Description of the Building (Reg VII, Ins 9, 1) This large building, situated on the east side of the Forum between the Temple of Vespasian and the Comitium was built by the priestess Venus Eumachia for the corporation of weavers, dyers and launderers. The building is as large as the Basilica, consisting of a impressive courtyard surrounded by a two-storey colonnade. jjj .. The entrance corridor leads to the interior courtyard where buying and selling of cloth (presumably) took place. A criptoporticus runs along 3 sides of a porch-like structure at the rear of the courtyard. .. .. Of the fine facade that once faced the Forum only the marble cornice, decorated with acanthus leaves and birds (above and left) remains, the rest being rebuilt of brick after the earthquake of 62AD. .. Two small rooms flank the entrance corridor, in one of which is to be found a large vase used to collect the urine utilized in the fullonicas for the degreasing of cloth. .. .. At the end of the portico are three apses which contained statues of Tiberius, Drusus and, between them, a statue of Livia, hailed as the Augustan Concordia. .. In the back wing is a niche with a statue of Eumachia (pictured right) dedicated by the launderers (the original of the statue can be seen in the Archeological Museum of Naples). .. Scattered bases around the courtyard imply that it must have contained a considerable amount of statuary, but the statues had most likely been removed after the great earthquake. .. This building shows the wealth and power of the Eumachii family in that they presumed to erect in Pompeii a small scale imitation of the imperial forum. Ostentatious in life, they were no less so in death, as seen by the impressive sepulchre that Eumachia had built for herself and her family.

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