1) CORE STUDY: CITIES OF VESUVIUS- POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM.

NON-EXAMINABLE BACKGROUND.

STAGES OF OCCUPATION.
Pompeii and Herculaneum were located in the region of Campania on the western coast of the Italian

peninsular. 200km south of Rome.

Mount Vesuvius: (1277m) dominant feature of the region.
- Fertile soil and abundant marine life supported the development of several towns.
Region was occupied multiples times by different peoples, many of whom influenced the development of
Pompeii and Herculaneum.
- Oscans: local Italic people of the area, most likely founders of Pompeii towards the end of the 7th
century BC. Evidence: name Pompeii may have come from the Oscan language.
- Greeks: occupied the region in the 7th and 6th centuries BC and established trading colonies in the
Bay of Naples. Evidence: worship of the Greek god Apollo in Pompeii; Herculaneum possible named
after Greek god Herakles; many greek artifacts.
- Etruscans: norther Italic people, gained brief control of the Greek colonies towards the end of the
6th century BC. Evidence: Pompeiis first city wall was built during this stage of occupation.
- Samnites: an Oscan speaking Italic tribe from central Italy defeated the Greeks and occupied the
area toward the end of the 5th century BC. Evidence: inscriptions and graffiti in Oscan language; large
Samnite houses and burials; construction of Pompeiis third city wall, parts still stand today.
- Romans: fought the Samnites and replaced them as the rulers of Campania in 311 BC. Pompeii and
Herculaneum, how allies of Rome, prospered. Evidence: Latin language, Roman laws, government and
religion were introduced, including imperial cult; however some Samnite culture remained.

BRIEF HISTORICAL OVERVIEW UP TO AND INCLUDING THE ERUPTION OF AD 79.

Important dates.

- c. 15000 BC: Vesuvius forms in collapsed cone of Mount Somma.

- 1800 BC: Avellino pumice eruption destroys villages around Nola.
- 700s BC: Oscans established a village at Herculaneum.
- 500s BC: Greeks settle around the Bay of Naples and establish trading posts at Herculaneum and
Pompeii. Etruscans arrive and compete with Greeks for control.
- 474 BC: Greeks defeat Etruscans at naval battle of Cumae.
- 424 BC: Samnites move from the mountains to the coast and become the dominant ethnic group.
- 79 AD: First recorded eruption of Vesuvius.
The romans took control of Campania- Pompeii became a socius or ally of Rome and Herculaneum was
made a municipium.
- Although self-governing and prosperous under Roman rule, the allies grew to resent their second
class status and revolted against Roman in the Social War.
- Pompeii and Herculaneum joined this revolt. Socii of Campania were defeated by the forces of the
Roman general Sulla in 89 BC, but were not destroyed.
Pompeii: made into a Roman colony, named Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompeianorum, in honour of
Sulla (from the Cornelian clan). Around 2000 Roman army veterans were settled in the area.
Leading Romans built luxurious villas around the Bay of Naples. 1st century AD: members of imperial
family established residences there and on the Isle of Capri. Some roman aristocrats made their homes in
Herculaneum rather than Pompeii.
Trade: prospered in the ports and towns of the Bay of Naples during the Augustan peace of 27 BC to AD
14. Pompeii (located on the estuary of the River Sarno) shared in this prosperity.

 Romans: carried out renovation and construction within Samnite boundaries of Pompeii and

Herculaneum. Included reorganisation and renovation of roads and paths, public baths and civic centres
and the building of distinctly Roman structures- e.g. basilicas, theatres, amphitheatres and arches.
- Roman law and local government were maintained through local councils and public officials.
AD 62: earthquake occurred in Campania. Referred to in a letter by Seneca and its effects are shown on a
lararium in the house of the banker, Caecilius Jucundus.
- Caused considerable damage to both Pompeii and Herculaneum.
- Evidence of extensive repairs undertaken over a number of years.
- Damaged houses were being repaired and redecorated and public buildings in the forum at Pompeii
were being rebuilt at the time of the eruption in 79 AD.
When Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD: destroyed not only Pompeii and Herculaneum, but also nearby towns
of Stabiae and Oplontis.
- Eruption changed geography of the region around Pompeii.
- Turned the River Sarno from its course and raised the coastline.
- Buried towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Post eruption: Emperor Titus sent a commission to Campania to report on the damage and to provide
assistance to survivors.
- No record of what was done.

EARLY DISCOVERIES AND BRIEF HISTORY OF THE EXCAVATIONS.

Site of Pompeii: riddled with tunnels by the Romans in the years following the eruption.

- Once upper layers had been sacked, Pompeii was forgotten and, along with Herculaneum, lay buried
for another 1600 years before the first ruins were uncovered.
- Further 150 years before systematic excavations began.
Pompeii: discovered in the 1590s when workmen digging a canal discovered two Latin inscriptions.
- Later: workers found marble, fragments of frescoes and statues.
- Excavations werent initiated at this time nor in 1689 when inscriptions mentioning Pompeii were
uncovered.
Herculaneum: discovered by accident in 1719 when Prince dElboeuf started excavating a well that was
reported to be a source of marble objects suitable for his villa.
- This well went down into the theatre of Herculaneum resulted in excavations.
- Following years, Herculaneum was looted haphazardly. Tunneling opened up new areas of the town.
- Roque Joachim de Alcubierre: excavator to the King of Naples, turned his attention to Pompeii
after removing most of the valuable artifacts from the ruins of Herculaneum.
Early excavations of both Pompeii and Herculaneum = treasure hunts rather than archaeological
excavations.
- Examples: statues, columns and wall paintings were removed, generally without their location
being recorded. Valuable information about the context of these objects was lost.
Johann Wincklemann and Karl Weber: scholars. Opposed to such haphazard practices and, due to
their influence, some of the looting was stopped, although removal of wall paintings continued.
Under the supervision of architects Weber and then La vega: excavation improved.
- One area at a time was investigated and drawings were kept of the buildings that were found.
Between 1805 and 1815: large excavation project was conducted under the rule of the French King.
- French architect, Francois Mazois supervised a team of up to 1500 men and made detailed records
of the excavation which were later published as Les Ruines de Pompeii.
1815: defeat of Napolean Bonaparte. Excavation continued on a lesser scale following this.

- Pompeii became famous tourist attraction. Despite great interest in site, excavation was haphazard.
- Main aim: to uncover and present buildings of beauty or special interest.
Buildings which were judged to be of no particular value were abandoned, often reburied with backfill
from other excavations.

REPRESENTATIONS OF POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM OVER TIME.

Museums, art galleries and private houses around the world all hold reminders of the impact of the

discovery of Pompeii on Herculaneum on the upper classes, antiquarians, historians, architects, writers and
artists of the 18th and 19th century.
- recorded their impressions of the emerging ancient towns and their own particular feelings about the
sites in travelogues, letters, diaries, engravings, water colours, oil paintings, architectural cross-sections.
Represented in art and literature, both factual and fictional, from the time of official excavations in the
18th century.
House of the Painted Capitals - one of the main attractions. Featured in paintings by Romantic artists.
Mazois recorded in a watercolour the practice of deliberately posing skeletons in staged tableaux for
tourists. His The Ruins of Pompeii (1812) seemed to bring out the poetry of ruins
Pompeiis fate was featured in the works of musicians and writers.
- 1827: Italian composer Giovanni Pucini wrote the opera The Last Days of Pompeii.
- 1834: English writer Edward Bulwer-Lytton wrote a best selling novel with the same title.
- 18th century: involved the neo-classicists and lure of Italy. Neopolitan court encouraged artists to
record the glory of all aspects of the Bourbon kingdom, and with the publication of nine books produced
by the Herculaneum Academy from 1757 onwards, and the discoveries of La Vega, particularly an intact
Roman temple complete with frescoes, the lure of Italy was irresistible. Writer Johann Geothe summised
the thoughts of all tourists that came after this lure was sensationalised, in his An Italian Journey, 1786-8
Pompeii surprises everyone by its compactness and smallness of scale.
19th century: artists used Pompeii as a setting to represent the decadence of Roman life.
20th century: representations have been sensationalised, mainly through film adaptions of BulwerLyttons book.
There was a fascination with the Last day: horror and last days of Pompeii, the eruption of Vesuvius
and the devastation and death it wreaked upon Campania. E.g: Frenchman, P.H Valenciennes The Death
of Pliny, Bruelow Karl Pawlowitchs Doomsday in Pompeii.
Motifs of strange and melancholy (destroyed, death, end, apocalypse) as well as the languid sensuality
shown in Theodore Chasseriaus Women in the Tepidarium.
2003: BBC production, Pompeii: the Last Day was a serious representation.
- reflects the growing interest in the ancient history and the conservation of world heritage sites such
as Pompeii and Herculaneum.
19th and 20th century: artists painted watercolours of what they saw and others drew and painted
reconstructions of life in Pompeii and Herculaneum as they believed.
- Today, modern photographic records, television documentaries and the internet make it possible to
enjoy both towns without traveling to either.
GEOGRAPHICAL CONTEXT.
THE PHYSICAL ENVIRONMENT: THE GEOGRAPHICAL SETTING, NATURAL FEATURES
AND RESOURCES OF POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM.
Geographical setting.

- Pompeii built on a volcanic plateau covering an area of over 60ha. Well-placed between the River
Sarnus in the south and the fertile slopes of Mt vesuvius in the north. strategically important.- Hurley.

