The last owner of the House of the Silver Wedding

The last owner of the House of the Silver Wedding in Pompeii is thought to have been Lucius Albucius Celsus based on some election inscriptions at the entrance to the Vicolo and some graffiti in the house. According to the Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, the gens Albucia or Albutia was a minor plebeian family known from the late second century BCE to the first century CE. This gens may have been of Ligurian or Gallic origin, as one of the best-known individuals of this name, Gaius Albucius Silus, a rhetorician and legal advocate during the Augustan period, was a native of the town of Novaria in Cisalpine Gaul. Suetonius described his oratory style that became extremely popular with the people:

"...his habit after proposing a subject for a debate, to begin to speak from his seat, and then as he warmed up, to rise and make his peroration on his feet. He declaimed, too, in various manners, now in a brilliant and ornate style, and at another time, not to be thought invariably academic, speaking briefly, in everyday language and all but that of the streets."

Albucius Silus was at least contemporaneous with the Albucii in Pompeii if not closely related. Thomas Frolich in his review of Wofgang Ehrhardt's "Hauser in Pompeji, Band 12: Casa delle Nozze d'argento (V 2,i)" points out the branch of the family in Pompeii belonged to the city's order there since Tiberian times at the latest.

More 2023 photographs of the House of the Silver Wedding in Pompeii by Professor Johannes Eber (PiP room numbers are as designated by the floorplan provided by pompeiiinpictures.com):

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 PiP Room 12, looking east across garden area, with doorway to room 14, on right Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 PiP Room 12, garden area, looking south towards baths area with latrines on left Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 PiP Room 12, looking south-west across garden area, from near latrines, on left Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 PiP Room 13, detail of latrines, looking towards south wall Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii PiP Room 13, looking towards south wall of latrines from garden area Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 PiP Room 11, detail from south-east corner of kitchen Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Room 11, looking towards south wall Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 PiP Room 10, looking south along corridor to west side of peristyle Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Room 1, looking north across atrium with compluvium, from room 7, tablinum Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Looking towards east wall of tablinum Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Room 5, mosaic flooring in the wing Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Room 5, looking towards lower south-east corner Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Room 1, looking east across atrium towards doorway to room 4, on left, and to east wing 5, in south-east corner, on right courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii Room 4, south wall and south-west corner of cubiculum, with doorway to atrium Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Room 4, detail from center of north wall Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Room 4, north-west corner and north wall Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Room 4, looking towards west wall with doorway to atrium, and north-west corner of cubiculum Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Room 1, looking east across atrium towards doorway to room 4, in centre Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber

House of the Silver Wedding Pompeii 2023 Room 3, doorway threshold Photo courtesy of Johannes Eber