VILLA OPLONTIS WALL PAINTINGS

These wall paintings come from Villa Oplontis, a.k.a. Villa Poppaea. It is regularly associated with Poppaea Sabina. Oplontis appears on the Peutinger Table, a remarkable a 12th century CE Mediaeval copy of a 4th century CE Roman road map. On it Oplontis appears between Pompeii and Stabiae, quite close to Herculaneum. Villa Oplontis was constructed around the middle of the first century BCE, and subsequently extended during Nero’s Principate. It was ‘closed for renovation’ when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. There is dispute about whether it was owned by Poppaea Sabina’s family, or by Nero and used by her. See, e.g., Coarelli, F., Alfredo Foglia, A., & Foglia, P., Pompeii. New York: Riverside Book Co., 2002. The quality of the wall-painting is superb. Photos © S.P. Kershaw