POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM IN THE HSC

GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT

GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING OF POMPEII

– Pompeii and Herculaneum are located on the Coast of Campania which was an extremely fertile region, near the coast of
the Bay of Naples
– Pompeii was located next to the river Sarno, and was SE of Mt. Vesuvius
– Herculaneum was SW of Vesuvius, near modern-day Naples
– Both towns were close to the sea; source of trade and communication
– Abundance of corn, vines and olives
– Farmed cattle, sheep and fine-necked bulls
– Numerous lakes, springs and rivers
– Mary harbours

THE CLIMATE OF THE R EGION

– Hot (dry summers, mild/wet winter) due to location near the Mediterranean Sea
– Beautiful scenery
– Climate is very moderate – attracted the wealthy
– Consistent rainfall – fertile soil and helps things grow
– Winters are mild
– No frost therefore great for grapes

NATURAL FEATURES OF POMPEII

– River Sarno (east of Pompeii)

– Mt. Vesuvius
– Lattari Mountains (SE of Pompeii)

THE COASTLINE

– The bay of Naples was perfect for shipping (no reefs, no rocks)
– Coastline was friendly
– Coastline provided good harbours and trade
– Isis is an example of trade (Egyptians)
– Section of the coast was rock pool – salt was left in the pool (salt pans)
– Salt was used to preserve food
– Harbours to anchor ships
– The coastline encouraged fishing
– To the south, the Sarno River widened into an estuary and this was thought to provide an idea harbor and part for inland
settlements

ECONOMIC RESOURCES OF POMPEII

 – Wine, olives, olive oils, grain, fish (Xamos), wheat and barely
– Area around Vesuvius was very fertile due to the volcanic soil; this made it deal for agriculture
– Bay was abundant with sea life; breeding ground for fish
– Fishing was a major industry
– Pompeii had network of roads to other towns; trading was a big part of commercial activity

THE IMPACT OF VESUVIUS ON THE LOCAL GEOGRAPHY

– Such a dominant feature

SEISMIC ACTIVITY

– Area was infamous for earth tremors

– Had such a long history of earth tremors
– In AD62 the whole region was hit by a massive earthquake
– In AD64, emperor Nero was about to go on stage and his performance had to be cancelled because the theatre half
collapsed due to the tremors
– Evidence of tremors before the earthquake – days leading up

VOLCANIC SPURS

– Huge layers of volcanic material deposited

– The ancient town of Herculaneum was built on a volcanic spur

FERTILE SOIL

– Some of the richest that you will find in Europe

– Volcanic ash/material phosphorus – excellent fertilizer
– Perfect for growing things

OTHER USES OF VOLCANIC ROCK (TUFA)

– The milestones for the bakers

– The paring stones for the roads

PLAN AND STREETSCAPES OF POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM

– Area of Pompeii  small by Roman standards, only covering 66 hectares

– Were four main areas in the city: the Forum, the insulae fronting the Via Stabiana, Region VI and the eastern area
– Heavy Greek influences on the layout of the streets; were narrow, straight streets which divided the city into blocks
(insluae)
– Evidence of Roman paving techniques, raised footpaths and stepping stones for pedestrians
– Roman Law said streets had to be 5m wide; Pompeii generally conformed, but streets in Herculaneum were anywhere from
2.5m-7m wide
– Pompeii had heavy traffic, with some streets being pedestrian-only
o An example of this is the main street, which served as the Forum
– Pompeii was surrounded by defensive walls, with two main gates: Herculaneum and marine gates
o Via was the name for the highway which led from the Pompeian gate
– the Via Dell’Abondanza was the main street, known as the ‘street of abundance’
– Decumani: were streets which ran from east  west: cardines: streets which ran north to south
 – These streets bisected each other at right angles
– The Forum was the heart of the city in both Pompeii and Herculaneum

THE NATURE OF SOURCE AND EVIDENCE

RANGE OF AVAILABLE SOURCES, BOTH WRITTEN AND ARCHAEOLOGICAL, INCLUDING ANCIENT WRITERS
OFFICIAL INSCRIPTIONS, GRAFFITI, WALL PAINTINGS, STATUES, MOSAICS, HUMAN AND ANIMAL
REMAINS

– Source: remains of the past

o E.g. letters, biographies, histories, bones, paintings, jewellery, graffiti, buildings
– Evidence: parts of the source that are used to support an argument of interpretation about the past
– Main Categories of Sources
o Archaeological
 Artefacts made or used by people in the past, and the natural landscape
 E.g. street plans, statues, plaint remains, volcanic debris
o Epigraphic
 Written remains
 E.g. graffiti, inscriptions, public notices
o Literary
 Formal written sources
 E.g. histories, biographies, Pliny’s letters

ARCHAEOLOGICAL SOURCES

IDENTIFIED VARIED ARCHITECTURAL STRUCTURES AND SPACES

– The walls, gates, streets  fabrics of the town

– Water tower and fountains on every street corner, aqueducts
– Herculaneum – sewerage system
– Temples, law courts (basilica)
– Public baths, lavatories
– Theatres and amphitheatres
– Exercise groups and markets
– Private buildings
o Houses
o Villas
o Taverns
o Shops
o Bakeries
– Laundry, brothels, tombs (cemeteries)
– Some of them were counted
– Pagolas, water feature through the middle
– Greenspace was important to them
– A lot of bodies found in garden (garden of fugitives)
– Outside every gate

BUILDINGS
– 7 gates of Campania:
o Stabian Gate, in the south, oldest gate
o Nola Gates, in the north, most formidable
o Marina
o Herculaneum
o Vesuvius
o Nocera
o Sarno
– Streets of abundance
– Streets made in grid form – elevated sidewalks, street paving, crosswalks
– Tufa and Lava stones used to make buildings
– Holes in pavement stones to tie horses up in Herculaneum
– Temple of Isis: shows Egyptian influence
– Temple of Jupiter: stood at the head of the forum on the northern side
– Peristyle: gardens and columns show greek influence

ARCHITECTURE

– Interpretations of architecture – problems identifying some building

– It can tell us about
o Standard of living
o Greek influences
o Building materials and practices
o Lack of distinction between upper and lower classes
o Mix of industrial, commercial and residential areas
o Defence transport and water supply
o Political, religious and social life

DECORATIVE ARTS

– Frescos, mosaics, Ornaments, statues

– Pots get painted, anything with designs on it
– Wall fresco of a couple – impress visitors
– Fish fresco – bay of Naples, sea life
– Brothel Fresco – sex life and relations
– Fresco of the God Hermes (Mercury) – god of profit
– Fresco of the God Priapus (From the house of Vetti) – money, profit
– Musicians Fresco – mimics mosaics
– Sea creatures mosaics – in a bath
– Guard dog mosaic (Cave Canem (beware of the dog) – in the atrium
– Cat and Bird Mosaic – represents an artist’s piece

EVIDENCE FROM DECORATIVE ARTS AND ARCHITECTURE

– Can provide evidence of:

o Commerce and Industry
o Population
o Politics
o Worship and Magic
o House and Villas, gardens
 o Eating and Drinking
o Love and Sex
o Entertainment and Leisure

EPIGRAPHICAL SOURCES

– Range of wall writings

CATEGORIES OF EPIGRAPHY

FORMAL EPIGRAPHY

– Graves, headstone, in stone

– Civic charters, town regulations, commemorative plaques
– Tells us about politics, life

SEMI-FORMAL EPIGRAPHY

– Written on walls in red paint

– Politics, advertisements  why someone should run, name
– Politics, form of red painted words
– Advertisements, houses for sale
– Outside Julia-felix’s house there were writings out the front – she was renting out her rooms
– Was about entertainment and gladiatorial games
– Would promote events

“there will be games held, 30 pairs of gladiators. Afterwards there will be wild beasts.”

