1. Location and dating of the paintings

Most of the Roman wall paintings found in Ephesus come from two great urban insulae, which are known with the German name Hanghäuser, i.e. “hanging houses”. They are located in the middle of the Greco-Roman city, south of the street of the Kouretes and are developed in three successive platforms over the steep slope of a hill, something which justifies their name.¹ From insula 1, which consists of six houses, only room b (Cenatorium or Dinner Room) and the vaulted south hall (SR2)² preserve painted decoration, whereas from insula 2, which consists of seven houses (I-VII), five of them (I, II, III, IV and V) are decorated with wall paintings. The construction of insula 1 is comprised by six building phases, from the 1st century BC until the early 7th century AD, during which it saw many alterations as a result of the earthquakes which afflicted the region. As for the houses in the insula 2, excavations conducted after 1995 proved that only after a period of abandonment, because of a disastrous earthquake in the years of Gallienus (262 AD), which lasted many generations, some systematic reconstruction of the space in certain parts was undertaken.³

The wall paintings of the houses at Ephesus, which chronologically extend from the 1st until the 6th centuries AD, are splendid examples of the post Pompeian painting. Most of them are dated between 400 and 450 AD.

2. Description and arrangement of mural decoration

2.1 1st century AD- 3rd century AD

Examples of paintings imitating architectural decoration can be seen in the houses of insula 2, and more specifically in rooms SR25, SR26 and SR27 (2nd layer) of house II, 16a (2nd layer) of house III, 15 (2nd layer) and 22 (2nd layer) of house IV.⁴

Wall paintings imitating marble wall panelling decorate the following rooms: SR 28 of house II, 16a of house III (3rd layer), 15 and 22 (3rd layer) of house IV (2nd layer) and 12a of house V (3rd layer). The walls are covered with big panels painted with a pure white colour and are surrounded by frames of reddish brown, whereas other smaller panels imitating the “waters” of the marble are placed at the lower part of the wall.

The decoration of the walls with panels (Felder-Lisenen-Systeme), bearing emblematic figures at their centre and surrounded by frames was very popular. The oldest wall painting of this kind is the celebrated mural of Socrates, which gave the name to the room in which it was found (Sokrateszimmer). It decorated the wall of the northern side of the courtyard surrounded by porticoes of house IV and is dated to the second half of the 1st century.⁵

On another wall (14a) the muse Urania is portrayed. Therefore, it should be concluded that on the four sides of the courtyard there were alternating painted pictures of muses, philosophers and poets which were parts of an integrated iconographical circle. During the age of the Severi, around 200-220 AD, another wall painting circle is dated, this time with a mythological content. At the south side of the courtyard of the same house (rooms 14 b-d) the discovery of Achilles by Odysseus in Skyros is depicted.

The depiction of landscapes of great dimensions and garden scenes are also found in house IV of insula 2. At the time of the Severi, around the same period with the circle of Achilles, the decoration of the wall and the door jambs of courtyard 21 and the retaining wall of room 24 with a hunting scene are also dated.

On the northern wall of room 6 of house 1, known as the theatre room (insula 2), the surface is preserved in certain parts with painted semi-columns, among which red panels are inserted with miniature scenes from comedies of Menandros and tragedies of Euripides. At the upper part a mythological theme is depicted, probably the fight of Hercules and Acheloos, which, based on comparisons with similar compositions from houses in Ostia and Cyrene, is dated to circa 180-190 AD. The preference for this specific style of painted decoration, which in Ephesus was in use as early as the 1st century AD [see rooms 7 (1st layer) and 14a (1st layer) of house IV], indicates a rather conservative taste. Painting in panels and frames is also found in rooms SR 10 (2nd layer), SR 15 and SR 18 of house I, SR 16, SR 19-20, SR 25, SR 26, SR 27 (2nd layer) and SR 29 (1st layer) of house II, 12, 17 and 16a (2nd layer) of house III, 7 (3rd and 4th layer) of house IV, 22 (1st and 2nd layer), 18 (3rd layer) of house V and 18a (3rd layer) of insula 2. In room 12 of house III the perspective depiction of a railing and edifices at the upper part of the murals represents a fourth style architectural perspective.

2.2 End of 3rd century AD- 5th century AD

The end of the 3rd century AD was a difficult period for Ephesus and this is also reflected in the decoration of the city’s houses. The early 4th century AD is represented by rooms b (Cenatorium) and SR2 (2nd layer), which probably belonged to the same house (insula 1). The decoration of hall b is dated to the early years of the reign of Constantine I. The painted decoration imitating architectural motifs, such as great panels and columns, placed alternately, and crowned by a frieze is developed over a marble base.⁶ The illusion of a three-dimensional surface is achieved by the rendering of chiaroscuro on the columns, giving the impression that they are standing in front of a wall. However, the synthesis as a whole remains flat. The painted imitation of coloured marbles is a common practice already since Hellenistic times, but in Ephesus it does not appear as an integrated decorative system until this era. From the mid-4th century until the beginning of the 5th century no wall paintings have survived, something which was obviously caused by the powerful earthquake which occurred between 358 and 368 AD.

