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The house
It was the largest and most expensive house in Pompeii
The House of the Faun was built in the 2nd century BCE, in the Samnite period, as a grand Hellenistic residence. It occupies an entire city block, with about 3,000 square metres inside, and is based on two colonnaded gardens, one Ionic and one Doric.
The faun
The dancing faun is really a satyr, and the one on site is a copy
The bronze statue of a dancing faun is actually a satyr, since the lower body is that of a man. It was found on October 26 of 1830 near the impluvium. The original is in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples, so the statue in the ruins is a copy.
“...the pose is light and graceful”
Sir Kenneth Clark, on the bronze faun
The mosaic
A mosaic shows Alexander the Great facing Darius at Issus
The Alexander Mosaic was first thought to show a battle from the Iliad. Historians have found that it depicts the Battle of Issus in 333 BCE between Alexander the Great and Darius III of Persia. The original is in Naples; a reconstruction is on site.
Hail
The doorstep greets you with HAVE in red and white stone
The entryway is decorated in red and white stone with the Latin message HAVE, which can be translated as Hail to you. It is not in the local languages, Oscan and Samnian, which has led historians to debate when it was laid.
The ash
The eruption ended its use, and five bodies were found inside
The house was rebuilt after the earthquake of AD 62 and used until the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in CE 79 made it unusable. Five bodies were found in the house, including one woman and three boys. The layers of ash preserved its mosaics.
Day 7, midday
It comes after Forum of Pompeii. Then Amphitheatre of Pompeii.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article House of the Faun, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.