INFORMAL EPIGRAPHY

– Scratches/very quickly painting into the wall

– Done randomly
– Graffiti
– Motivated by a lot of reasons
– Money, money you’ve won at gambling, owed money
– Personal relationships, love, broken relationships, sex
– Games, gladiators, sports
– Nasty comments
– Covers a range of human emotions
– Specific examples include

“M Coldius was here”

“May you be nailed on the cross”

“welcome profit”

“once you are dead you are nothing”

“I’m yours for two asses”

IMPACT OF EPIGRAPHICAL SOURCES

– Epigraphical gives these historical peoples a voice

– Get a sense of these people as real
– Live life in ways we do
– A lot concerned with money and were humorous

WALL PAINTINGS

– Known as frescos
– Tells us about Greek Influence, statues and wealth, development of artistic styles over 3 centuries
– Natural features
o i.e. Vesuvius, plants, animals
– occupation

STATUES

– Bronze and marble statues were extremely common in both towns

– All public buildings were decorated with profusion of statues
– Were numerous amounts of statues in private establishments depicting gods, copied Greek masterpieces, athletes, ladies
and busts
– Some statues were used for garden ornamentation or tomb decoration

MOSAICS

– small tiles used to create images and words on walls, floors and fountains
– tells us status and wealth, features of Roman Art, myths, geometric designs

HUMAN AND ANIMAL REMAINS

– some bodies have been found by skeleton and others are in the Fiorelli plaster cast
– 2000 human remains
– from the bodies, we can learn age, sex, appearance, average height, general health, medical procedures evidence of surgery
– a lot of bodies have been found with evidence of brain surgery
– racial groups were discovered through it
– occupations and social status
– Dog in plaster – collar and buckle were discovered through the plaster cast
– Skeletal remains of a goat
– In a stable they found mules (represent business)
– Tells us about crime and property theft, business, what people were doing at the time of the eruption
– 10-20% of the casualties happened in the Plinian phase
– Crushed by falling material
o Smaller percentage (10%) of bodies were in Pompeii (Plinian)
– Thermal shock – bodies outside boathouses as Herculaneum (Pyroclastic) – most were males
– Thermal shock and Pugilistic Pose – bodies exposed to severe heat in open – plaster casts in Pompeii (Pyroclastic)
– Cadaveric shock – bodies exposed to extreme heat but she sheltered in some way
o i.e. bodies inside boat houses at Herculaneum (Pyroclastic)
– Cadaveric shock – bodies exposed to extreme heat but sheltered in houses and gardens – Pompeii (Pyroclastic)
o 1. Terrified family groups cowering in boat chambers asphyxiated
o 2. Chained gladiators in barracks
 o 3. Took boats and sailed across the bay, many may have drowned
o 4. A baby in its cradle and a sickly bed-bound boy were unable to be rescued in time. Both died in the first surge –
their bodies were entombed shortly after
o 5. Mobilised horses and other beast of burden. Some died outside the city
o 6. Steward locked himself and his small daughter in a room by the entrance still holding the objects of authority
entrusted by his master. Covered himself and his daughter with cushions to await death.

LITERARY SOURCES

PLINY THE ELDERS NATURAL HISTORY

– Wrote a book called ‘natural history’

– Highly regarded scholar/academic and also a military man (Roman admiral)
– Was highly interested in the natural world (nature)
– Gathered his information during his spare time
– We know a lot about the geography because of Pliny the Elder
– Curious about plants, various types of wine, describes how they made Garum (fish sauce), clothing (fabrics), Mt Vesuvius

LETTERS OF PLINY THE YOUNGER – STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF THEM AS EVIDENCE

– Letters add to our understanding

– He saw the events from Mycenium
– First letter is written looking from the south
– Second from the other side
– Wrote them 25 years later
– Written based off his scientific notes he took whilst observing the eruption

PLINY ACCOUNT ON THE NATURAL PHENOMENON

– Gives a brilliant account of natural phenomenon

– Multiple descriptions of earth tremors

“there had been tremors for many days previously”

“the buildings were being ricked by a series of strong tremors”

– the movement of the sea

“it seemed as though the sea was being sucked backwards”

– descriptions of Vesuvius and the eruption

“cloud of unusual sound and appearance”

“I can best describe its shape by likening it to a pine tree”

– smells
 “then came a smell of Sulphur”

– sounds

“women lamenting, children crying, men shouting”

“calling for parents, others for children or spouses”

“…raised by a sudden blast”

– images were so graphic

“a dense cloud looms behind us, following us like a flood poured across the land”

“a darkness came that was not like a moonless or cloudy night…”

THE HUMAN FACTOR

– Pliny’s descriptions of the behavior of local inhabitants

“others who had been unable to sleep”

“a dazed crowd follows us”

“they prayed for death”

THE FATE OF PLINY THE ELDER

– Thermal shock at Stabie

“his innards…simply shut down”

AN ASSESSMENT OF THE LETTERS

– Excellent descriptions of what we called the Plinian phase

– Very accurate, spot on and scientific

STRENGTHS

– Pliny was eyewitness of the events he described

– Was able to describe things himself
– Approached them scientifically and wrote scientifically
– Wont exaggerate
o E.g. the umbrella pine, tremors
– Describes both phases
– The human emotins/factor – talks about what he can hear
– Description of natural phenomena  about the water
– Describes the smell of Sulphur and about the wagon
– Describes the sun being blacked out
WEAKNESSES

– Has been written 25 years later but he did take notes

– First letter glorifies his uncle
– Portrays his uncle as a hero
– Biased view of his uncle
– Second letter was attempting to justify his own actions
– He seemed cowardly and didn’t help his uncle
– Trying to make himself appear not as a coward

WHAT DO PLINY THE ELDER WORKS REVEAL

– Wines, plants, what was being grown, variety of animal, describes in detail how they made Garum
– Gives a really good description of textiles

THE LIMITATIONS, RELIABILITY AND EVALUATION OF SOURCES

– Limited scientific evidence

– Limited Ancient sources that may be bias
o E.g. Pliny the Younger’s accounts of the eruption written almost 20-25 years later
– Colliding hypothesis
– Availability of ancient sources
– Limited excavation area
o E.g. Herculaneum beneath new city
– Extreme damage to remains, leaving little to work with

ARCHITECTURAL EVIDENCE

WHY ARE THERE PROBLEMS WITH THE STUDY OF ARCHITECTURAL EVIDENCE?