- Seneca: The city is in a pleasant bay, some distance from the open sea, and bounded by the shores
of Surrentum and Stabiae on one side and of Heculaneum out the other, the shores meet there.
- it lay on the only route linking north and south, and connected the seaside area with the fertile
agricultural region of inland. T, Hurley. Antiquity 3.
- believed to be gifted with gods. These ridges Bacchus loved more than the hills of Nyssa, on this
mount of late the satyrs set afoot their dances.- Martial.
- Pompeii and Herculaneum are located in Campania, a fertile region 200km south of Rome. Fertility
of the soil, rich in phosphorus and potash is due to eruptions.
- Ancient Pompeii and Herculaneum were located in the fertile region known as Campania in
southern Italy: a crescent-shaped volcanic plain of approximately 13, 595 square kilometres at the foot of
the Apennine escarpment, extending from the Volturno River in the north to the mountains of the
Sorrentine Peninsula in the south. incredibly favoured by nature- Statius.
- Pliny the Elder: How am I to describe the coast of Campania. A fertile region so blessed with
pleasant scenery that it was manifestly the work of nature in a happy mood?
- Mt Vesuvius: part of a chain of volcanoes, including Mt Etna and Mt Stromboli. Earthquakes were
common. Near Vesuvius: Phlegraean Fields a.k.a the burning fields was an area of geothermal activity
producing steam and bubbling mud. Romans built spa health resorts in the area at Baia. HTA.
- Climate was temperate with cooling coastal breezes in summer and short winters. Mild climate and
natural beauty of the environment attracted wealthy Romans to build holiday homes in the area. HTA.
- Year is divided into two main seasons: hot dry summers with brilliant sunshine from May to
September, and mild wet winters from October to April with an annual rainfall of 845mm on the coast.
- on the coast of the now Bay of Naples. River Sarnus, which flowed into the bay, was navigable for
some distance. ...provided safe anchorage for boats and a Roman fleet was stationed at Misenum. T,
Hurley, HTA.
- Mount Vesuvius: sits on an intersection of two fissures in the earths crust. Only active volcano on
the European mainland. Height of approx. 1277m and with a crater of 11km in circumference, it is partly
encircled by the 1110m ridge of Mount Somma. Diodorus, writing in the 1st century BC, provides
ecidence that early Greek settlers in the area knew of its active nature.
- Strabo, Greek geographer: a mountain covered with fertile soil, which seems to have had its top
cut off horizontally, forming an almost level plain which is completely sterile and ash-coloured with
caverns full of cracks made of blackened rock, as if subjected to fire. He then summised that there used
to be a volcano here, which died out once it had consumed all the inflammable material that fed it- his
account remains the first accurate description of the volcano in its dormant phase. Other Greek and Roman
writers were more focused on the mythology.
- Volcano dominates Plain of Campania. Divides it into two regions: larger one to the north-west
drained by the Volturno River, and smaller one -a district geographical entity- in the south-west traversed
by the Sarno River.
- Whole landscape of campania is a result of volcanic processes and, just as in ancient times, the area
today is still subjected to earth tremors.
Natural features and resources.
- Natural advantages: climate, fertile soil, proximity to sea-based resources. Gave Campania
...unrivaled reputation for produce in Italy. T, Hurley, HTA.
- Fishing was a major industry followed by agriculture.
- Pompeiian specialty was garum. Salt pans developed where waters of the bay washed into a
depression close to the coast on the road to Herculaneum, the produce along with the oily fish (tuna,
mackerel, anchovies, moray eels) caught in the bay by various fishing sleets provided raw materials for

this famous fish sauce.

- Salt was extracted from the sea water and used to preserve food, e.g. fish. The salt was collected
from Herculaneum Gate, or Porta Salinienis, or Salt Gate.
- In Ancient times, Campanian crops had a higher yield than the rest of the Italian peninsula. Some
areas produced up to three grain crops a year. T, Hurley, HTA.
- Vineyards thrived in the area around Vesuvius. Painting from the House of the Centenary at Pompeii
shows Bacchus, the Roman god of wine, with Vesuvius in the background.
- Crops: wheat, barley, vegetables (cabbages and chickpeas) and fruit (figs and olives).
- Sheep and goats were grazed and wool was an important product of the region.
- Both cities were market towns for their surrounding agricultural hinterlands. Strabo, Diodorus,
Florus and Pliny the Elder refer to the Campanian region as fruitful, abundant and fair. T, Hurley, HTA.
- Benefits: rich vegetation and fertility of the soil; wide variety of crops; abundance and importance
of grapes and olives; fruits, vegetables, cereals and sheep; use of volcanic rock (grinding grain and
pressing olives); coastline of the bay provided safe anchorages (natural basins); place of naval station and
trade; collection of fish and salt and the economy; estuarine port of Pompeii.

PLANS AND STREETSCAPES OF POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM.

Not surprising that Campania, with its temperate sea breezes, mountainous background, magnificent

panoramas, thermal pools, fertile soil and brilliant colours, attracted many famous and infamous Romans
who made it their playground.
Villas.
- Cicero: noted Roman orator and politician, thought it a most delightful and desirable place to
reside (P, Bradley, Cities of Vesuvius: Pompeii and Herculaneum).
- 1st century AD: Senators, wealthy businessmen, and even members of the imperial family built
imposing villas in and around Cumae, Misenum, Neapolis, Herculaneum, Oplontis, Stabiae and Pompeii,
and transformed farmsteads into luxurious villa rusticae. The handiwork of man blended into a landscape
of the grand style. P.G., Guzzo, Pompeii.
- Sarno plain and adjacent coastline were dotted with bustling towns of Pompeii, Nuceria, Boscoreale,
Stabiae and Herculaneum, and tranquil villages and farms together in an intensive form of agriculture.
Size of Pompeii and Herculaneum walls.
- Unlike Naples, Pompeii and Herculaneum were relatively small and compact.
- Pompeii: area of approx. 66 ha, although only two-thirds of the ancient town as been excavated.
Population was presumably up to 20000 at the time of the eruption.
- Herculaneum: much harder to estimate. Only about four blocks have been completely unearthed,
the rest still hidden under the modern town of Resina. Some scholars have suggested it was a third the size
of Pompeii, others say it wouldve been no more than 12 ha. Population was presumably up to 5000.
- Both towns had walls. Herculaneums was modest, according to historian Sienna.
- Pompeii was enclosed by a 3.2km wall which tended to follow the most defensive line of the natural
landscape.

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Pompeiian gates.

- Pompeii was accessed by seven gates. Five: focused on roads to other towns in Campanian region.
- Oldest seems to be the Stabian Gate to the south comprising a narrow, single-arched passage flanked
by ramparts descending to an outer moat.
- Nola Gate in the north was the most formidable, but as a military defence became less important,
gates became more complex. Often lavishly decorated and adorned with statues of various protective gods
and goddesses. Statue of the goddess Minerva were often placed in niches in the gateways.
- During the 1st century AD, large stretches of wall were knocked down altogether to facilitate the
construction of houses.
- Herculaneum: located on a headland between two inlets that served as harbours, had a town wall
and sea wall.
Grid system of roads.
- Streets were laid out on a grid system, the main axial roads (decumani) crossed by minor roads
(cardini) creating blocks (insulae) about 35x90m. The insula included a variety of buildings and often
included the dwellings of both rich and poor: luxurious suburban villas with gardens, rented flats, a bath
house, shops, taverns and workshops.
- At full dimensions, Pompeiis main road was 8.5m wide. Others varied between 3.5 and 4.5m wide.
- Many roads were not wide enough for two-way traffic.
The Forum.
- Public buildings associated with administration, religion and commerce were clustered around or
near the Forum, the chief meeting and trading place of the town.
- Pompeii: the Forum is located where the main roads from Napes, Nola and Stabiae met.
- Analysis of the urban structure of Pompeii have revealed a confused jumble of shops, workshops,
crafts, residential and horticultural plots and houses across the whole city, with no real attempt at
commercial segregation or concentration beyond the tendency of shops to line the main roads and
horticulture to cluster on the margins. Amery & Curran, The Lost World of Pompeii.
- Herculaneum: smaller resort residential town, seems to have had fewer public and commercial
buildings compared to Pompeii, some may still lie buried. In contrast, Pompeii was a thriving port and
commercial centre with a large forum which featured temples, markets and range of administrative and
commercial buildings around a paved public space.
Land use within Pompeii.
- not exclusively urban. Included cultivated areas and open spaces.
- Polyculture was practised, with fruit trees, vines and vegetables grown together. Evidence of several
commercial vineyards and a large orchard has been found.

THE NATURE OF SOURCES AND EVIDENCE.

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

Pompeii and Herculaneum provide us with a vast amount of evidence both written and archaeological,

which reveal Roman society caught in a particular moment of time.

- Problem: large areas of both cities need to be uncovered; ongoing issue of deterioration of the
archaeological remains due to time, weather and tourism. Due to the sudden burial, most examples are
from the Roman Imperial period.
Herculaneum was also buried by Mt Vesuvius eruption in 79 AD, yet Pompeii is more well known.
- For centuries, both lay forgotten and undisturbed until the eighteenth century when a farmer digging
a well at Resina rediscovered the site.
Beneath the pyroclastic deposits, archaeologists have unearthed remarkably intact public and private
structures; inscriptions and wall writings (slogans and graffiti); papyri scrolls and wax tablets,; wall
paintings, mosaics and other decorative arts; objects of everyday life; human, animal and plant remains.
- Provide visitors to the sites, and Naples museum, with a sense of immediacy.
Andrew Wallace-Hadrill: while Pompeii is the most studied of the worlds archaeological sites, it is
perhaps the least understood due to past neglect, damage and a failure to document carefully, if at all.
- Average visitor is unaware, but much of the Life of Pompeii literature and oral tradition offered
to them is too unreliable to be of use A. Wallace-Hadrill, Houses and Society in P and H.
Teams now challenge story of the sites by: questioning widely-held concepts of Roman life; asking
different questions about finds; shifting towards varied interpretations instead of fact/ truth; recognising
the ways in which views of the past were affected by politics and ideologies of now; accepting that while
one can make sense of the past, it is never possible to know the past. E., Pye, Caring for the Past.
Written sources.
- Main written source for the eruption is Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, a.k.a Pliny the Younger,
who lived c. AD 61- c. 112. Noted for his scientific accuracy of observation and logicality of argument,
especially when discussing natural phenomena... superstitious and mythological explanations are notably
absent. Hammond and H.H. Scullard, The Oxford Classical Dictionary.
- Greek geographer, Strabo (64 BC- AD 21), is another useful source for the geographical setting and
historical background of Pompeii.
- Lucius Annaeus Seneca (born between 4BC and AD 1 and died AD 65), the Roman philosopher and
statesman, provides information of the earthquake of AD 62.
- Roman poets such as Juvenal and Martial mention the physical attributes of the Vesuvian region.
- Dont have a major Roman account of life in Pompeii: was viewed as just another Roman town,
hence the importance of epigraphic and archaeological sources.
- Written sources that have survived: 150 wooden tablets of Lucius Caecilius Jucundus that contain
his business records. Papyri and election campaign notices have also been preserved.
- Written sources are incomplete and often fragmented, often not reliable due to mythological aspects.
- E.g: ancient texts like letters, poems, speeches, histories, natural histories (geographies);
inscriptions on buildings, statues; business documents via waxed tablets; papyrus scrolls, mostly in Greek;
professionally painted signs; graffiti (personal, political, commercial); labels on wine and garum jars.
Epigraphic sources.
- Consist of graffiti, election slogans, tombstones, advertisements, coins. Includes inscriptions on
everyday objects such as measuring devices in shops, marble basins in the baths and inscriptions on major

public monuments. E.g. programmata.

