: STORAGE IN THE POMPEIAN HOUSE

Author(s): Elisabetta Cova

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possible uses—considerations that also contribute to the larger discussion of the

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construction. Thus, the relative chronological phasing of these changes with

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built-in cupboards and walk-in closets

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forth this interpretation in a report on the results of excavations in the Casa

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open shelves or racks

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in Herculaneum provide additional comparanda.28 As seen below, these types of

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freestanding cupboards and storage furniture

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George, M. 1997a. “Repopulating the Roman House,” in B. Rawson and P. Weaver

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