– A lot of the houses don’t have in them what they originally had due to looters taking their belongings
– Due to the looting, one problem we have is that it means it makes it harder for use to know the function of the rooms
– Some of the furniture was made specifically to move around
– They changed the structure of the spaces and use the rooms for various purposes which makes it hard for us to tell what
each room was used for
– Thirdly, we put 21st century terms for the rooms
o E.g. a ‘foyer’ for us is an ‘atrium’ to them which is used to impress guests
o Another example is that we call a laundry they call a ‘faulonica’
– Naming the rooms how we do is a trap

DRAWING CONCLUSIONS ABOUT LIFE AND POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM

– Architecture gives us the ability to tell us about the development and history of the town
– This mix of industrial, commercial and residential areas
– The forum as a hub of the city – political, social and commercial centre
– Types of buildings: political, judicial, religious, leisure
– Tells us about the earthquake and AD62 and damage
– Rebuilding and possible changes in commercial activities in the decade prior to the eruption

ROMAN LITERACY
 – Strabo
o Demonstrates geography and resources of Campania
– Dio Cassius
o 2nd century writer, wrote brief description of events in AD79
– Statius
o Poet, wrote less than 20 years after eruption
– Suetonius
o 10-50 years after the eruption, wrote about actions by Emperor Titus
– Vitruvius
o Interested in Roman building methods
– Tacitus
o Describes the riots and the stage collapsing

THE EVIDENCE PROVIDE D BY THE SOURCES FROM POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM FOR:

THE ERUPTION

– Two phases – Plinian and Pyroclastic

– Study of human remains, Pliny and Volcanologists

EARLY WARNING SIGNS

– AD62 Earthquake
o Evidence: walls that have cracked
– Ancient Writer – Seneca, mentions a tsunami
o Tutor the emperor Nero
o Powerful event
– AD64 minor earthquake
o Nero had to cancel his performance
– AD79 – earth tremors – Pliny’s evidence
– Herald Sigurdsson
o Leading expert on Pompeii eruption, leading authority
o Dedicated his career to AD79
o Comes from Ireland
o Scientifically mapped the eruption
o Given us the time frame
o He studied the layers of volcanic material deposited in the eruption
o Tells us that the eruption went through 2 phases (Plinian and pyroclastic)
o “These grain sizes are the finger prints of the eruption”
– Phases of the Eruption 24th and 25th of August AD79
o 1pm August 24th: initial blast, umbrella shaped cloud
o Rose 20km minimum in the air
o 1:30: Pumice – heavy, begins to fall, Pompeii is being affected. Herculaneum not affected.
 Plinny – uncle tries to rescue because chunks of rock was hitting the ships
o Change  11:30pm eruption goes into the pyroclastic phase
 Collum is collapsing  6 surges – 1st avalanche of material falling fast moving ahead to Herculaneum
going 250km
 People in the boat sheds were doomed  thermal shock (500 degrees) people died
o 12:30am – Second surge: completely buries Herculaneum 25th August
 o 5:30am – 3rd surge and flow: hits Herculaneum third time and flow, part of columns collapse, reached walls of
Pompeii, most people in Pompeii are still alive
o 6:30am 4th surge – completely hits Pompeii, asphyxiated people
 everyone in Pompeii are killed by thermal shock
o 7am 5th surge – effects Pompeii and Herculaneum burying them all deeply
o 8:30am 6th surge – mega, whole remaining column fell down; kills Pliny at Stabia, Young Pliny flees Misenum
o Eruption is over

THE ECONOMY: TRADE, COMMERCE, INDUSTRIES, OCCUPATIONS

THE WINE AND OIL INDUSTRIES

OWNERSHIP

 Controlled by the upper class (wealthy)

o Local elites
 Ownership and land
 Controlling this for generations
 Stand for election (politics) because they have enough money to pay for things

TOWN AND COUNTRY VINEYARDS

 Country estates (villas) with land

 Papyri Villa
 Some of these villas were on high land using volcanic material
 Smaller town villas

STORAGE OF WINE

 Some country estates stored about 60,000 litres of wine in big pots (dolia)
 Evidence of this
 Big businesses – wasn’t just for a hobby

VARIETIES AND VINTAGES

 Most famous vintages in the Ancient World

 Varieties of wine, most prestigious wine
o Falernian wine (most expensive)
 Pliny the elder held a very good account to wine, talks about Vesuvian wine
 Cheaper wines – hadn’t matured
o Sold in taverns
 Pliny talks about hangovers

OLIVE OIL MANUFACTURE

 Takes 30 years for the groves to grow

 Maturity, generations have been walking money
 Olive press – presses on the olives and crushes them
 First press olive oil is the best
 USES FOR OLIVE OIL

 Cooking
 When exercised – used to rub in the oil
 Baths for massages
 perfumes

GARUM

VARIETIES

 very important industry

 Pliny the elder gives detailed account on how it was made
 Good sense from decorative arts
 Best fish for Garum – oiliest (sardine/tuna)
o Red mullet
o Anchovies
 Elites don’t control garum
 Controlled by the Scauri Brothers (in a mosaic) (one was called Scaurus)
o Ex-slave
 Great business for ambitious ex-slaves
 Monopolised the business
o Bought all the fish
 Teeth show the importance of fish

MANUFACTURE

 Bits that don’t get eaten – guts, fish eggs

 Ground left overs into a paste
 Left it in the sun on a wicker disk so it could leak through for 6 weeks
o Fermentation
 What leaks through is the final product
 Garum was so important (added salt)
 So sort after – acquired taste
 Covers up the taste of food that is rotten
 Exported – as far as Scotland

TEXTILES

STEPS IN THE PRODUCTION OF CLOTH

 Begins with the sheep – wool

 Wool is removed from the sheep, shaun/clipped
 Wool was then brought to Pompeii
 Was purchased in the Eumachia
 Owners of the fullers purchased the wool
o Excavated fulleries – there were 18
 Boiled the wool to get the oil off/out of it
o De greasing the wool
  Scraped off any extra material
 Then had the wool pulled out and put it into yarn
 Then gets turned into clothing
o Dyed possibly
 Evidence of dyed clothes in frescos

THE WORK OF THE FULLERS

 They’re freedman – Stephanus

 Work done by slaves
 Cleaning garments
 Child labour/slaves
 Producing felt – compressed layers of wool fibre

THE FULLERS GUILD

 Union
 Stonemasons and fullers have a guild
 Guilded at the Eumachia
 Slaves couldn’t attend
 All vote for the same candidate if he promised them something
o e.g. maintain water supply
 politically active
 Eumachia was their patron

BAKERIES

 Pistrina is the name for bakery

 Excavated 30 in Pompeii
 Biggest bakery is the bakery of Modestus
 Modestus – freed slave
 Modestus bakery found inside the over, 81 loaves of bread were carbonised
 Bakers sold directly to the public
 Milestones – Lazer
 Ground their own flour
 Donkey for slave

OTHER INDUSTRIES IN POMPEII

 Industry in perfume – flowers

o Jashemski
 For carpenters – wagons, boats, furniture
 Potters
 Bronze smiths – made lamps, medical instruments
 Stone masons
 Tanners – leather (aprons, shoes, boots)
 Have found 600 shops – small, free citizens

THE MARKETS
  Market day was Saturday
 Macellum – fresh food market
 Dried food market - Oliturun

SHOPS (TARBERNAE)

LOCATION AND APPEARANCE

 A concentration of shops down the main street that ran past the Forum past the amphitheatre to the Sarnian Gate
 No single shopping district
o Spread throughout the town
 Two story
 Business took place on the bottom level
 Shop and workshop owners advertised their business with painted trade signs, or paintings on the outside of the walls