- Useful as they give a personal glimpse of the people, their activities, interests, political opinions,
and methods of working.
- They supplement written sources.
Archaeological sources.
- Consist of remains of buildings, streets, drainage systems, statues, monuments and everyday objects
and tools used by the inhabitants.
- Most interesting finds are the human remains, ranging from the Fiorelli plaster casts and now resin
casts found at Pompeii, to the skeletons of residents found huddled on the beach at Herculaneum.
- E.g: buildings like houses, shops, baths, temples, workshops, theatres, amphitheatre, markets;
monuments such as statues, tombs, commemorative arches; decorative features like wall paintings and
floor mosaics; public utilities such as water pipes, fountains and toilets; artefacts relating to trade,
commerce and manufacturing; artefacts relating to medicine, health and hygiene; jewelry of rings,
bracelets, necklaces; weapons and armour; modifications to roads, paths and buildings; human, animal,
plant and food remains.
Ancient writers.
- Strabo (Geography): his natural histories demonstrated the resources of Campania, varieties of fish
and plants, textile products, building methods and names of famous Greek and Roman artists.
- Vitruvius (Of Architecture): recorded Roman building methods and what specific rooms were used
for in houses. 1st century architect, wrote a manual on architecture and Roman building methods dedicated
to Augustus. Included appearances of Greek and Roman houses and the activities in each room (although
this did not always correspond to the archeological evidence). It commented on the construction of public
buildings, e.g. the acoustics of theatres, how basilicas should be constructed and the process of painting.
His work formed the basis of the four chronological Pompeian styles.
- Seneca (Natural questions).
- Pliny the Elder (Natural history): born AD 23 (Gaius Plinius Secundus) wrote about the naturalistic
aspects of Pompeii. The only ancient author to use a tablet of contexts and cite his sources. He recorded
what was believed at the time. In 37 books he covers such topics such as science, art, natural history,
human inventions and institutions. Jashemski states it was a learned and comprehensive work as full of
variety as nature itself.
- Pliny the Younger (Letters to Tacitus): was a Latin Orator born in AD 61; adopted by uncle Pliny
the Elder; left ten books including 2 letters to historian Tacitus describing the eruption, death of his uncle
and his own reactions to the disaster. Those two letters were written 25 years after he experienced the
events; report on volcanic eruption and death of his uncle; first eyewitness report on volcanic eruption;
says nothing of what happened to Pompeii and Herculaneum. Reliability is questionable, there are
omissions, it is a second-hand account of his uncles death, possible memory loss after 25 years, purpose
of the letters mightve been to entertain.
Official inscriptions on stone, marble and broze
- Formal inscriptions: meant to be permanent, e.g. civic charters/ regulations on buildings,
commemorative plaques, funerary inscriptions on tombs; they teach us of prominent people/ families,
politics, economy, construction dates of buildings.
- Wall writings- public notices: most refer to time directly before 79 AD, electoral slogans, property
sales/ rental notices. Written with a brush in red or black on freshly whitewashed walls by scriptores.
- Pompeii may be likened to one vast archive (A. Maiuri, Pompeii). A part from formal inscriptions
on stone, marble and bronze, most of the epigraphy is of a spontaneous character painted or scratched on
the outer walls of both private and public structures.

- The vibrating humanity of the city still echoes with a thousand voices in every corner that is
disinterred.
- Types: civic charters and regulations on bronze plates fixed to walls of public buildings; dedications
by wealthy citizens who saw it as their social duty to provide buildings and festivals, and to support the
imperial cult (their commemorative plaques can be found at prominent positions within the city, on public
buildings, temples and pedestals for statues); funerary inscriptions found on the tombs lining both sides of
the road outside the Herculaneum Gate in Pompeii.
- Historians can learn who the prominent families were in various periods; the structure of
government; the main political players; when buildings were constructed or renovated; and the economic,
political and social transformations that occurred in society, especially in the 1st century AD.
- E.g. a commemorative plaque proclaiming the beneficence of G. Quinctius Valgus and Marcus
Porcius who paid for the building of the amphitheatre. Another is an inscription on a pedestal of a statue of
Quintius Sallustius, in the Forum.
Graffiti (inscriptions or drawings).
- Scratched into any available wall with styles, iron nail, wooden splinter or tooth pick (M. Grant,
Cities of Vesuvius).
- Any man, woman or child who wanted to share his/her feelings, thoughts or jokes; spread gossip;
show their admiration or love for someone; keep a record of gambling debts; add up shop accounts;
remember important dates; advertise their services and fees; sing the praises of a gladiatorial champion;
express contempt for a politician or frequenter of a brothel; or threaten an enemy, would not hesitate to
express themselves on the face of a wall.
- Great poets were misquoted, some even tried to write their own verses. E.g. on the wall of Odeon
(small theatre): What happened? After drawing me helplessly into the fire, O my eyes, now your cheeks
run with tears. But the tears cannot put out the flames. They spread across your face and darkness comes
into the spirit.
- Others were crude. E.g. guest at tavern described his inability to find a place to void his bladder.
- The Basilica in Pompeii, where justice was administered, trials were held and business transactions
carried out, featured angrier graffiti. E.g. Samius to Cornelius: Go hang yourself.
- Comments concerned with gambling and drinking were common in taverns. Amorous messages
were common. Erotic and explicit ones, most common on the walls near and inside brothels and lavatories.
- It was so common and widespread, the following comment was frequent in Pompeii: I wonder,
Wall that you do not go smash, Who have to bear the weight of all this trash. (Grant, Cities of Vesuvius).
- Was trash and nonsense at the time, today ancient graffiti is an invaluable source of information of
the inhabitants of Roman towns.
Wall paintings.
- Frescoes: derived from the great Hellenistic pictorial schools, categorised by the chronological
system known as the Four Pompeiian styles.
- Was a fashion for covering the walls of both public and private buildings with paintings. Spread
right across all levels of society, from the elaborate and colourful motifs of specialised workshops in the
great reception rooms of the wealthy to the simple thin lines of colour or geometric patterns in the homes
of the less dignified.
- Only areas isolated from view, like kitchens or the slaves quarters, were usually devoid of them.
- Usually on the the elite in Rome could afford to decorate their houses in original Greek art, so those
lower in society had to be satisfied with imitations on their walls of sacred Greek landscapes, panel
painting and mythology. Even gardens were like art galleries.
- Quantity and quality of frescoes in the homes of prominent families near Vesuvius have: provided

archaeologists and historians with valuable documentation of lost Greek and Hellenistic painting; allowed
them to trace the development of Roman pictorial art over an uninterrupted period of three centuries; given
them an appreciation of the process of fresco painting.
- Frescoes have revealed changes in society. E.g. during the Republican period, nobles and those in
high political and religious positions were surrounded by hordes of clients and colleagues and business
was carried out in the public reception rooms of their homes. ...decoration allowed the visitor a social
orientation. It helped steer them within the house guiding them around the internal hierarchies of social
space (Wallace-Hadrill)
- Clients didnt have largely elegantly decorated rooms, but as cicero says generally speaking, one
tries to imitate the ways of the illustrious people.
- Four styles: wall paintings have been classified into four styles. 1882, August Mau devised a
sequential classification based on comments by the Roman architect Vitruvius.
- 1. Structural (3rd century- c. 80 BC): a.k.a encrustation as wall decoration is not in the form of
frescoes, but rather painted stucco to represent the stone or marble masonry of sacred Greek architecture.
- 2. Architectural (c. 80 BC- c. 20 BC): paintings concealed wall surfaces with Hellenistic
architectural elements: columns, porticoes and niches, creating an illusion of extended space with
landscape vistas through arches and painted windows. Figures, objects and animals were integrated.
Pictorial genre known as megalography developed (featured windows, doors, arcades and garden terraces).
E.g. Villa of the Mysteries paintings are the most famous of this genre with a series of larger than life
figures extending over all the walls of a salon, discovered in the early 20th century. Scenes identified
include reference to Dionysus or Bacchus; initiation of a bride into the Dionysiac mysteries; physical and
sexual initiation rituals of pain and suffering necessary to enter the divine realm; as a representation of
religious preferences; or theatrical representation.
- 3. Ornamental (c. 20 BC- c. AD 50): while Vitruvius admired the second style, as the 1st century
BC came to a close he criticised the move from the paintings turning from architectural reality to pure
decorative form. In this style, the illusionary element was replaced with pictorial reality and the wall was
divided into three horizontal zones, two pairs of narrow vertical panels, with a central area occupied by a
mythological painting (of gods, heroes and famous lovers). Smaller panels were still life (theatre masks,
fantastic figures, imaginary gardens and features of the natural world). Following Augustus conquest of
Egypt, Egyptian motifs began to become involved.
- 4. Fantastic (c. AD 50- AD 79): most of surviving domestic paintings in P and H are of this type.
Bright shimmering colours created a theatrical fantasy. Architectural perspective returns to the middle
section and there is a great range and flexibility in colour, motifs and framework. E.g. House of the Vetti.
- Paintings: referred to as popular which were little affected by the Greek artistic tradition and
featured aspects of real Italian life. Most is found on external walls or trade signs- is easy to translate and
covers the whole range of human activities. E.g. scenes of different phases in the production of wool from
the walls of Pompeiis largest textile workshop, a carpenter at work, a baker handling loaves of bread, etc.
Statues.
- of Greek gods were a common sight in both Pompeii and Herculaneum.
- E.g. statue of Hercules was found in a villa just outside Pompeii. A statue of Apollo is located at his
temple in Pompeii. Copies of both are located at the Villa of Papyri, they were made in Herculaneum.
- Dedications in the form of official inscriptions were often found at the bottom of statues. Often were
not naming the artist. Today it isnt fully known who the main Greek artists were, yet Pliny the Younger
aimed at altering that.
- In 1710 a well-digger chanced upon the theatre, where later finds included the bronze statue of the
wealthy ex-slave and city benefactor, Lucius Mammius Maximus, with traditional robes and simple hair.

 Mosaics.

