Sul graffito perduto del labirinto della casa di Marco Lucrezio a Pompei

The term labyrinth evokes a combination of different disciplines making it a symbol of complexity, a topos that has recurred since antiquity because of the many possibilities it offers. In its versatility of meanings, knowledge and general image of the term is strongly linked to the Greek myth of the legendary Cretan labyrinth designed and built by Daedalus. Numerous have been its representations through the course of history: one of these is undoubtedly that of the house of Marcus Lucretius in Pompeii’s Regio IX Insula 3, where a graffito with a Roman-era inscription once stood out, the design of which, reproduced on some coins from Knossos, is known thanks to the brothers Fausto and Felice Niccolini, among the first to survey it. Other labyrinths are found in the well-known Roman city: one of them is remembered for the probable name given to the “House of the Labyrinth.” The study is divided into three parts: the first deals with the historical, philosophical and anthropological implications related to the meaning of the labyrinth; the second describes the decoration and architecture of the house in which the graffito was visible; finally, the third part focuses attention on the analysis of the lost labyrinth that is the subject of the present work.