FOOD OUTLETS

 Thermopolians
 Located on corners
 About 200 public eating and drinking places have been identified in Pompeii
 Some were simply fast-food snack bars and are recognised by the marble-covered counter in which large dolia, holding hot
drinks and dishes, were encased (Thermoplia)
 One of the largest found in Herculaneum, opposite the Palaestra, had two spacious entrances
 Its counter was:

“faced with the pieces of polychrome marble and eight large jugs (inserted into the counter itself) …
Other judges and amphorae may have been used for other types of oil or for sauce.” – Roger Ling

BAR AND TAVERNS (CAUPONAE)

 Wine bars and Taverns (cauponae) were scattered throughout both towns
 In Pompeii they were more densely clustered near the entrance gates and around the Amphitheatre
 Couches for wealthier clients to recline on while eating and drinking
 Seems that many Pompeiians were heavy drinker
 Two graffiti declared:

Cheers! We drink like wineskins

Suavis demands full wine-jars, please, and his thirst is enormous

 Most drank wine diluted – mixed it with water and added other ingredients to enhance its flavour

“honey, milk, ashes, lime, almonds and sea water”

 One of the better known established was that of a women named Asellina who employed foreign waitresses called Smyrna,
Maria and Aegle (some believe they were prostitutes)
 Sums showing customers’ debt were scrawled on the inside walls of her inn, while political slogans, painted on the outside
walls, revealed her interest in the forthcoming elections
 HOTELS

 Visiting traders could find a bed for the night in one of the many hotels close to port or within the city
 A building named the Hostel of Muses, after one of its dazzling paintings, was discovered on the bank of the ancient course
of the Sarno, from where it would have had a view of the sea
 Believed that it was a hotel for wealthy traders
 Another hotel near the Forum could sleep 50 people, four to a room
 Two just inside Herculaneum and Stabian Gates had dining rooms, bedrooms, stables, a water trough and a garage shed for
wagons
 Appears that the owner also provided for the guests’ entertainment with upstairs room accessed by a side door for discreet
entry of local women

TRANSACTIONS AND MONEY

 Basilica was not only the law court but an exchange where businessmen or speculators met clients and signed contracts
 M. Caecilius Jucundus (son of a freeman) – visited frequently
o Son of L. Caecilus Felix who as a slave belonged to a family of the Caecilii gens
 Acted as an agent for his former master
 His son Jucundus accumulated great wealth by tax farming, lending money to merchants and renting and
selling land, properties and slaves
 House in Pompeii – owner of the Villa Pisanella
 In his domus, 150 wax tablets were discovered – records of his various transactions between AD52-62
 More than one hundred pieces of silverware and jewels and gold goins found in a chest confirm his wealth
 Owner brought his possessions to the villa for safe-keeping, possibly after the earthquake of AD62
 Gold, Silver
o Used for major purchases such as slaves, land houses and payment of taxes
 Bronze, Zinc Orichaleium, Red Copper
o Bronze is the most widely used coin
o For everyday use – shopping, trade and payment of wages

OVERSEAS TRADE

 Traded with other cities within Campania and the Italian peninsula
 Imported other varieties from Spain, Sicily and Crete and pottery from Spain and Gaul (France), furniture from nearby
naples and lamps from Alexandria
 Not known with any certainty yet just how expensive their exports were
 Occasionally Pompeian amphora, tile or fish container has turned up beyond Italy
 Port of Pomepii was less than a kilometer from the centre of the city

EVIDENCE OF PORT ACTIVITY

 In the Bottaro, a narrow strip of land has revealed not only the remains of 20 warehouses containing weights for anchoring
boats and fishing gear, but amphorae and a statue of Neptune to whom departing sailors made sacrifice
 Port was an entrepot or trans-shipment point for local and foreign goods
 Goods were transferred to barges for the journey up the Sarno River to inland towns, and then onto wagons for the short
trip to Pompeii
SOCIAL STRUCTURE: MEN, WOMEN, FREEDMEN AND SLAVES
 About 40% of population was slaves. Between 10,000-20,000 people living in Pompeii at time of the eruption.
 Hierarchical structure:
 Upper strata or US (citizens: Cives):
 Emperor
 Imperial family
 Senatorial order
 Equestrian orders
 Rich freedmen
 Lower strata or LS:
 Poor free-born citizens
 Freedmen (Liberti/Libertinus)
 Slaves (Servi)

SENATORIAL ELITE

 Many of the wealthier people of Rome had villas up and down the Bay of Naples
 Most notable was Proconsul Marcus Nonius Balbus, who was an influential local patron in Herculanuem
o In the senate in Rome
o Statue of him

LOCAL ELITE

 These were wealthy land owners and traders who dominated the town councils and filled the key municipal offices
 They sought to imitate the senator’s lifestyles
 They held their positions to wealth rather than birth
 This meant that families with money were able to rise in importance

THE POPULOUS (CITIZEN BODY)

 Freeborn males, who were deemed to be of Roman Background

 These were citizens of Pompeii and Herculaneum and formed the populous
 They could also vote in the tribus Menenia, a voting tribe

WOMEN

 Didn’t vote and couldn’t hold public office

 14.5% of graffiti on the walls of Pompeii urging voters to support this candidate or another are from women
 one woman from the upper class – Taedia Secundus – declared her support for her grandson for the office of Aedile in
AD79
 women could be educated and have a property
 women of the great families could have high public profiles
o e.g. in Herculaneum, statues of women from the family of Proconsul Balbus – his mother, wife and daughters –
were conspicuously placed in the Basilica
o At Pompeii, the fullers erected a statue in honour of Eumachia – public priestess – who also built a building in the
forum in her and her sons name
o Mamia, another public priestess, built the temple of the genius Augustii on her own land and at her own expense
 Women ran their own businesses and owned and let out property
o E.g. Julia Felix
 Evidence of women as servants, innkeepers, weavers, fruit-sellers and prostitutes
SLAVES AND FREEDMAN

 Slaves were seen everywhere in Pompeii and Herculaneum

 Owned by members of the Imperial down to town councils and owners of estates
 Slave fetters showed that slaves on country estates were placed under restraint
 Slaves fired the furnaces in the baths and carried heavy loads
 They were sold in business transactions
 Mostly slaves were part of the familia and too their place alongside the freemen (liberti) maintained close connections with
their former owners and took their name as one of their own
 Part of the work force in business
o E.g. the wealtht fish-sauce manufacturer, Aulus Umbricius Scarus, who dominated the market at Pompeii, has his
free slaves, Umbricius Abascatus, Umbricius Agathopus and Fortunata running his business
 Freedman sometimes became wealthy themselves and bought their own slaves
 Leading freedman were the Scauri Brothers
o Garum
 Stefanus
o Largest fullery
 Vedi brothers
o Textiles
 Modestus
o Bakery
 Freedman couldn’t run for politics as well as women and slaves
 Restriction didn’t apply to their sons if he was born after the father became a freedman
 Got given a scroll to prove that they were freed

LOCAL POLITICAL LIFE

POMPEII’S POLITICAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ROME

 Pompeii was allowed political independence

o Autonomist
 They have local elections once a year
 The wealthy stand for office, male citizens
 A lot of interest in the local elections