- Range of geometric and figurative mosaics were found on walls, floors, columns and nymphaeum,
and even the vaulted roofs of baths.
- Earliest floors of buildings of P and H were composed of mortar mixed with crushed tiles or
volcanic stone, with occasional chips (tesserae) of coloured limestone inserted geometrically.
- Geometric pattens in black and white became more widespread and incorporated a central
polychrome picture (emblema) often featuring a mythological scene or a copy of a famous Hellenistic
composition. E.g. incredible mosaic in the exedra of the House of the Faun (Alexander the Great fighting
Darius at the Battle of Issus).
- With time, the emblema tended to disappear, to be replaced with a wider variety of geometric
designs and figurative elements in some rooms, e.g. the chained dog in the entrance of the House of the
Tragic Poet.
- During the Augustan and Julio-Claudian period, white marble from Carrara was more commonly
used for floors in the better homes, little of this has survived looting after the eruption.
Human and animal remains.
- Not known exactly how many people died during 24 and 25 August AD 79.
- Skeletal remains excavated thus far from Herculaneum, as well as disarticulated bones, plaster and
resin casts from Pompeii, are valuable sources. The reveal: sex and age, appearance, average height of
men and women, general health, specific medical problems and evidence of surgery, population affinities,
probable occupations and social status, cause of death and mental state at the time.
- Skeletons of Herculaneum: in 1982, three skeletons were discovered on the beach of the small
ancient harbour of Herculaneum, until this time very few human remains had been found compared to the
approximate 500 corpses in Pompeii. As more emerged throughout that year in a row of chambers built
into the retaining wall of the harbour, became obvious that the previous hypothesis that there d been time
for a mass exodus of the towns population became less likely. They were preserved in good condition as
the 20m thick layer of moist volcanic material accumulated over the town. The bodies of the inhabitants
decayed, the material compressed about the bones, preventing oxygen from causing further deterioration
and eventually solidified to the consistency of rock.
- Dr Sara Bisel: classical archaeologist and anthropologist, explained that with exposure came quick
deterioration. She worked quickly to prevent it. Washed each bone separately, allowed it to dry for days,
before dripping it in acrylic- plaster mixture and leaving it to harden before reconstruction. Her study
followed two anthropological methods: measurement and observation of the bones; biochemical analysis.
She examined: long bones in legs to ascertain height; states of pelvis of women to tell ages and if they had
children; facial bones for appearance; upper shafts of the humeri and thoracic vertebrae to tell if the person
worked harder than usual; state of all bones for level of nourishment; teeth for indication of age of children
and whether there was sugar as well as general nourishment.
- Carried chemical analysis to find evidence of lead posoining, and the presence of calcium,
phosphorous, magnesium, zinc and strontium. Bones with high levels of zinc mean consumption of animal
protein; high levels of strontium mean consumption of vegetable protein and seafood.
- Bisel studied 139 Herculaneans (51m, 49f, 39c). Low birth rate (1.69 children per woman) could be
attributed to practices of abortion and contraception mentioned in literary sources, high levels of lead
could cause sterility. The town was a melting pot with great genetic diversity.
- Dental samples with horizontal hypoplastic lines [grooves] in their tooth enamel meant that
childhood malnourishment stopped intake of calcium, pits in bone along the gum line meant gum disease.
Tooth decay was low due to high consumption of seafood containing fluorides, and small amount of sugar
in diet as sweeteners were expensive.

- High levels of lead in both genders, no matter what social class was a discovery of Bisel.
Suggested: due to use of lead in drinking cups, plats and cooking pots, lead water pipes, red pigment of
paint, use of lead to whiten womens skin, treat bleeding and promote healing of ulcers and superficial
wounds, remedy for headache and arthritis. Most common use of lead was sweetening agent for sour wine.
- Bisels studies were based off assumptions that girls married at the age of 12-14, B.D. Shaw in The
Age of Roman Girls at Marriage thinks it to be in their late teens.
- Bone casts from Pompeii: very few intact skeletons found at Pompeii as many were destroyed in
the early years of excavation. Others were removed, some carelessly stored in bath houses that they
became disarticulated and mixed Estelle Lazer, forensic archaeologist from Sydney University, says it is
difficult to estimate the no. of skeletons from remaining collections of bones, but she suggests thered be
no more than 500 of approx. equal genders, and few children as small bones were often missed in
excavation. The Pompeii site director, De Caro, in a 1984 interview believed the majority of Pompeiis
victims havent been found, and were still out there beyond the gates.
- Lazer: concentrated on the skulls and teeth, pelvic, leg and arm bones from 300 individuals. She
disputes the often-claimed view that most who died at Pompeii were women, children, the elderly and
infirm. Obesity and age may have made it difficult to escape, but there is no firm evidence that such
people made the bulk of those who died. She discovered skulls showed serious dental problems that
werent a distinguishing factor among classes, even the Emperor Augustus had bad teeth, small, few and
decayed. Badly worn teeth tell historians about their staple food: Pompeiians ate bread, made from flour
impregnated with tiny fragments from lava millstones.
- Also discovered and confirmed many of the victims had medical problems at the time of death. 10%
of the skulls examined revealed a post-menopausal syndrome hyperostasis frotalis interna resulting in
obesity, benign tumors inside the skull causing severe headaches, and growth of facial hair. Other skulls
had evidence of past surgery and bone fractures. However, study confirmed generally the population of
Pompeii was well nourished and in good health.
- Pompeii: unlike Herculaneum, corpses were covered in a deep layer of fine ash and pumice that
didnt completely seal the bodies from the deteriorating effect of oxygen. They decayed, leaving cavities in
the hardened ash which archaeologists, since Fiorelli have filled with liquid plaster and resin, forming
casts of the bodies at the moment of death, including shoes, facial expressions, desperate gestures. They
help deduce sex, age, possible occupations and status.
- Animal remains: it is believed that many of the horses and mules in Pompeii were mobilised for
escape, some remains have been found, however. E.g. horses still in their stables in the Villa of Pisanella at
Boscoreale and seven mules tethered in the stable in a bakery in Pompeii. Also, dogs have been found still
chained near entrances to houses and a goat was discovered in a cellar.
- Plant remains: Dr Wilhemina Jashemski has carried out extensive studies into soil contours; root
cavities of large ornamental trees, vines and fruit trees; carbonised plant remains (27 carbonised species
found at Oplontis), and pollen. Combined with paintings as evidence, a different light has been thrown on
Pompeiis economy and the relationship between town and countryside.

THE LIMITATIONS, RELIABILITY AND EVALUATION OF SOURCES.

Limitations.

- Clear evidence to explain some aspects of life in Pompeii and Herculaneum. E.g. various artefacts
relating to the production of wine and olive oil provide reliable evidence of the processes used in those
industries. However: considerable gaps in the evidence relating to other aspects of life. Lack of sources
relating to personal lives of individuals, intellectual life, use of public spaces and other social activities.
- Some gaps in evidence are due to the nature of ancient sources, e.g. we know very little about

women of the lower lasses. They had few possessions, left no written records and werent written about.
- Other gaps are due to destruction of the eruption. E.g. few wooden objects survived in Pompeii.
- Nature of excavation is an issue, e.g. few public buildings have been uncovered at Herculaneum.
- Looting and destruction of sites have depleted sources available for drawing conclusions about
some aspects of life.
- Many written sources have survived from the late republic and early empire, but their focus is the
political life of Rome. Even those who wrote about the beautiful landscape and weather of Campania
provide little evidence about life in P and H.
- In the past: lacuna encouraged tendencies to speculate and romanticise about the history of the
towns and their people. Recent studies, based on more academic historical investigations, have involved
more critical discussion of the available sources.
Reliability and evaluation.
- Different types of written sources have survived from P and H. In order to assess the reliability of
them, historians ask questions relation to the context and purpose of the sources.
- Example: Pliny the Youngers letters to Tacitus are assumed to be a reliable eye-witness account of
the eruption of Vesuvius. However, these letters were written from memory many years after the eruption
and may have been partly motivated by Plinys desire to glorify the role of his uncle Pliny the Elder, who
died while trying to save people from the eruption.
- Hundreds of examples of graffiti survived, however special caution is needed when assessing the
reliability of these sources. While the names of individuals mentioned can be accurate, comments written
may not be. They may reveal more about the writers purpose or bias than the subject of graffiti.
- Similarly, commemorative inscriptions can be useful in providing information about individuals,
like their positions in local government or priesthoods they may have held. However, they only highlight
positive aspects of the individuals life.
- Business and legal documents recorded on waxed tablets provide valuable information about such
transactions. Very purpose of the documents makes them reliable sources of evidence about transactions.
- Comprehensive evaluation of a written source needs to consider the context in which it was
produced, the purpose or perspective of the author, how the sources relates to the wider social or political
context.
- Source is useful if other sources can corroborate the evidence provided in a particular source.

EVIDENCE PROVIDED BY THE SOURCES FROM POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM.

The eruption.

- AD 79: Mt Vesuvius erupted, killed many of the inhabitants of P and H and buried the towns.
- Sources: letters of Pliny the Younger, an eye-witness to the eruption; references in ancient written
sources, e.g. Statius, Martial, Suetonius and Dio Cassius; archaeological remains of the two towns and
nearby villas; human remains of ancient residents of both towns; the work of modern vulcanologist,
Haraldur Sigurdsson, who has examined the deposit from the eruption and its effects and compared these
with more recent volcanic eruptions.
- First stage: 1. cloud of ash and pumice erupted 20km into the air, described at the Plinian phase
after his description comparing the shape of the cloud to a pine tree, rising on a tall trunk then splitting
into branches. 2. ash and pumice fell onto the streets and buildings of Pompeii for 17 hours. 3. Deposit of
ash and pumice is more than 2.7m deep, heavy enough to have caused the collapse of some buildings.
Sparks have ignited fires. 4. most Pompeiians took the opportunity to flee at this stage. Herculaneans
would not have been directly affected as the wind carried the ash and pumice away from their town.
- Second stage: 5. series of at least 6 pyroclastic surges of searing hot ash and poisonous gases,

