Pompeii - House of the Tragic Poet

The house of the tragic poet was closed during our visit to Pompeii. However the famous mosaic of a guard dog is in the vestibule and visible close up through the bars of the gate.

“Cave canem” means beware of the dog. Now I am not sure if this was a pun, based on the fact that the mosaic is of a very high quality with a rather realistic looking dog; “Beware of the mosaic dog”, which could be funny if one had the type of mind that finds humor in such situations. It also could be a very real warning; “Beware of the dog because he is vicious and half starved and rips burglars in half and chews on their eyeballs”. The house is known for the richness and high quality of its decoration, so it is distinctly possible that the owners had a guard dog to protect their hoarded treasure.

The house has been made famous in numerous books and movies (Last Days of Pompeii, etc…) but as it was closed I was unable to check the veracity of those accounts. Onward…