The House of Marcus Lucretius on Via Stabiana has an irregular plan because it was formed by joining two originally independent houses whose atria lay at different levels.
The rooms opening from the atria were decorated with high-quality mythological paintings dating from the city’s final phase. Some of the works found in the house are now in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.
The small raised garden was particularly theatrical in design. A marble cascade fountain was fed by water issuing from a statue of Silenus, while herms and statuettes of Erotes and Sileni were arranged around the basin.
The modern name derives from a painting that depicted writing implements and a letter addressed to Marcus Lucretius, a decurion of Pompeii and priest of Mars.