traveling at speeds of 100-300km/h, and flows of molten rock, ash and pumice heated to 400C. 6. first
surge and flow killed remaining Herculaneans, but didnt reach Pompeii. Second surge and flow also
dissipated before reaching Pompeii. 7. third and fourth surges and flows covered Pompeii, killing people
and animals remaining in the area. 8. fifth and sixth surges and flows completely buried Pompeii,
Herculaneum, Stabiae, Oplontis and other villages yet to be discovered.
- Impact on the towns: changed the geography of the region around Vesuvius, Pompeii was covered
by 4m of volcanic material (mainly hardened ash and pumice), while Herculaneum lay beneath 25m of
debris which cooled into a solid mass of volcanic material.
- Sarnus River was turned from its course. Coastline was extended into Bay of Naples by about 500m
and raised by 25m, increasing difficulty in locating Herculaneum.
- No. of casualties is unknown. Pompeiis population of 10,000-20,000 may have been crowded with
Summer visitors at the time. Estimated 90% of people escaped as eruption began. Remaining Pompeiians
were crushed under falling debris, killed by hot ashes or died of thermal shock. Estimated no. of casualties
over time reduced from 2000 to 500.
- Herculaneum: few human remains were found within the excavations, first it appeared most had
escaped. Later excavations found almost 300 skeletons in vaulted brick chambers along the shoreline.
The economy: trade, commerce, industries and occupations.
- Trade: Pompeii certainly traded with other cities in Campania and the Italian peninsula. Imported
other varieties from Spain, Sicily and Crete, as well as pottery from Spain and Gaul (France), furniture
from nearby Naples and lamps from Alexandria. Some believe their export trade was minimal to the
Roman empire; the occasional Pompeian amphora, tile or fish container has turned up beyond Italy.
- Port of pompeii less than a kilometre from the centre of the city. Present area of Bottaro has a
narrow strip of land that revealed the remains of 20 warehouses containing weights for anchoring boats,
fishing gear, amphorae, a statue of Neptune (god of the sea) to whom departing sailors made sacrifice.
- Port was an entrepot/ trans-shipment point for local and foreign gods. Ships were unloaded, goods
transferred to barges for the journey up the Sarno River to inland towns like Nuceria, and onto wagons for
the short trip into Pompeii.
- Pompeii: ideally positioned for trade. Harbour facilities give access to Mediterranean shipping and
the Sarno River gave access to the smaller towns of Campania. Luxury villas around the Bay of Naples
could be reach by boat or road.
- Well known exports were wine, olive-oil and garum. Workshop production was small scale, few
products were made specifically for export.
- Producers traded their wares with negotiatores, in exchange for goods from other regions.
- Commerce: Pompeii, unlike the quieter fishing/resort town of Herculaneum, was a bustling
commercial centre in the years before its destruction. Was a town where making profit and accumulating
wealth was regarded as being favoured by the gods.
- Evidence for commerce: high number of privately owned shops, workshops, bars and inns; citycontrolled markets around the Forum; epigraphic evidence of the number of guilds of tradesmen and
retailers; twenty or so maritime warehouses containing objects characteristic of a port area and buildings
lined with wine jars; paintings of cargo boats on the Sarno and porters carrying products to be loaded onto
the vessels; trade signs depicting manufacturing processes; inscriptions in houses and workshops paying
tribute to the pursuit of profit (Profit is joy, Welcome gain); images of Mercury, god of commerce,
displayed everywhere to gain blessings.
- Economies of Vesuvian towns were largely based on agricultural production and fishing. Mediumsized farmsteads, villa rusticae that dotted the Sarno plain, and market gardens (horti) of Pompeii provided
the raw materials (wine, olive oil, cereals, fruit, vegetables, meat and wool) for retail and industry.

- Fishing fleets, mainly from Herculaneum judging by volume of nets, hooks and other gear found,
provided the much-valued crustaceans, molluscs and fish. These industries spawned a host of others like
pottery as terracotta and ceramic containers (dolia and amphorae) were needed for storage and trade.
- The Basilica, fronting onto the Forum, was not only the law-court, but an exchange where
businessmen or speculators met clients and signed contracts. E.g. Pompeian Banker, M Caecilius Jucundus
(son of a freedman) and 150 wax tablets discovered in his Pompeian domus recording his various
transactions between AD 52-62.
- Wine and oil industries: primary sources of income for the people in the Vesuvian area. Land
around Pompeii featured different types of farms: luxury villas with agricultural plots, working farms with
absentee landlords (villa rusticae) and tenant farmers working smaller plots. These farms raised sheep,
goats and cattle and produced a range of grain, fruit and vegetable crops as well as olives and grapes.
- Wilhelmina Jashemski took plaster casts of vine root systems in the ground and established the
presence of vineyards at farms such as the villa rustica at Boscoreale. Also found evidence of commercial
production inside the walls of Pompeii where one vineyard had 2000 staked grape vines. Villa of Pisanella
was an important wine and oil producing estate.
- Important local industries for both consumption and export. Many farms had their own presses and
vats for olive oil and wine (torcular) production. Pliny the Elder described Pompeiian wine as dangerous
as it could cause a headache which lasts till noon on the following day.
- The rich became richer in producing olive oil and wine, also often the only ones that could afford it.
- Fishing and garum: another local industry. Evidence: remains of the fish market in the macellum
of Pompeii and fresco paintings and mosaics of fish.
- Garum was a Pompeiian specialty and another important industry for local and export markets.
Many labelled garum containers have been found. According to Pliny - no other liquid except unguents
has come to be more highly valued. Red mullet is said to have produced the best of it. Made of guts of
fish and other parts that would otherwise be considered refuse, intestines and blood. Wealthier families
wouldve obtained it more directly- monopoly of the garum market.
- Finds of fish hooks, nets, a large wooden boat suggest fishing was also carried on at Herculaneum.
- Woolen textiles: production of woolen cloth was generally done within the household. Number of
workshops in Pompeii where larger scale textile production was done.
- Number of fullonicae (laundries) have been identified, where newly woven cloth was washed and
bleached, sometimes dyed. Fullers received a lot of business cleaning the white toga of Roman citizens.
- Fullonicae were scattered all over Pompeii- 18 in number, 4 were particularly large. Identified by a
number of interconnected basins/ tanks with build in steps for washing and rinsing. Fullers used urine
(camel was preferred, human was sometimes used) so bowls were left outside establishments on the street.
- House of the Wooden partition had a painted sign over a Pompeian workshop displaying the various
processes involved in cloth manufacturing.
- Guild of Fullers was a powerful organisation within the city- head quarters were located within the
Eumachia building on the eastern side of the forum.
- Pottery for trade developed. Metalwork to accommodate with the growing technology in fishing.
- Bread making/ bakery (pistrina): 30 or so bakeries have been identified in Pompeii. Most
equipped with mills for grinding wheat into flour. E.g. at the bakery of Sextus Patulcus Felix in
Herculaneum the millstones were turned by small donkeys whose remains were found nearby.
- Bakeries did their own grain refining in lava stone mills, usually 3 or 4 set in a paved courtyard with
a table for kneading the dough and a brick oven.
- Bakery of Modestus recovered 81 carbonised loaves of bread, still on the oven from AD 79.
- Occupations: agriculture (farmer, grape picker); animal husbandry (herdsman, pig breeder); fishing

(fisherman, net maker); manufacturing (iron monger, potter); textiles (fuller, weaver, dyer); art and craft
(gem cutter, fresco painter); commerce (money lender, landlord, banker); food and drink (baker, inn
keeper); transport (mule driver, waggoner, porter); construction (carpenter, stone mason); technical
occupations (doctor architect, surveyor); service occupations (bath attendant, barber, prostitute).
Social structure: men, women, freedmen, slaves.
- Social structure: extremely class-conscious; strict hierarchy with no definite middle class. People
of P and H were born into a particular social status and had limited means to vary their positions. Main
factors that determined your place in Roman society were your citizenship status and place of birth; level
of wealth; whether you lived in the country or the city; whether you were free.
- Numerous divisions in the social structure and these divisions were reinforced by legal and political
privileges. Legal status helped to define power, influence, criminal punishments, marriage partners, even
dress and where you sat in an amphitheatre. Dr V. Hope, Social Pecking Order in the Roman world.
- Differing social status was common throughout the Roman world. Roman citizens in pompeii who
were clearly identified by their power and privilege were senators, equestrians, the provincial elite.
- Upper strata: republic, senators and magistrates held power. Augustus came in 28 BC, Rome had
significant change. Power fell to the hands of the emperor. This strata held magistrates, consul, patricians,
emperor, imperial family, senatorial order, equestrian orders, rich freedmen, equites and aristocrats. Lower
strata: very diverse. Plebs media, plebs humilis, poor free-born citizen, freedmen, slaves.
- Men (freeborn): broad social class including senatorial elite, members of the Roman patrician class
who had estates or villas in Campania; the local elite, wealthy landowners and businessmen who
dominated local government, and ordinary citizens such as small scale farmers, shopkeepers and artisans.
- Roman patricians and members of the imperial family had been attracted to Campania. E.g. Villa of
Papyri in Herculaneum, owned by the father-in-law of Julius Caesar. Proconsul Marcus Nonius Balbus
was a wealthy Roman who built the Suburban Baths in Herculaneum, an equestrian statue and dedicatory
altar were erected in his honour.
- Local identities gained prestige form their wealth rather than a patrician background. They gained
status by fulfilling political roles and maintaining a network of socio-political ties with friends (amici),
clients (clientelae) and dependants.
- Patron-client: system the wealthy operated as patrons to the less wealthy, advising them and taking
care of their interests. In return, clients gave deference and respect to the patrons. Useful in elections. E.g.
Marcus Holconius Rufus was a prominent local citizen of Pompeii, an Augustalis (priest of imperial cult),
patron of the colony, town magistrate (duumvir), 5 year official (quinquennale) and military tribune. Town
erected a statue for him.
- Women: typical role in Roman society was to perform tasks such as running the household;
bringing up the children and controlling the finances. Appeared to have had much more freedom than their
counterparts in Rome. Wall paintings, inscriptions and frescoes show them actively engaged in public life
and moving freely about the city.
- Women in public life: most prominent women of pompeii included Pompaea Sabina, her family
owned the House of Menander and the House of Guilded Cupids, she married Emperor Nero and she
owned her own Villa in nearby Oplontis. Inscriptions teach that there were other rich women in Pompeii
who were able to won property in their own right and to manage their affairs without the constant
supervision of a male relative.
- Pompeiian businesswoman, Eumachia: family owned brick-making works and vineyards. Use
wealth and patronage to construct a large public building in the Forum bearing her name. Latin inscription
form the 1st century, Eumachia, the public priestess (of Venus), daughter of Lucuis, had the vestibule, the
covered gallery and the particoes made with her own money and dedicated in her own name and in the

