Julia Felix was a woman who lived in Popmpeii and who probably died in the eruption 79 AD.

All we know, ist that she owned a house at the southwestern part of Via dell´Abbondanza, opposite the Amphitheatre. The house was a big one, with a somewhat unusual plan.

It was excavated in the mid-18 th century and covered up afterwards. It was again excavated in 1952-53. Originally there was found rich decorations in marble, paintings and sculpture, some of this is in the Louvre, other things in the Naples museum.

The entrance from via dell´Abbondanza was decorated with scenes from everyday life in the forum at Pompeii. Here a plaque was found wwith the owner´s name on it, and that the bath and shops are for rent.

A large vestibule led into the portico around the garden. The garden was surrounded with slender pilasters and there were openings to several rooms.

The triclinium is worth special mentioning; there are couches with marble facades and an aedicula in the back wall. From this water cascaded into a channel beneath. The south wall still has traces of a shrine; it might have been intended for the cult of Isis.

At the far end of the house there are the living quarters. Service rooms surround an atrium and there is an entrance from the alley to the west.

The garden is rectangular, there are pilasters which probaly originally made out a pergola. A fish-pool runs the length of the garden, with small bridges crossing it, and there were niches of marble.

From the Via dell´Abbonanza a separate entrance led into the balneum; a small bath building, which, from inscriptions we learn was built for the purpose of renting out to the public. It had a msall, porticoed courtyard, there was a changing room with a pool with cold water, atepidarium, a caldarium and a circular laconicum for dry sweating (i>sudationes. Further there was an open air poll, a furnace and a latrine.

Towards the street was a tavern and some two-storeyed shops. Also this was probably rented out.

Maybe that Julia was originally married to a well to do patrician. He died, leaving her a widow and to be able to keep the big house, she had to rent rooms. But on the other hand, since the house seems to have been built at the same time and including the bath and the taverna, it may have been that Jula was an unusually enterprising woman who combined business with her home.

A marvellous site: Ancientvine. You can virtually walk through a Roman house, it´s totally wonderful!