THE STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT IN POMPEII – ROLES AND ELIGIBILITY

THE BOARD OF FOUR (QUATTUORVIRI)

 4 wealthy men were elected

 2 pairs – junior politicians (aedilies)
o two lower ranking magistrates
o responsible for much of the daily administration
o responsible for roads, public buildings, temples, markets and games
o used own money for the benefit of the community, provided pubic games
 2 senior magistrates (duovirs or Duumviri)
o had power to govern community but had no military power
o presided over courts/public money/public council
o presided over and carried out the decrees of the curia town council
 o sometimes would use their own funds for the benefit of the community
 e.g. games
o every 5 years were given special powers to revise the citizen Isit and roll of the curia
o The praefectus could take place of duumviri for a short time in an emergency

THE CITY COUNCIL (ORDO DECURIONUM)

 100 members (males) all from the elite

 number of them had already been magistrates
 called ‘decurions’

THE PEOPLES ASSEMBLY

 few thousand
 free born male citizens who could vote
 votes done comittium

MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS – KEY FEATURES

THE CURIA

 where the town council met

 town council was like an advisory board
 controlled aspects of public life, civic finances, taxation, public religion and buildings, regulated commerce

THE COMITIUM

 where you vote

 met once a year to vote for the dummviri and the aedilies, presented themselves as fixed pairs in an election team
 may have met in the comitium or some other large building

TABULARIUM

 writing list of citizens

 towns record office

THE BASCILICA

 law courts
 2 senior magistrates were judges

ELECTORAL BEHAVIOR IN POMPEII

POLITICAL QUALITIES

 have to be wealthy and generous

 to have old fashion values, uphold tradition
 honesty, integrity
 family heritage
 THE ROLE OF THE GUILDS

 group of workers that work for one thing

 pooled their resources
 if the politician promised something to the guild then they would vote him in

ROLE OF WOMEN

 they got involved in politics even though they didn’t have the same rights
 excluded but not completely
 role of every mother to support their son/grandson

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE ELECTED OFFICIALS

 maintain the towns (juniors)

o paid for repairs, water supplies
 put on entertainment
 pay for actors and performances
 supervise the markets
 2 seniors – magistrates
o disputes, made decisions
 once every 5 years they did a census for population count
 benefit: get your name on things
o more respect to families

POLITICAL CORRUPTION IN POMPEII

 votes were bought

 corruption to them wasn’t was we see it, it was flexible

EVIDENCE FOR POLITICAL LIFE IN POMPEII

 buildings, architecture (in forum)

 epigraphy connected to politicians
o semi-formal red paint
 Statue of Marcus Balbus and memorial alter standing at terrace to Herculanuem baths
 Inscription stating Marcus Epidus as protector of the colony
 Smaller theatre at Pompeii commemorates its erection by “decree of the decurions”

PUBLIC BUILDINGS: BASILICAS AND FORA, THEATRES, PALAESTRA, AMPHITHEATRES

BASILICA
 Most elaborate structure of the Forum
 Built between 128-70 BC; an inscription mentioning the consuls of 78 BC attending Basilica helps with dating when the building
began to be used
 The building measured 24m by 55m - was divided by 28 fluted Ionic columns, which were 11m high
 Was originally a covered market, later changed in 1st century AD to the law courts; the lower floor was probably used for
archives, while the upper floor opened onto the Forum, and used as a platform for the judges
 Walls of the interior were decorated with imitation marble panels, with graffiti scratched into surfaces
THE FORUM
 magistrates elected
 Religious ceremonies conducted, sacrifice etc.
 people found out about local edicts and news from Rome
 Centre of traded goods, clothing wool, grain meat and fish
 Elected officials regulated trade with mensa ponderaria. Lawyers and doctors hired
 Patrons went to be seen and conduct business with entourage of clients
 Central hub of the town centre of political, social, commercial, legal, administrative and religious activities
 Originally a market place
 Centre of the west side was the suggestum, a platform where political candidates gave speeches and gathered support for
elections
 Busiest part of the forum was on the south side where the government buildings (hall of the duumviri, the curia and the
hall of aediles) located, treasury ,prison and the curia
 Porticoes surrounded forum on all sides
 Closed to wheeled traffic
 Pedestals containing important statues of important/ leading citizens
 Eastern side originally shops, replaced n Augustans age by temple of public lares, the temple of vespasian and the building
of Eumachia
 Statues of prominent citizens gradually replaced by imperial monuments
 Forum was centre of political, economic and religious life in P+H.
 Features of the Forum:
o Measured 38m by 157m politic
o All buildings involving Pompeian public life  south side of Forum; included Basilica, municipal offices and
Comitium (building for comitia).
o On right side was religious buildings and those concerned with the economy/commerce.
o Great public buildings with their own minor squares surrounded it
o Only foot traffic could enter the Forum.

PRIVATE BUILDINGS: VILLAS, HOUSES, SHOPS

RANGE OF SIZES AND DESIGNS

 Wealthy lived in Villas

o Villa of Papyri
 Named so in 1752 when small room found which contained 2000 carbonised cylindrical scrolls.
 Remains of this villa gives best e.g. of luxurious lifestyle enjoyed by wealthy citizens.
 Main peristyle: size of a small forum. Had a pool as big as the imperial baths in Rome; measured 6.5m long
by 7m wide.
 Answer to who the owner was may lie in scrolls; they include almost complete works of Philodemus, a
Greek philosopher. Owner of scrolls may have been Philodemus’ patron; whoever owned scrolls most
likely owned the villa
o The Villa of the Mysteries
o The Villa of Aplontis
 Owned by the family of Pappai
o House of Julia Felix
 JF was a wealthy heiress/owner of a large establishment; her villa was two insulae joined together. JF’s
villa is significant as it provides comprehensive information on the use of decoration, commercial
activities, religion and the role of women.
 The property contained private baths, shops, apartments and extensive gardens.
 One of main features is decorative artwork. Frescoes depict scenes of Pompeian life; this is useful as a
source. Another feature: ‘grotto’ style dining room, with cascading fountains.
  Beautiful homes in Pompeii named by elite or freedman
o House of Faun – found most amazing mosaic of Alexander the Great
 Homes were used to impress
o Food can do that also
 The house of the tragic poem – famous mosaic of ‘Cave Canem’
 House of the Vetti – scale fresco after Priapus
 Mid-range type houses
o A lot owned by freedman
 Some homes have small businesses attached
 Some live in places above a shop – no kitchens
 A number of people lived in rented houses

ROOMS AND FUNCTIONS

ATRIUM

 First room in a reasonable to larger home

 Used to impress visitors
o Ancestry – bust of photos of your ancestors
o Wealth
o Status-education
 Over compensate with artwork if they don’t have one of those things
 Water feature
 Pool at the bottom – impluvium
o Opening at the top – compluvium
 Family shrine – Lararium
o Shows that your family and yourself were religious

TABLINUM

 Reception room and was located off the atrium

 Records of a family, business record, money was kept
 Take guests in to do business deals
 Had seals – to make things official
 Pater Familia (father) – dominate family in great sense
 Space for the father to conduct his own business

TRICLINIUM

 An entertainment area where you can eat

 3 couches – could move them
o reclined
 opportunity to impress
 4th side open for slaves to bring things