name of her son Marcus Numistrius Fronto... E. Fantham, et al. Women in the Classical world.
- Financial transactions of Caecilius Jucundus gave insight to womens practices. Women couldnt
vote, but they made declarations supporting either candidate through programmatta or electoral campaign
posters. Women also may have attended preliminary public meetings or conditions before candidates were
chosen. In work: wealthy women could own taverns, less wealthy worked in service duties.
- Funerary monuments showed women were important enough to be honoured by a funeral at public
expense, e.g. Priestess Mamia. Pompeii was a place where women could own property, do business, pay
for construction, hold honorific and cultic office and go about in public E. Fantham.
- Freedmen: slaves who had been given their freedom by various means. Gained wealth from trade,
banking, manufacturing and land ownership. Excluded from entering the senatorial order, though some
were successful in becoming equestrians.
- Slaves: part of the lower strata. Performed most work in agriculture and manufacturing. Upper class
Romans drew most of their wealth from exploiting slave labour. Slavery was commonly practised in the
ancient world, Romans saw the ownership of slaves as a valid expression of power. Some were those who
were defeated in war, or free citizens who had sold themselves to pay their debts. State often purchased
and used them.
- Slavery: a state of living death, K. Bradley, Antiquity 2. They were looked down on in society,
even if they were manumitted, their origins would never be forgotten.
Local political life.
- Main sources of evidence: inscriptions which often list the offices held by individuals; electoral
graffiti, which show the peoples preferences; and remains of political buildings. Electoral graffiti
(programmata) in the form of slogans were usually painting in red on shop fronts and walls facing busy
streets and crossroads; usually included name of candidate, office standing for, particular qualities and
often names of supporters; 2000 such electoral slogans have been found in Pompeii.
- By the time of Roman rule, both towns were administered by locally elected officials according to
Roman law. Determined who could stand for office, who could vote, composition and functions of
magistrates and town councils.
- Political hierarchy: magistrates (aediles) and chief magistrates (duumviri); town council (curia);
and the electoral assembly (comitium).
- Links with Rome: while self-governing, P and H had some direct contact with Rome. A town
patron, patronus, could represent citizens of the town in dealings with the government at Rome. Proconsul
marcus Nonius Balbus was the patronus of Herculaneum.
- At least once, the emperor intervened in local affairs. E.g. after a riot at the amphitheatre in Pompeii
in AD59 that resulted in death, the emperor Nero dismissed the two chief magistrates, banned gladiator
combats for ten years and appointed a prefect to carry out his instructions. Ban was eventually lifted.
Statues, inscriptions and shrines are evidence of the towns loyalty to Rome and the imperial family.
- Augustales: priests of a cult dedicated to emperor worship. Began in the time of Augustus, but
continued after. Both freeborn and freedmen could be Augustales, but they had to be reasonably wealthy as
they were expected to pay the expenses involved in carrying out cult rituals.
- Municipal buildings (all at/ around the Forum): Curia chamber (city council meetings);
Comitium (peoples assembly meetings); tabularium (govt. business recorded); Basilica (judiciary/ law
courts); Office of Magistrates.
Everyday life: leisure activities, food and dining, clothing, health, baths, water supply and sanitation.
- Leisure activities: from theatres to public baths to smaller artefacts such as board games and dice.
- Spectacles and blood sports: largest building in Pompeii was dedicated to public leisure in the
form of gladiator combats and other contests. Amphitheatre, which seated between 13000 - 20000 people,

staged spectacles and blood sports on the many public holidays in the Roman calendar. Paintings, mosaic
and inscriptions provide evidence of the events that were held and the people who provided them.
Weapons and armour used by gladiators have also been uncovered in the Palaestra where they would train.
- Theatre: theatres in P and H which seated up to 5000 and 2500 people respectively, are evidence of
the popularity of dramatic performance. Comedies, tragedies and farces were performed, often as part of a
religious festival. In Pompeii, there was a small covered theatre or odeon which held around 1500 people,
it was used for concerts, lectures and poetry readings.
- Music: instruments often appear in paintings and mosaics showing scenes of public spectacles, and
instruments have also been found in houses, suggesting music was performed publicly but was also respect
as a personal leisure activity.
- Athletics: in both P and H there was a public athletic centre or palaestra, evidence of continuing
Greek influence, where men exercised and participated in athletic competitions. Each centre had similar
features: an open area shaded by trees, a swimming pool, (Herculaneum had an additional shallow crossshaped pool with elaborate fountains) and various facilities for athletes and spectators.
- Drinking: taverns and bars uncovered in pompeii provide evidence that drinking was a popular
pastime, especially for men. They were found in most main streets, near the gates of Pompeii and around
the amphitheatre, and theyve also been found in excavated areas of Herculaneum. Hedone says You can
get a drink here for one as, if you give two, you will drink better; if you give four, you will drink
Falernian.- Sign from Herculaneum advertising drinks.
- Gambling: evidence from mosaics, paintings and graffiti suggest that it was a popular leisure
activity conducted in bars and public baths. Gambled on outcome of gladiator combats and cockfights,
large number of dice has been found in Pompeii and evidence to suggest an association of dice players.
- Knucklebones: another popular game, not always associated with gambling. Drawing from
Herculaneum shows five girls playing the game.
- Food and dining (evidence of food): most reliable evidence comes from the carbonised remains of
food itself. Remains have been found in ovens, cooking pots and dishes, food traces found in ancient
toilets; root casts of vines and fruit trees that grew in and around the towns, pollen of various plants found
in ash deposits, and remnants of fish and animals in markets. Skeletal remains of the victims of vesuvius
were generally well-nourished, suggesting a healthy diet.
- Frescoes of banquet scenes and recipes like those of Alpicius, provide information about their food,
however without corroborating archaeological evidence, cannot be assumed that this food was truly eaten.
- Food and dining (evidence for cooking and dining): cooking at eating utensils, cooking areas in
houses, dining rooms and tabernae. Large number of bakeries suggest bread was an important part of diet.
- In most houses, cooking was done on a portable brazier which could be used in any part of the
house or garden. E.g. House of the Vetti, one of the few houses with a kitchen. Food could also be
prepared in some thermopolia where people could purchase take-away meals. Metal braziers, brick ovens
and fireplaces indicate where food was cooked and a range of pots and pans and other utensils provide
evidence of how it was cooked. E.g. possible to bake, boil, fry or barbecue using equipment uncovered.
- Most wouldve eaten from pottery bowls and plates and drunk from pottery vessels. The wealthier
had tableware of silver, bronze and even glasses have been found.
- larger houses had at least one dining room (triclinium) and often additional dining area in the
garden. The former contained three couches on which diners reclined. Food and drinks were served on low
tables placed near couches.
- Frescoes and contemporary literature suggest dinner parties were popular among wealthy families.
Some dining rooms were beautifully decorated, e.g. the triclinium in House of the Vetti.
- More elaborate dinner parties would have several courses served by slaves, some form of

entertainment like dancers or musicians. Most people wouldve eat simple meals prepared from fresh,
local produce. E.g. meal of priests uncovered near the Temple of Isis may have been typical, it included
eggs, fish and walnuts.
- Clothing: very little clothing survives, although frescoes and statuary provide some idea of what
people wore.
- Most males: wore a tunic, simple knee-length garment, belted at the wast, usually made from
woolen fabric. Only citizens were entitled to wear the toga, a long piece of cloth worn over the tunic,
draped around the body and over one shoulder (usually saved for formal occasions). Adult male citizens
of high status often wore a unique signet ring to make impressions on wax to authorise documents. Poorer
freeborn workingman, freedman and slave (lower strata) all wore similar tunics loosely tied at the waist.
- Freeborn women and freedwomen wore similar clothing. Basic iten of clothing was a full, long
tunic (tunica) and assembled in two styles similar to Greek style tunic. Married woman: expected to war
the stola, long and sleeveless tunic, frequently if not always suspended at the shoulders from short straps.
Respectable matrons: wore a stola on top of the tunic, and a log cloak (palla) when outdoors. All three
classes of women wore similar styles, quality and colour may have varied. Clothing of poorer women and
slaves depended on their work, and who they worked for. E.g. skeleton of a women found near Pompeii
had a gold serpent bracelet engraved with from the master to his slave girl.
- Women took pride in their appearance. Wore jewelry, did their hair in various styles, wore makeup.
E.g. combs made of ivory or bone; mirrors made of silver or bronze; range of cosmetic and perfume
containers and an assortment of jewelry like rinks, earrings, necklaces, bracelets, pins and brooches.
- Health: main evidence for health comes from investigations on skeletal remains. Estelle Lazer
examined the skeletons from Pompeii and Sara Bisel and Luigi Carpasso examined those in Herculaneum.
General conclusions: overall, the skeletons present a good sample of the population, including men,
women and children, although infants and juveniles are under-represented (less likely to have survived).
- Condition of bones suggest reasonably healthy population. On average, female skeletons are shorter
than the male, 155cm compared with 168cm (little taller than modern Neapolitans).
- On basis of minerals in the bones, Bisel concludes that most people in Herculaneum ate vegetables
and seafood rather than meat to obtain protein. Teeth in some skeletons show considerable wear, at times
to the gum line, due mainly to the lava stones impregnated in the flour milling process. Lazer,
understanding not all diseases can be identified in bones, has found evidence of respiratory problems and
symptoms of post-menopausal conditions. Bisel and Carpasso: interpreted signs of muscle usage as signs
of heavy work, Lazer cautions there may be other explanations, like heavy athletic training.
- Collections of surgical instruments have been uncovered in different locations in Pompeii. E.g.
tweezers, forceps, probes, clamps, pliers, instruments for drilling into bone and instruments for
manipulating fractured bones. Two skeletons provide evidence of trepanation (operation removing part of
skull to relieve pressure on the brain), both survived the operation.
- Baths: the thermae were an aspect of everyday life, evidence for this is the buildings themselves.
Pompeii: main public baths were the Forum Baths, Stabian Baths and the Suburban Baths. Herculaneum:
only the Central Baths and Suburban (or Marine) Baths have been uncovered.
- Public baths were substantial buildings with several large rooms, some of which equipped with
luxurious features like mosaics, marble fittings and glass windows. Most houses didnt have one. A visit to
the baths was a matter of personal hygiene as well as social activity. Was a place of exercise, business and
relaxation (massages could be given).
- Men and women bathed separately. Some had separate entrances for each gender, in others men and
women used the same bath but at different times of the day. Baths, wine and sex corrupt our bodies but
they make life worth living - Anonymous graffiti.

