Conspicuous consumption in ancient roman domestic space : the house of the Faun, Pompeii

Abstract

The study considers the different forms of conspicuous consumption displayed within Roman domestic spaces, with particular focus on the House of the Faun in Pompeii. Sumptuary laws aimed at women were used to identify how women displayed conspicuous consumption, which is used to identify the domestic display of conspicuous consumption from early second century BCE until 79 CE when Pompeii was destroyed. The house and the woman were equated because both are extensions of the paterfamilias. Thus, by firstly indicating that women in fact displayed conspicuous consumption and by utilising sumptuary laws, it is possible to demonstrate that conspicuous consumption was displayed in the domus even though no sumptuary laws existed aimed at the domus. The structure of the house is analysed as if it were women’s clothing and parameters for the basic layout of the house are established to indicate how those displaying conspicuous consumption deviated from the basic plan. In addition, parameters are similarly determined to analyse wall and floor art, furniture and sculptures, gardens, and water features that determine how conspicuous consumption was displayed in the House of the Faun. The concept of conspicuous consumption has to be understood as well as the socioeconomic circumstances under which it manifested during the Republic. The next key concept is Roman women and how they were a vehicle for conspicuous display in the private and public sphere. An analogy is created that equates the woman to the house in order to identify certain forms of conspicuous consumption. After identifying the ways women displayed status, the display of status in the domus is discussed from the outside inward, in other words, from the architectural structure moving inward to art, gardens and movable features.