CULINA

 hearth for cooking

  food preparation area
 fireplace
 slaves doing the cooking
 toilet was in there

CUBLICULA (CUBICULUM)

 Private area for sleeping

 Cosmetics, mirror
 Carbonized cradle with baby

GARDENS

 All had gardens if wealthy

 Peristyle veranda 3 sides
 Greek influence
 Public space
 Water features – fountains
 Garden beds
 Jashemski helped with this
 Garden of the stags (Herculaneum)
 Trelace, Bagola (vines)

SECURITY

 Crimes of envy
 You must take pre cautions because there was no police
 Had night watchmen (security guard) – ex gladiator
 Found locks that turn by inserting a key
 Shutters on shops
 ‘cave canem’
 guard dogs

PROBLEMS WITH INTERPREATION

 people tend to give the rooms from Rome modern names

o Culina – kitchen
 Furniture in the rooms was movable therefore it may not being in the correct room which makes it difficult to determine
what room it may be

EVERYDAY LIFE

LEISURE ACTIVITIES

RELAXATION, ENTERTAINMENT AND SPORT IN POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM

THE THERMAE (BATHS)

 Social occasion (discuss business and politics) to go to the baths as well as an opportunity to clean not only the body but the
spirit

To be roman is to bathe

o Implying that others are dirty

 Archaeologists have identified four thermae in Pompeii
o The Stabian
o The Forum
o The Central
o Sarno Thermae
 There was also a small privately run thermae owned by Julia Felix
 Two in Herculaneum
o Suburban
o Forum Thermae
 Everyone bathed
 Subsidized
 Small coin get you in daily
 Most went in the day 11-2
 Found lamps in the baths
 Divided into sections for women and men
 Walls and ceilings were covered in frescos or stucco
 Floors were covered in mosaics
 Heating was provided by a charcoal burning furnace
 Hot air circulated through the hypocaustm under the marble floor through the air vents
 Chief elements of a thermae was:
o A vestibule – exercise yard with portico
o An apodyterium – changing/waiting room
o A frigidarium – cold circular bath
o A tepidarium – warm room/transition room
o A laconium – sweat room to sweat of impurity (Sparta?)
o A caladarium – hot room – heated bath
 Alverus – marble lined with steps for sitting and could hold 10 people
 Labrun – for cold water washing
 Formal epigraphy on the outside
 Prostituted in the bath
 Pornographic images in there
 Could indulge in the baths, exercise, do sport, many types of therapies like massages, strolls in the gardens, listen to music and
poetry or read in the library, conduct business, enjoy a snack and receive invitations
 Many accompanied by their slaves that carried around the things needed for a bathe – oil, soda and a strigil
o Strigil – used on backs, excess oil/dirt scraped
 Found carbonized wooden clogs – evidence of heated baths

THE THEATRE

 Pomepii has two theatres

o The Great theatre
 All types of performances took place – greek and roman tragedy and comedy, pantomime and mime
 Sit up to 5000 people (seating based on class)
 The Cavea – horse shaped auditorium – was divided into three horizontal areas
  Ima Cavea for important guests
 Summa Cavea (highest section) for women
 other members of the public were seated in the Media Cavea
o The Oden (small theatre)
 Used for serious perfomances such as concerts, lectures and poetry recitals
 Theatre of Herculaneum could hold 1800 and is very impressive – red, yellow and green marble, private boxes two storey
and niches for statues of emperors

THE AMPITHEATRE AT POMPEII

 Important place for whole region

 Elected magistrates paid for the Aediles
 Nearly 150 years old
 Begun by the Duoviri
 One of the earliest Roman ampitheatres
 Seat up to 20 000 spectators and had a velarium (awning)
 Built in south-east of the city
 Chariot racing, animal hunts and gladiatorial contests were popular and the gladiatorial barracks were near the theatre
 Two famous ‘schools’ – Julian and Neronian
 Date from the time of Augustus to AD62
 Quadriporticus was adapted for a barracks during Nero’s reign
 The Schola armaturium may have been a depository for armour
 Price for a gladitator depended on his success
 Many types of gladiators
o Thratex
o Hoplomachus
o Murmillo
o Secutor
o Reitarus
o Eques
o Prvacator
o Essedarius
o Venatores
o Bestiarii
 There is graffiti about the gladiators which shows their popularity
 “heartthrob of the girls”, “pride of the girls”– Celadus
 “Doctor to night-time girls, morning girls and all the rest” –Cresces
 gladiators were so well known that they could walk through the street
 Entertainment was psychologically important to romans – it reinforced to Roman Citizens the superiority of Rome and let
provincials know that they were lucky if they had Roman Citizenship or to beware of roman power
 Magistrates put on games to either win votes in the elections or at the end of their political terms
 Usually the names of the gladiators were not included unless their popularity was such that it was prestigious to do so
o ‘felix will fight against bears’
 great deal of inter-town rivalry
 riot between Pompeiians and Nucerians in AD59 led to a 10-year ban on the ampitheatre by Nero
 not a greek influence – completely roman
 seating  elites, average freedman, ladies, slaves – reflected social status
 freedman causing issues – buying seats and reserving them for themselves – elites were getting angry because that was
their spot
 THE PALAESTRA

 Pompeii had two Palaestra

 Greek influence
 For exercise and sport
 The largest one near the ampitheatre features a pool (776m 2), a Collegium Juvenum (young men’s sporting association)
which had its own doctor and was believed by archaeologists to muster troops
 Herculaneum’s Palaestra measured 150x120 metres
 Had a play field, provision for athletes, boxing and wrestling and a swimming pool
 Slaves were used to make sure the water was fresh

GAMBLING

 Very popular
 Dice, astragals (bones from the feet of sheep that had different configurations and values) and chess were played
 Played in taverns and small wine bars
 Taverns – found evidence of gambling in Taverns from dice
 Sophisticated way of thinking about their spare time

PROSTITUTION

 9 brothels
 was a business in P+H
 profits were taxed
 Prostitutes (Lupa – she wolf – because they prowled the streets for custom) had to be registered with the aediles and got
23 April off each year as a holiday
 Was seen as part of everyday sex life and there was no stigma attached to men who visited the brothels (Lupanar – the
largest Lupanar in P was run by a man named Africanus – two storey and had ten rooms or cella meretricae. Walls covered
with erotic paintings to stimulate customers
 There was stigma attached to the women who took money for sex
 Prostitutes were mainly foreign women and customers tended to be lower class men
 Wealthy men would visit a courtesan in their homes or use their female slaves

FOOD AND DINING

MEALS

 Triclinium – eat
 Slaves serve
 Staple diet for bulk of population
o Bread
 Evidence – carbonized bread and teeth
o Fish
 Frescos, mosaics, garum, fish tank, bones
 Teeth are good due to fluoride
 A lot are eating prepared food
 Carbonized figs, eggs, nuts
 Working class survived on bread, fish
 Herc – last 2-3 years of research done on the sewers and gone into carbonized poo
o Recent evidence of diet
  Wealthy ate better
o Poultry (birds, chickens, peacock)
o Wine
 Food becomes more exotic, expensive
 Peaches and glass jar fresco in Herc
 As you go up the social ladder, food becomes better in range
 Kitchen bench and pots – in house of Vetti
o Pots and utensils have been captured
 Peutii - lead