- Baths had similar features. Bathing routine: bathers would undress in the change room
(apodyterium); enter the caldarium to take a hot bath, might have a massage, after which sweat and oil are
scraped away with a strigil. Then to the tepidarium for a warm bath, followed by a plunge into the cold
bath, frigidarium. The warm and hot baths were heated by a hypocaust, circulated hot air from the furnaces
beneath the floor, through pipes set into walls.
- Large number of lamps excavated at the Stabian Baths in Pompeii suggest they were open at night.
- Water supply and sanitation: structures which stored and carried water and facilities which used
water, such as fountains, public and private baths and toilets.
- P and H had a good water supply which was carried from springs in the Apennine Mountains via a
branch of the Augustan Aqueduct.
- Pompeii: water flowed from the aqueduct into a brick holding tank, the castellum aquae, built on
one of the highest points in the town. From the castellum, water was gravity fed through three large pipes
to different parts of town. It was carried to baths, public latrines and the secondary storage towers which
fed more than 40 public fountains in Pompeii.
- Lead pipes beneath footpaths carried water from storage towers to parts of town. Some private
houses were connected to the pipeline and had running water and flushing toilets. Most large houses had
cisterns which held rainwater collected in the impluvium.
- In both, sanitation was at a high level. Waste water from houses flowed into the streets through
terracotta pipes set into wall outlets. Household waste water and sewage flowed along the gutters on each
side of the street, then into large underground drains. Public latrines were flushed with water and the
sewage went down the drains. Raised stepping stones allowed inhabitants to avoid dirty/ wet feet.
- Herculaneum: terrain sloped down to the sea assisting water flow and drainage. Waste water and
sewage were carried away in underground drains. Streets didnt need stepping stones.
Public buildings: basilicas, temples, fora, theatres, palaestra, amphitheaters.
- Most in Pompeii date from the period after it became a Roman colony, when number of temples
doubled and the public baths, theatres and amphitheatres were constructed.
- Inscriptions show that new buildings were initiated by the duumviri. Other prominent citizens were
also responsible for the construction of new buildings or the addition of certain features. Donation of a
public building was seen as a virtue in a Roman society, and it enhanced the donors prestige.
- Most had a religious element, like small shrines or statues of gods or members of the imperial
family, e.g. the macellum in the forum at Pompeii had such a shrine.
- Basilicas: in Pompeii, was a large rectangular building located on the south-western side of the
forum. More Greek than Roman in style, with rows of corinthian style columns instead of arches
supporting the roof. Housed law courts, at the back was a structure reached by stairs that is thought to be a
tribunal where the magistrate sat hearing cases. Was also a place for negotiating business transactions.
- Few public buildings have been uncovered in Herculaneum. Tunnels have provided access to buried
buildings, but there is no reliable analysis of building usage. One building identified as a basilica was
perhaps a temple or shrine instead.
- Temples: ten have been excavated at Pompeii, most in and around the Forum. Provide evidence of a
range of religious beliefs and practices. Include: official Roman state deities, Jupiter, Juno and Minerva;
Greek deities appropriated by the Romans including Apollo, Venus and Dionysus; and foreign deities such
as the Egyptian goddess Isis.
- Those dedicated to the imperial cult paid homage to the deified emperors. The Forum had the
Temple of The Genius of Augustus, known later as Temple of Vespasian. E.g. Temple of Fortuna Agusta,
north of the forum, linked Fortuna, goddess of fertility and good luck, with Augusta, guardian of the divine
Augustus.

- All were damaged in the earthquake of AD 62. Some, like the Temple of Apollo, were restored by
the time of the Eruption of AD 79. Others, like the Temple of Jupiter were in ruins.
- No large temples have been discovered in the small proportion of Herculaneum excavated to ate, but
a shrine of the Augustales including a section devoted to Hercules provides evidence of the imperial cult.
- Fora: forum was the large open area of a Roman town where the main public buildings were
located and where there was space for public meetings. Two have been uncovered in Pompeii, early forum
known as the Triangular Forum and the main forum. Triangular forum, containing evidence of a 6th
century BC Greek temple, was the earliest forum in Pompeii, located near theatres. Main forum: located
in the south-western section of Pompeii. Pedestrian area 40x150m, paved in limestone. Stone barriers
prevented entry to vehicles.
- Two-storey buildings surrounded the forum on three sides, Porticoes linked the various buildings
and provided shade and shelter. Around the open space were statues of distinguished citizens, members of
imperial family.
- Temple of Jupiter stood at head of the forum on the northern side, flanked by two triumphal arches.
- Painting from the Estate of Julia Felix shows people enjoying various activities in the forum which
was garlanded for the occasion. Buildings around the forum were a mixture of religious, commercial and
political buildings. Many undergoing repairs at the time of the eruption.
- Theatres: large theatre of Pompeii is Greek style, with seats built into a natural slope. May have
had an awning over sections of the seating. Held up to 5000 people. Entry was free, seating assigned
according to social class. Seats nearest the stage were faced with marble and reserved for elite citizens.
- Mosaics depicting actors preparing for dramatic performances have been found in houses, actors
masks used in Greek and Roman tragedies have been found.
- Near the large theatre is a smaller free-standing theatre known as the Odeon, built soon after 80 BC.
An inscription nearby illustrates it had a roof ensuring excellent acoustics, it was used for musical recitals
and poetry readings. Could sit 1000 people. Same methods of seating.
- Herculaneum: had a free-standing Roman style theatre which remains under Ercolano. Held up to
2500. Originally decorated with marble columns, gilded statues. First building found, extensively looted.
- Palaestra: public area for exercise or athletics. Popular sports included running, discus, wrestling
and swimming. In Pompeii: built at public expense in response to Augustus desire to provide young
people with facilities where they could exercise. Became a meeting place for members of Juventus
(Augustan Youth), included an alter for rites associated with Imperial cult.
- Large building with porticoes along three sides. middle was a large swimming pool, trees for shade.
- Herculaneum: took up a whole insula, but only parts of it have been excavated. Large open area
featured a shallow cross-shaped pool with bronze fountain, surrounded by rooms opening onto porticoes
on three sides. Upper terrace of arched chambers on northern side provids excellent vantage point. Western
side of portico was a very tall building, niche at the back and large statue. Marble table was nearby, used
for worship or prize-giving. Competitive games were financed by wealthy citizens such as Nonius Balbus.
- Amphitheatre: round building, typically unroofed, with a central space for presentation of dramatic
or sporting events. Tiers of seats for spectators surround the central space. Often for gladiatorial viewing.
Private buildings: villas, houses, shops.
- Mauiri: Pompeiis houses are such an important archaeological record as it is a complete...
documentation of ancient home life. There are houses of various classes, perfectly preserved in the
details of structure and decoration. From this the evolution of home styles through at least three/four
centuries can be followed.
- Zanker: it spans the two periods that probably saw the most profound and sweeping changes in
urban structures. End of Republic. Empire beginning 27 BC.

- Villas: wealthy Romans built large villas in the countryside and along the coast around the bay of
Naples, as retreats from Rome and as places where political matters could be conducted in impressive
surroundings. Almost 100 such villas have been identified.
- Villa of Papyri in Herculaneum and the Villa of Poppaea at Oplontis are outstanding examples of
maritime villas designed to take advantage of the view and built on a grand scale.
- Urban villas: those closer to town, were large residences, generally with a working farm. More
integrated into the social and political life of the times. On the outskirts of Pompeii were two such villasVilla of the Mysteries (named after a fresco believed to depict Dionysian rites of initiation for women) and
the Villa of Diomedes. Larger than most luxurious houses in town.
- Villa of Mysteries: built in 2nd century BC, renovated 60 BC and again in 1st century AD.
Contained residential quarters overlooking the sea, servants quarters facing the road and an area for wine
production. Provides evidence of the fashion for Hellenistic culture which the Romans admired.
- Villa rusticae/ farmhouses ranged from basic workers shelter to more comfortable houses where
owners lived, e.g. Villa of Pisanella at Regina. More opulent homesteads like the Villa at Boscoreale,
decorated like city houses with frescoes on walls, mosaics on floor. They didnt contain domestic peristyle
of the maritime and urban villas. Internal courtyard was instead occupied by storage vats for olives or win.
- Villa of the Papyri: excavation began in 1735 by Karl Weber. In 1752, a small room was
discovered which was actually an ancient library. 2000 blackened, carbonised papyrus scrolls were found.
This villa provide one of the best examples of the luxurious lifestyle enjoyed by the wealthy citizens.
Deiss on the villa: a low edifice of colonnades of red tiled roofs surrounded by gardens and fountains,
cypress trees and palms... Below was a beach with private docks and boat houses. Was an impressive
portico... marble pool [that] was surrounded by an elaborate mosaic band and eleven statues of satyrs...
- Houses: wealthy had a range of different housing options, most often independent free standing
house with an atrium, first open space entered form the street. Blank exterior walls to keep out noise and
protect privacy, with opulent gardens and courtyards. Focused on natural beauty. Houses in P and H
reflected social status. Inner decor mattered, not so much the exterior. Poor had cramped living conditions,
often single storied, broken up by shopfronts, didnt need magnificent vestibula, tabliuna or atria.
- Building materials: blocks of pale beige Sarnus stone (C3rd BC); limestone, a dark grey Vesuvius
lava stone, yellow and grey tufa, and rubble and brick (C2nd and C1st BC); combination of lava blocks
and grey tufa laid in a lattice pattern (80BC); whatever building materials were available (AD 62)
- First housing style: from 5th century BC onwards; domus or atrium house e.g. Samnite house.
Characterised by the atrium, first open space one entered from the street and was generally considered as
the religious and social centre of the Roman house, it held busts of ancestors and lararium. Members of
senatorial and equestrian classes or local aristocracy owned them. Clients would wait there. Pompeii was
single storied, in Herculaneum often double storied. At the front were often shops rented out. Compluvium
was rectangular hole in the roof to light the interior, impluvium was a large pool sunk into the atrium floor.
- Second housing style: 1st century BC: atrium-peristyle house e.g. House of the Vetti. Centerpiece
of a home at this time was a garden/ courtyard, peristyle gave access to a larger outdoor area like a garden.
Characterised by water channels that link up throughout the space. Dinners were often eaten near this area.
- Third housing style: insulae or apartments/lodging houses e.g. The house of the Trellis. Move to
independent units (Wallace-Hadrill). Possible multi-storied apartments or tenements. Varied from
spacious apartments to tiny cubicles for sleeping if need be. House of the Trellis had open space, wooden
planks as a pergola, water features, statues and high rising structures.
- Fourth housing style: villas e.g. Villa of the Mysteries.
- Shops: residential and commercial areas existed together. Usually located in insulae in Pompeii,
although the main street of the city, the via dell Abbodanza, had a particularly high concentration of them.

