House of the Ceii, Pompei

The House of the Ceii is a small dwelling opposite the House of Menander on Vicolo Meridionale. The house’s name derives from a political slogan painted on its façade. The slogan is in support of L. Ceius Secundus, a local politician who may have owned the property. There are a number of fine third style paintings throughout the building. In the triclinium, there is a fresco of Bacchus offering wine to a tiger. A cubiculum adjacent to the garden has a number of excellent depictions of satyrs and maenads, both mythical beasts.

The walled garden features the house’s most spectacular artworks. All three walls have large frescoes in keeping with third style art, depicting Egyptian themed landscapes. A number of animals native to Africa feature, including wolves, wild boars, lions and tigers, a hippopotamus and a crocodile. The floors in the compact house are also notable, with many tiled mosaics forming geometric patterns. There is also a staircase leading to an upper floor, believed to be under construction at the time of the eruption of Vesuvius. The eruption destroyed all upper floors within the city of Pompei; only the presence of staircases shows that buildings in Pompei had upper floors.