Location of the House (Ins II, 3) .. View of Cardo III looking South, with the House of the Genius in the centre right of the photograph next to the columns Plan of the House .. .................................Plan of the House Key: A. Entrance from Cardo III B. Peristyle Description .. The house derives its name from the small statue of a winged genius or guardian spirit that decorated a candlestick found in the building. The photograph (right) is of a winged genius from a second style mural from the peristyle of the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor in nearby Boscoreale. Like the neighbouring House of Argus, the main entrance of the house was off the yet to be excavated Cardo II. The current entrance on Cardo III is the back entry of the house. To the north of the House of Argus lies the final house in the insula, the House of the Genius. Along with its neighbours in the insula, the House of the Genius was among the first to be openly excavated (between 1828 and 1850). Since those early excavations, however, little has been done to expand our knowledge of the insula. As much of it still lies buried, there must still be much to learn from these three houses. Although only partially excavated, the House of the Genius appears to have been a spacious building. .. .. In the centre of the peristyle are the remains of a rectangular basin with apses on either side. The photographs (left) are views of the peristyle. The photograph (bottom right) is of the thermopolium at the northern limit of insula II on the Lower Decumanus with the House of the Genius in the background. ..

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