The House of the Moralist stands on the Via dell’Abbondanza and was formed by joining two originally separate dwellings. Almost one third of the property was occupied by a large garden, around which some of the house’s most distinctive spaces were arranged.
The garden contained a summer triclinium, used for banquets during the warmer season. Its walls were decorated with birds pecking at fruit and berries. The same room also bore painted Latin inscriptions setting out a series of rules for appropriate conduct at banquets.
Among other things, the inscriptions urged guests to avoid quarrels, behave properly towards their fellow diners, and wash their feet. This unusual advice gave rise to the modern name House of the Moralist.
The triclinium also overlooked a small sacred area in the garden dedicated to the goddess Diana, as indicated by the discovery of a marble statuette.
Five electoral notices painted on the façade record Marcus Epidius Hymenaeus, Caius Arrius Crescens and Titus Arrius Polites. The Archaeological Park considers it likely that they were wine merchants, although the precise attribution of ownership should be treated with caution. The house was excavated between 1916 and 1917.
