The Roman House as Memory Theater: The House of the Tragic Poet in Pompeii

This essay reconstructs the pictorial program of the House of the Tragic Poet in Pompeii and demonstrates how the dynamic passage through the house, rather than the static arrangement itself, can reveal a logic of decor. The role of movement in mental organization is clear from the contemporary architectural mnemonic. This house is a “memory theater” in two senses: as an original Roman repository for ancient “classics” and as a stage set for literary and visual animations over the past 150 years.