DINNER PARTIES

 Used in a context as politics and business

 Invite people around strategically
 Trimalchios Feast – important/significant
o Petronius made a play out of it
o Petronius didn’t write about a fictional character
 Excessive
 About impressing

COOKING

 Was done by expert slaves

 Very expensive slaves – come from an experienced environment

CLOTHING

FRAGMENTARY EVIDENCE

 Hard to contain them

 Fieorelli casts you can get impressions
 Impressions from statues – the toga
o Umachia statue
 Decorative arts

MAIN FEATURES

 Toga – not worn by working class

o Denotes states
 Stola – women
o Women must present themselves
o Allowed them to be modestly dressed
 Tunic – functional  you work in it
o Slaves dressed in tunics
 Lower class wore leather aprons

HEALTH

LITTLE EVIDENCE OF ANAEMIA (IRON DEFICIENCY)

  Fish
 Vegetables
 Meat
 Generally healthy

BRUCELLOSIS – THE WORK OF CAPASSO

 Capasso found Brucellosis

o Get from dairy products that are diseased

TUBERCULOSIS

 Lung disease – infections in the lungs

RESPIRATORY DISEASE

 Evidence – ribs that have been pushed out of place

 Occuring in the lower class

WATER SUPPLY

 Aqueducts
 The one that fed water through Campania was the Aqua Augustor
o From it, 9 towns were fed clean water
 Water tower – Castellum Aqua
o Full of water
o Highest point of the town
o Feeds through the town by pipes
 Fountain in Pompeii at every corner
 Some wealthy have pipes into their house
 Sarno River provided water

SANITATION

TOILETS

 Public toilets
 Preserved is in the forum
 Benches
 Trench running under it
 Had to load into a wagon and take it out of town
 Private homes had buckets, slaves dispose all
 Herc had an underground sewerage system
o Because smaller/wealthier town

THE INFLUENCE OF GREEK AND EGYPTIAN CULT URES: ART, RELIGION AND ARCHITECTURE

 Religion was an integral part of the lives of the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum
 They were polytheistic in that they worshipped many gods
  These gods can be categorized into great, household and foreign
 Sources in fact suggest that they seemed to have no problem accommodating the worship of foreign gods and imported
cult practices
 These gods were worshipped both in public places and in the privacy of individual homes

ART

 Themes found in wall paintings include Greek mythology and Greek divinities.
 Paintings were often copies of Greek originals, as were statues.
 Floor mosaics showed Egyptian influences.

ARCHITECTURE

 Many early buildings in P+H were designed using traditions of Greek construction; features such as peristyle were adopted
from Greek designs.
 Greek columns were used in temples, public buildings and houses.
 Palestrae of P+H have Hellenistic influences.
 Designs of theatres were based on Greek originals.

RELIGION

 Greek gods/goddesses were worshipped in P+H; included Apollo, Hercules, Dionysus, among others.
 Egyptian goddess Isis worshipped in P+H. Some houses had garden shrines to Isis.

RELIGION: TEMPLES, HOUSEHOLD GODS, FOREIGN CULTS, TOMBS

TEMPLES

 Romans were very religious and believed everything in their lives  controlled by gods. To keep gods benevolent, they
prayed, gave offerings and made sacrifices.
 Pompeii had 10 temples, dedicated to Apollo, Isis, Jupiter, Venus and variety of other gods.

RELIGION AND FUNERARY RITES IN POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM

THE PUBLIC NATURE OF RELIGIOUS PRACTICE

 Space in Pompeii for religious practive

 Temple of Jupiter (Capitoline Triad)
o Jupiter, Juno, Minerva
 Two senior magistrates (Duoviri) ran/looked after
o Chief, conducted the services
 Temple of Apollo
 Temple of Lares
 Temple of Vespasian (Roman Emperor)
o Reveared
o Emperor worship

GREEK GODS CONVERTED TO ROMAN

 Bacchus  Dionysus (Greek)
o Bacchus was the god of wine – needed to be drunk to worship Bacchus
 Hercules  Heracles (Greek)
 Juno  Hera (Greek)
o Juno was the wife of Jupiter
 Jupiter  Zeus (Greek)
o Revered because of dominance – father/god
 Neptune  Poseidon (Greek)
o The sea
 Mercury  Hermes
o Messenger god
o Roman: profit wealth
 Venus  Aphrodite
o Pompeii – Venus particular goddess

WORSHIP OF EMPERORS

 Growing trend and new

 Augustus and Claudius
 Worshipped because of loyalty

INFLUENCES FROM THE EAST

 The temple of Isis – very popular cult in Pompeii

 NOT located in the Forum
 Towards the theatres
 Trade, contact with Egypt
 Popular with the lower layers of the social structure
o Most disadvantaged
o Represented hope
 Offered an afterlife
 2 ceremonies in it each day, morning an life
 building, alternative building
 priest bring out a bowl of water and claimed it was from the Nile
 worshippers would wash themselves and then carry out worship to the god
 Isis – protector of the weak, offers an afterlife
 To reinforce popularity, most repaired after the AD62 earthquake
 Poor, but so passionate – gathered money to repair
 Villa of Mysteries (Cult)
o Amazing frescos – scene from religious festival
o Seen that they worshipped Bacchus
o Got banned
o Fresco showed slaves – which is never really demonstrated
o Cult was still operating but was seen to come from Greece

HOUSEHOLD WORSHIP

 Very elaborate
 Lararium  household shrine
o Designed as a miniature temple
 o Found in the atrium
 There openly to impress visitors
o Tells people you’re religious so they have trust
 Family would have a ceremony here daily
o The Pater familia conducted it
 They’re praying to Lares
o Protector figures of the family
o Guardian spirits
o Young men dancing
o Holding a pawn
 The genius – represents that pater familias
o Fertility spirit – ensure family line or generation would continue
 Shakes – often positive – fertility and growth
 Fresco of the God Hermes (Mercury)
o Found in a shop/shops

DEATH AND BURIAL

 The Necropolis – term for cemeteries and burials

o City of the dead
 They were outside, didn’t have them inside the town
 One outside each of the gates
o Positioned at the exits/entrances
 Like a small town
 The wealthy get theirs closest to the gates or the best spot close to the road
o Wanted to be remembered
o Formal piece of epigraphy – about their life
 Poorer get placed behind
 All bodies were cremated – put into erns
 Put into Mausoleum, house for the dead
 Inside is a wall mount where the ashes go
o Family burial place
 Would visit and bring food, ancestors would join
 Some of the biggest tombs/burials were owned by freedman
 The workers in Guilds had a funeral club
o Put money in
o Got a headstone

INVESTIGATING, RECONSTRUCTING AND PRESERVING THE PAST

CHANGING METHODS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY ARCHAEOLOGISTS TO OUR
UNDERSTANDING OF POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM

