Domus di Giove e Ganimede
Domus di Giove e Ganimede ( House of Jupiter and Ganymede ) (modern numbering: I, IV, 2) is the modern name of a large town house in Ostia , which together with other houses (see: Casa dei Dipinti ) formed an insula . The whole block was first excavated in 1878 by Rodolfo Lanciani and then again shortly after the First World War by Guido Calza .
The house was built in Hadrian times. The main entrance was to the west, where the interior rooms were arranged around an L-shaped corridor. There was an open courtyard at the rear, which also gave access to the garden, which was the central part of the whole block. The house was heavily rebuilt around 180, some doors were walled up and it was above all richly decorated with wall paintings . The paintings can be dated to before 192 due to a graffiti (the month introduced by Commodus and not used after him is called Commodus ) and form a good chronological reference point for post-Pompeian wall paintings. In the largest room of the house there is a wall painting, the central image of which shows Jupiter and Ganymede and gave the house its name. The main rooms show black and white mosaics that come from the first phase of furnishing the house under Hadrian. The house was rebuilt several times until the 4th century.
The original owners were certainly wealthy citizens of Ostia who could afford such a large house in the center of the city, later at least some rooms seem to have been used as a brothel .
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Coordinates: 41 ° 45 ′ 17 ″ N , 12 ° 17 ′ 18 ″ E