OPLONTIS
(Torre Annunziata) Campania, Italy.
The
Peutinger Table places it ca. 5 km from Pompeii toward Herculaneum (cf.
Rav. Cosm. Eplontis, Oplontis;
Guid. Eplontis). Since there is no other mention in the ancient texts, the very existence of Oplontis has been doubted. However, the archaeological discoveries at Torre Annunziata make it certain that Oplontis
is to be found there and that life in the area dates
to a remote period. From the archaeological evidence
the center, at least in the Roman period, appears to
have been composed of villas and bath establishments
in the same manner as nearby Stabiae, without a well-defined urban structure. It appears not to have been a suburb of nearby Pompeii. Oplontis also was buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79, partly by the
lava flow, as was Herculaneum, and partly by ashes and
rock, as was Pompeii. The hypothesis, actually supported
by sparse and dubious proof, has also been advanced
that after the eruption the site was still inhabited for a
long time.
Ruins of a bath building, dating to the last ten years
of the existence of Oplontis, were discovered in the last
century on the promontory of Uncino (today Terme
Nunziante). Here, it appears that both the subterranean
water reserves and sea water were utilized. An inscription found at Pompeii (
CIL X, 1063) and related to this building has recorded the Baths of one M. Crassus Frugi.
As far as private building is concerned, only the existence of aristocratic villas scattered here and there have
been documented. One such villa is being excavated
on the present Via Sepolcri, at the center of the modern
town. It can already be affirmed that the villa was very
large, complex in plan and with wall paintings of the
best workmanship. It was built at least as early as the
middle of the 1st c. B.C. but underwent successive remodeling, the last of which was interrupted by the eruption
in 79 A.D. On the central axis of the building an austere
atrium of grand dimensions was decorated with paintings
in the Second Style, with colonnades in perspective. Beyond it was a small garden and a large room that opens
onto a propylon above a garden of which two ends of
the portico are now distinguishable. On the left side of
the house, there are still three walks with small paintings
in the Second Style, the bath area surrounding a small
courtyard, and the kitchen. On the right side a series of
rooms is presently being excavated. Here too are wall
paintings in the Second Style. The decorative painting of
the other areas is mainly in the Third Style, with very
delicate ornamental motifs on a bright background. Elegant sculptures have also been found, completely in harmony with Hellenistic taste, comprising centaurs and an amorino on a column capital. These must have adorned
the garden.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
K. Miller,
Itineraria Romana (1916)
353, 363;
Itineraria Romana, ed. O. Cuntz & J. Schnetz
(1929-40); H. Philipp,
RE 18.1 (1939) 691ff; A. Maiuri,
“Note di topografia pompeiana,”
RendNap (1959) 73ff;
G. Alessio, “Oplontis,”
StEtr (1965) 699ff; A. de Franciscis,
Atti Convegno Magna Grecia, Taranto 1966, 234;
id., “La villa romana di Oplontis,”
Parola del Passato
(1973) 653ff.
A. DE FRANCISCIS
