What are you seeking, stranger, as you enter this house? Do you really only want to hear my story? It’s not often that someone stops to hear what I’ve got to say. I am a young woman called Eutychis, and I work here as a slave to the Vettii brothers: they were born slaves like myself, but they seem to have forgotten it since they have become so rich. My day is non-stop. I get up at dawn, dash to the market and bring home the food that my masters guzzle in the evening at their banquets, when they get drunk with their guests. Perhaps I shouldn’t speak of them this way but let me blow off some steam. I spend the rest of the day in the kitchen. I hate this dark, smoky place: the embers are hot on the counter and the vent in the ceiling is not big enough to allow air to come in. I always feel like I’m suffocating. But who cares about me? For my masters, we slaves are just things to be used until we wear out, and when we die, they’ll just buy more who will eventually be thrown away as well. And in the evening, once the fire has gone out? My work continues in the room next to the kitchen, the purpose of which I’m sure you can guess from the erotic paintings decorating its walls. The house slaves come here, as do the Vettii brothers, if they’ve got nothing better to do. And other men arrive, attracted by the sign at the entrance informing them that I am for sale. I only cost a couple of assi, the price of a glass of cheap wine, and the clientele likes me because I have a soft and gentle manner.
At night, when I can’t sleep, I sneak into the banquet hall and stand at the very back, facing the garden: I become absorbed gazing at the little Cupids painted on the wall and dream that one day I’ll be able to work like them, creating perfumes or jewellery, or even serving wine, but finally free, without a master who can dispose of me as he wishes. The Vettii brothers have accomplished this feat, and they flaunt their social advancement by surrounding themselves with luxury. Who knows, maybe my name, which in Greek means “good luck”, will bring me good fortune one day too.
SERVILE QUARTER OF THE HOUSE OF THE VETTII
Eutychis was the name of a slave mentioned in some graffiti found at the entrance to the luxurious domus of the Vettii brothers. The owners of the house, Aulus Vettius Conviva and Aulus Vettius Restitutus, were prominent figures of the libertine (freed slave) class. The house is located at the southernmost end of the insula, of which it occupies the entire width. Due to the layout with two atria, the structures made of square limestone blocks, and the cubic capitals that frame the doorway, the house can be dated to the 2nd century BC.
Eutychis, who was probably involved both in domestic duties and erotic pleasures, lived in the servant’s quarters, which were organised around a small atrium with a painted lararium (religious shrine); in particular, a small room, accessible only from the kitchen and decorated with erotic scenes, was probably intended for her. This room was located far from the luxurious rooms where the owners received their guests.