Another characteristic motive which appears in the late 4th century AD is the flowers spreading on the whole space available to the painter, which is covered with white plaster. Decoration of this type frames the painted themes adorning rooms A and B of house I, 14, 18 (2nd layer), SR 19 and SR 20 of house II, 16a (1st layer) and 16b of house III and, finally, 14d (3rd layer) of house IV. Similar painted decoration covers the vault of the crypt at the cemetery of the Seven Sleepers, whose decoration is dated to the late 4th century AD.⁷ However, this motive extends beyond this period, as seen in room 14d of house IV and the room of the ivory (SR 18) of house I, which are dated to the first decades of the 5th century AD.

In room 12 (Musenzimmer or Room of the Muses) of house III the panels of the walls are decorated with the emblematic images of the nine muses, identified by inscriptions, as well as of Sappho and Apollo. Similar decoration of panels, the centre of which is covered by painted bronze figures, and one of them depicting a scene from Sophocles’ Antigone, covers the upper zone. The decoration of this room is dated around 450 AD.

3. Description of the successive layers of mural decoration

Due to the fact that houses were occupied for a long period of time, there have been changes in their mural decoration, something which is documented on the successive layers of the painted plasters. In many cases, the older wall painting was knocked over in order to create a proper base surface for the next layer of plaster. Interesting information for the painting preferences of each period is offered by the painted decoration of house V. On the west wall of room 16a three overlapping wall painting layers are preserved.⁸

The lower one preserved a decoration of scattered flowers, known from the cemetery of the Seven Sleepers, and is dated at the end of the 4th century AD. On the next layer, dated around 410/420 AD, remains of rectangular panels covered with white colour and bearing emblematic images of birds and fish can be seen. Between them narrower rectangular panels, which are perpendicularly decorated with clusters of red and grey leafs. The 3rd layer, dated to 440-450 AD, is decorated with panels of white colour, which are surrounded by red panels. This last motive of decoration and variations of it are repeated in rooms SR 17, SR 28 and SR 24 of house II (400-410) and in rooms 15 and 25 of house IV and V respectively (second quarter of the 5th century AD).

The portico of the alytarches is situated in the north façade of insula 1, in front of a series of ten vaulted shops (tabernae) and it is divided into two levels.⁹ Remains of painted decoration are preserved on the wall between taberna VIII and IX. Two different styles of decoration can be observed which imitate marble wall panelling. The 1st layer apparently belongs to the early 5th century AD, whereas in the same century the decorations of tabernae VI and VII are dated, as well as the 1st layer of tabernae IV, VIII, IX. The wall paintings of taberna III and probably the 2nd layer of taberna VII and in the alytarches’ portico are dated around 500 AD. In the same period or slightly later the 2nd layer in taberna IX is dated.

From the houses of insula 1 and 2 no painted decoration of the 6th century AD survives. According to numismatic evidence, both were destroyed after 612 AD but they continued to be inhabited. The economical crisis during the 6th and 7th centuries AD is reflected in the wall paintings, although minor interventions in rooms SR 22, SR 27 and SR 28 of house II (insula 2), as well as the covering of certain wall paintings of the 5th century AD with plaster [SR 26 and 18a (4th layer) of insula 2] took place. The only specimens of painting belonging to this century come from tabernae III-XII.

4. Mural decoration as evidence for the use of space

The differentiation in the decoration of houses I-V of insula 2, dated mainly to the first half of the 5th century AD, appears to have been each time depended on the functional use of the room. The main rooms (courtyards with porticoes and dining rooms) were mostly decorated with actual marble wall panelling (rooms SR 22-23, SR 24 of house II, 16b of house III and 13 of house V) or were painted more carefully than the rest (room 12 of house II). A special case is the embellishment of the 200 year old decoration of room 6 (2nd layer) of house I. Apparently, the reasons which led to the renovation of this room were probably the effort to imitate the glorious past, something which seems not to have been a unique example. It is not possible to determine whether rooms SR 17 of house II and 25 of house V had any special function. We can, however, note that wall paintings imitating marble wall panelling in rooms SR 28 of house II, 21 (2nd layer) and 15 (2nd layer) of house IV in insula 2 were artistically of better quality than the regular system of decoration with panels and frames. For the painted decoration with flowers, if one takes into consideration its presence in relatively closed rooms (A and B of house I, 14 of house II, 16a (1st layer) of house III, 14d (3rd layer) of house IV), it can be speculated that it was more proper for private dwelling spaces. Totally undecorated is room C of house I, rooms 11, 12 and 30 of house II, 16c of house III and 6, 8, 14, 14a, 19 of house IV. These were probably rooms connected to domestic needs or dining.

5. Conclusion

This brief analysis of the relation between the decorative system and the use of space points to the different household needs and how they were fulfilled during the 5th century AD. The fact that between the 1st and the 5th centuries AD there were at least five wall painting circles with muses,¹⁰ four of which are dated to the 5th century AD, shows not only the trends of the era but also the firm iconographic tradition which is connected to the preferences of the owners of these houses, who were part of the higher strata of the society. Meanwhile, it has been attested a persistence in the arrangement of the surface in panels and in the detailed representation of architectural motifs, without, however, being accompanied by the pursuit of the creation of any depth illusion.