ARCHAEOLOGISTS WHAT THEY DID

Fioerlli  Appointed in 1861 to look after the excavations

 Began working in the 1840’s  strong political views put him in prison
 Divides the town of Pompeii into sections, each made up of insulates, 22 of them
  After the king of Italy
 Divided the city into 9 regions  22 insulate or blocks of housing
 Allocating a number to each house instead of random naming that had gone
before
 Organizing a system of digging until the whole city was excavated
 Slowly uncovered from the top down and recorded all artefacts
 He used liquid plaster to fill the cavities left as the ash had hardened around
peoples bodies and artefacts
 Set up a training school for archaeologists, a museum and archive
 Mapped and numbered regions, insula and individual buildings
 Stratigraphic approach
 Top down excavation
 Cleared streets to encourage visitors
 Plaster casts
 Meticulous records
 Director of the Naples Museum
Dr Sara Bisel  Studies human remains in Herculaneum in 1982
 Studies 182 bodies
 Bodies were found on the beach
 Employed by national geographic (published in 1984)
 Put bones through chemicals and measured them
 Studied the pelvis’ of the females
 Each woman only had 2 kids only by the study of the pelvis due to the high levels
of lead affected infertility
 A lot of the plater they were eating off were lead and were using lead for makeup
 Found that there was a difference in the skulls (slaves and non-slaves) and also
genetic diversity
 Teeth – very few cavities due to the fluoride in the fish (garum)
 Studied the heights of the bodies – discovered malnutrition (poor people)
 Criticized after nat. geo was published because she did things that they forced her
to do
 Made her label the bones (slave girl)
 Forced to compromise her scientific methods
 Been criticized ever since the publish
Dr Estelle Lazer  Australia forensic archaeologist who studied Pompeii in the later 90’s
 Works for Sydney uni
 Studied skulls, teeth, legs and arm bones
 Her work was never compromised
 Worked with 300 bodies
 Had to go into a bath house and in it were 300 skeletons but the weren’t complete
(disarticulated)
 Up against the one wall were heads, another were legs etc
 She went through a scientific analysis
 Blew away a theory which has been there for 200 years because the bodies told
her something different
 Figured out that they were all healthy
 Stayed in Pompeii because they chose to
 Medical equipment was found which was evidence for surgical procedures
 Found that a leg had been re-broken after it had been broken the first time and
didn’t heal properly
 Evidence of brain surgery – sections of the skull removed
 Amputation
 Studied the teeth – healthy
 Teeth were ground down the bread
 Inside some skulls she had found that something had pressed up against them –
turned out to be non-cancerous brain tumours
  This is being a condition called HFI and symptoms were benign brain tumours
 Post-menopausal condition
 Worked on the lady of Oplontis and pumped in Resin
 Has a new project – given permission to work with the old fiorelli casts – canon is
working with her – for the first them they’ll be able to see the skeleton
 Conclusions included dental wear from the volcanic matter in the bread, a post-
menopausal condition called HFI (benign brain tumour)
 Used new methods
 i.e resin to make plaster casts
 lady of Oplontis

Jashemski  Botanical archaeologist

 Studies the gardens in the homes, carbonized seeds (range of plants)
 Found evidence of roses (rose oil), country villas (vines/grapes)
 A lot of the gardens had been replanted as she pumped plaster into the root
system to identify the type
 Her work shed light on the agriculture
Spinazzola  Excavated about half the length of the Via Dell Apondanza
 Revealed a more complete view of the life of the town
 Ie. Election posters, workshops, under class houses
 Unearth the Fullery of Stephanus and the Inn of Asellina
 Concentrated on reconstruction – particularily upper stories that had collapsed
 Some of the work caused damage to the structure (used modern timbers which
caused termites)
 Steel rods rusted – leaks down the building and damaged the ancient work
 People disagreed with his reconstruction – it’s a big no
 Radically altered the way the dwellings and the streets were perceived
Maiuri  Unearthed the ampitheatre, palestra and the Villa of Mysteries
 Excavated the House of the Mendander
 Completed the work on the Villa of the Mysteries
 Studied the walls and water towers
 Unearthed the House of Julia Felix
 Criticized for unearthing areas too quickly and leaving open to rapid decay
 Used stratigraphy to study volcanic material
 Influenced by Mussolini (dictator of Italy) to turn both Pompeii and Herculaneum
into showpieces of Italian/Roman greatness
 Reconstructed with damaging consequences
 Excavation were rushed and poorly documented, the crisis theory about the AD62

KEY FINDINGS OF THE AAP (ANGLO AMERICA PROJECT)

 Concentrated on Region IV Insula I

 Future oriented archaeology
o i.e traditional methods as well as emphasis on conservation and education of tourist at the excavation sites
 key finds re the insula include the changing nature of use and occupation of the buildings, and the impact of the connection
to the Aqua Augusta, damage caused by the AD62 earthquake and increased commercial activity
 the Pompeii trust is an offshoot of the AAP and is concerned with the conservation of buildings and management of the
several million tourists a year

INTERNATIONAL TEAMS WORKING IN REGION 1

 Dutch team – studied patterns of road

 Spanish – studied the early layout of the region and then how later developments were systematic
  Italian team – studied the amalgamation of a number of houses into a singular larger property
 British team studied the early Etruscan period as well as the unexcavated bar and found the skeletons of a dog and donkey

HERCULANEUM RESCUE PLAN 2004 TO PRESENT

 $100 million dollar plan funded by the Packard Humanities institute to conserve Herculaneum
 Andrew Wallace-Hadrill worked as part of the team

CHANGING INTERPRETATIONS: THE IMPACT OF LATEST RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGIES

SARAH BISEL 1982-88

 Classical archaeologist and anthropologist

 Worked on skeletal remains of 139 vicitms from Herculaneum
 Washed each none separately and dipped into plaster mix
 Left to harder then reconstructed the skeltons
 Used measurements and biochemical analysis to study leg bones, facial structure, level of wear in joints, teeth
 Conclusions included genetic diversity, dental health, lead content, work done by slaves, childbirth rates
 Some theories were quite controversial
o i.e. she named some of the skeletons such as the ‘Pretty Lady’, the ‘The Soldier’ due to pressure from national
geographic

SIGURDSSON’S CONTRIBUTION

 revolutionized the way scholars looked at the eruption

 provided a sequence/time frame based on the physical evidence
o i.e stratigraphy
 Established that there were two phases
o i.e. Plinian and Pyroclastic
 Used and validated Pliny the Youngers account
 Compared the AD79 Vesuvius eruption with Mt St Helens 1980s (USA) and El Chichon in 1982

“Grain sizes are the fingerprints of an eruption”

 Sydney University used the cat scan machine – looked at the things that the lady of Oplontis was wearing
 Canon – supplied latest technology that will go through the plaster to x-ray

JAYE PONT

 Ceramic expert
 Worked as part of the AAP
 Draws full size copies of ceramic, glass, metal and bone objects
 Digitally scans and refines them
 Determines classification of pottery, type of clay, identifies potters’ stamps
 Expect it ‘red-slip pottery’
 New theories formulated on production and trade of ‘red-slip pottery’

PENELOPE ALLISON
  Expert on Pompeiian domestic space and the relationship with household decoration
 Studied frescoes and identified artists and the workshops
 Uses contextual evidence
o i.e. artefacts to supplement the frescoes and decoration to establish possible room use
 worked on the insula of Menander Project catalogues and analyzing artefacts help establish use
 confirms the theories of Wallace-hadrill that many rooms were multi-functional and difficult to categorized using modern
ideas on usage

CONSERVATION, RECONSTRUCTION, TOURISM

ETHICAL ISSUES: THE STUDY AND DISPLAY OF HUMAN REMAINS