- Owners of large houses rented out street-facing rooms as shops, taverns or workshops, often not
connected to rest of the house. Upper storey or part of it was sometimes rented with the shop, as a
residence for the shopkeeper, sometimes ground rooms at the back were too.
- Most were small, with only enough room for one or two people behind a counter. In some, goods
sold were made on premises, in others goods were bought from other local merchants or foreign traders.
- More than 600 shops have been identified in Pompeii, may not have operated at the same time.
- Food shops were plentiful, most common was a thermopolium. Twenty taverns (cuponae) have been
identified in Pompeii, over 130 smaller thermopolia with hot food and drink. Typically, they had one room
opening onto the road with a brick counter into which were sunk the dolia jars containing the goods.
- Herculaneum: not a commercial city, contained many shops. Bakery, thermopolia and taverns. E.g.
in the House of Neptune and Amphitrite Mosaic (the shop in the front of the house). Evidence of mixture
of residential and commercial activity in both towns.
Influence of Greek and Egyptian cultures: art, architecture, religion.
- Greek influence on art: they had occupied the towns early in their history and Romans generally
had a fascination with all things Greek. Frescoes on walls of houses and public buildings are an Italian
practice, but they incorporate Greek elements, e.g. columns and scenes related to Greek mythology and
religion. Statues of Greek gods and heroes, e.g. Apollo and Hercules, many are copies of Greek originals,
like those found in Villa of the Papyri. Frescoes and mosaics feature aspects of Greek drama which had
been absorbed into Roman culture, like masks of comedies and tragedies.
- Egyptian influence on art: once it became part of the Roman Empire, and Egyptian craftsmen
began working in Italy, Egyptian scenes and motifs became very fashionable. Mosaics featured Egyptian
plans and animals, e.g. Nile Mosaic in the House of the Faun. A spectacular Alexander mosaic, from the
same house, was created by Egyptian craftsmen (shows battle of Alexander the Great and Darius III of
Persia). Statuettes and amulets have been found of the Egyptian god Bes, protector of women and children.
Egyptian goddess Isis was very popular in both towns, her and her worship were featured in frescoes and
statuary e.g. in the House of Octavius Quatrio in Pompeii.
- Greek influence on architecture: Temples reflect it, e.g. Temple of Apollo has a peristyle and use
of columns, blended with a high platform and small cella which are Roman in style. Public porticoes and
buildings using columns, e.g. Basilicia used all three Greek column types, Doric, Ionic, Corinthian.The
peristyle structure- a columned portico around an internal courtyard- is also a Greek architectural feature
common in public complexes like baths and palaestra. Theatres also reflect it, compressing major elements
of Greek theatre design in one: theatron, orchestra and skene. The quadriporticus with Doric colonnade,
built adjacent to the theatres was also Greek.
- Egyptian influence on architecture: Temples and shrines built for Egyptian gods.
- Greek influence on religion: evident in older Greek temples featuring Greek deities later adopted
into Romanised form, some retained their Greek names (e.g. Apollo) or were given Roman names but
remained essentially Greek (e.g. Aphrodite to Venus, Dionysus to Bacchus).
- Egyptian influence on religion: Isis, popular among women and sailors, had a large following in
both towns. Dozens of household shrines to Isis have been found in Pompeii, e.g. a shrine to Isis, Seraphis
and Anubis was found in the House of Gilded Cupids. Substantial Temple of isis in Pompeii containing
statues of Isis, Osiris and Horus, also had a banquet fall and small room storing Nile water for purification.
The temple was badly damaged in the earthquake of AD 62 but was fully reconstructed by the eruption.
Religion: temples, household gods, foreign cults, tombs.
- Important part of everyday life for Romans. Proper worship of the gods was believed to ensure
peace, fertility and prosperity. In both towns, a wealth of sources provide evidence for the presence of
religion including temples, public and household shrines, festivals and feasts.

- Also part of politics. Men of leading families held priesthoods as part of their political career.
Women did to, shown by statues and inscriptions of priestesses like Eumachia and Mamia.
- Temples: regarded as homes for gods and goddesses. Comes from the word templum meaning place
for a sacred purpose. They were not social places, each temple was dedicated to a particular god or
goddess and they when to the temple to ask for help with a problem or for the gods favour. Simply built
with a cella (chamber) for the statues of the deity before an alter. To obtain the gods favour, a person
might burn incense, make an offering of money or say prayers. Priests and priestesses of them maintained
the building, received offerings and made appropriate sacrifices to the god.
- In Pompeii: Capitolium (temple of Jupiter) in the Forum, for Jupiter, Juno and Minerva, was the
centre of state religion; Temple of Vespasian on the east side of the forum, centre of emperor worship.
- Household gods: divine spirits called lares protected members of the household, they are depicted
in paintings or as statues as two young men, dancing. Genius, another guardian spirit, ensured the future of
the family line (gens). Each genius stood for the head of the household or paterfamilias. Penates were
spirits of the pantry or food store, statuettes of them were placed on the table at meal times.
- Each house had a shrine, lararium, to these guardian spirits. The paterfamilias was responsible for
leading the household prayers at the lararium and carrying out rituals to ensure protection of the spirit.
Offerings of incense flowers, fruit and special cakes were made at the shrine.
- Lararium: could be an elaborate structure, a small shrine like a cupboard or a painted alcove.
Usually placed in the atrium, near the entry to the house.
- Prayers and offerings were made, usually near the fireplace, to Vesta, goddess of hearth and home.
Portraits of ancestors in statues or wax masks, were kept in the house, included in household rituals and
honoured on important family occasions like births, deaths and marriages.
- Foreign cults: as the empire grew, Romans were exposed to a variety of foreign cults introduced by
traders, soldiers, migrating craftsmen and slaves. Cult of Isis was popular among Pompeiians, at her
Temple there were daily prayers and rituals, throughout the year there were great festivals commemorating
Isis rescue and restoration of Osiris, inscriptions suggest 1/3 of officiating priests of Isis were women.
- Cult of Dionysis: Greek god of fertility and wine, also popular in southern Italy. Rituals involved
drinking and dancing to achieve a state of ecstasy through intoxication. Temple to Dionysis in pompeii, the
Villa of Mysteries has a series of frescoes believed to depict rituals associated with the cult, and related
themes frequently appear in art.
- In both towns, evidence has been uncovered of the cult of Sabazius, god of vegetation from Thrace
and Asia Minor. Objects associated with the cult were uncovered in Pompeii
- Tombs: in Pompeii, they were located outside the city walls, as required by Roman law, as yet none
have been uncovered in Herculaneum. Romans usually cremated their dead, ashes placed in an urn then
placed inside the tomb or buried underground in the sacred enclosure within the tomb. Most tombs
contained multiple burials.
- No distinction of social class in death. Slaves, freedmen and women and prominent citizens were
buried side by side. In some tombs, ashes of slaves were placed in the tombs of their master.
- Varied from small structures with simple inscriptions like Helle, slave-girl lived 4 years to larger
more elaborate structures containing alters, paintings, reliefs and statues. Inscriptions provide details of
family background, occupations and positions held in life.
- Some were public monuments granted by the town council to honour the deceased. E.g. Eumachia
and Mamia, both priestesses, had seat tombs (exedrea) with curved stone seats for visitors. Mamias was
provided by the town council in recognition of her services to the town; Eumachia built her own.
- Each year, dead were remembered during the festival of parentalia when family groups made
offering at the graves (necropolis).

INVESTIGATING, RECONSTRUCTING AND PRESERVING THE PAST.

CHANGING METHODS AND CONTRIBUTIONS OF NINETEENTH AND TWENTIETH
CENTURY ARCHAEOLOGISTS TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF POMPEII AND
HERCULANEUM.

Pompeii has attracted archaeologists for centuries, ever since it was discovered.

- Archaeological site was first discovered in 1549, when an Italian named Domenico Fontana dug a
water channel through Pompeii. The dead city was left entombed.
- Was among the earliest of archaeological excavations, tunnelled into by the bourbon rulers of
Naples and Palermo first beginning 1738. Full scale excavations were begun at pompeii in 1748.
- 18th century archaeologists associated with Pompeii and Herculaneum include Karl Weber whose
methods are likened to smash and grab.
Johann Winkelmann: heavily frustrated by the Royal Family of Naples, questioned the practices of
having items displayed for a very small number of people, and the destruction of material to grab for
riches and special items of worth.
- Archaeology didnt exist in 1758 when Winckelmann made his way from the royal library in
Dresden, Germany to visit the King of Naples museum of statues (perfect expression of beauty),
salvaged from crude digs at both cities 1700 years after the eruption that destroyed them.
- He snuck in, and published an illicit catalogue of the find that took the civilised world by storm,
sparking new interest in, and understanding of, the classical world. If there is on, there is more in
response to a small, but beautiful statue he saw.
- Had to fight to the end of his life for the ideal of scientifically accurate and responsible archaeology.
19th & 20th Century archaeology.
- 1860- 1960, Pompeiian archaeology came under leadership of such men as Guiseppe Fiorelli,
Spinazzola and Mauiri. All served to create more systematic, scientific approach to excavation in Pompeii.
- No longer was it acceptable for archaeologists to focus only on precious objects and beautiful
paintings (treasure hunting.)
Guiseppe Fiorelli.
- became Inspector of Exacavations at Pompeii in 1860 and Superintendent in 1863. Known as a
pioneer of modern archaeology due to the methods he introduced during his excavations.
- Numbering houses: introduced the system for numbering and naming excavated houses and
buildings. Divided Pompeii into nine regions, each containing up to 22 blocks or insular, and numbered the
entrance to each building in each block. Buildings were identified by three numbers: region, block and
entrance. Fiorellis system made it easier for archaeologists to accurately record where objects were found.
He also named streets and city gates.
- Systematic excavation: under Fiorelli, excavations were conducted in a more systematic way.
Removed debris from earlier excavations, approached new excavations according to a plan, rather than
randomly searching for special objects. Carefully and completely uncovered each building within a block
before moving onto the next block.
- Top-down excavation: previously, most buildings were excavated from the side, often resulting in
destruction of walls and other valuable evidence. He introduced top-down excavations, did less damage to
wall structures. Made it possible to identify and record evidence that could be used in restoration.
- Plaster casts: Fiorelli observe cavities in the hardened ash deposit left by decomposed bodies or
objects made from organic material. Poured plaster into the cavities like a mould, when it set and
surrounding ash was chipped away, shape of the body/ object was revealed. Method preserved impressions
of wooden furniture and fittings, and impressions of people and animals who died during the eruption.

- Opened a school of archaeology in Pompeii. By the time he was promoted to the position of
Director General of Antiquities throughout Italy in 1875, 3/5 had been excavated. Those who followed
him, followed his method of systematic nature.
August Mau.
- 1840-1909. German archaeologist Augustus Mau originally worked on inscriptions from Pompeii,
but whose main interest was art and architecture.
- Made a study of the frescoes of Pompeii and classified them into four styles. Structural,
architectural, ornamental, fantastic. Provided date range for each style which aided the dating of buildings.
- Published his work in two important books, The History of Decorative Wall Paintings in Pompeii,
1882; Pompeii in Life and Art, 1903. While there was some overlapping of the four styles and periods,
research has generally supported Maus general classification still in use today.
Vittorio Spinazzola.
- Superintendent of Excavations between 1911 and 1924. Similar to Fiorelli, excavated carefully and
systematically, however, rather than clearing whole blocks, Spinazzola excavated streetscapes to reveal the
external appearance of buildings.
- Excavated considerable length of the main street, via dell Abbondanza (Street of Abundance), and
carefully restored the facades of the buildings, revealing houses, shops and taverns and workshops.
- Used evidence from the remains of buildings and paintings of Roman houses to reconstruct upper
storeys and balconies which had been destroyed during the eruption.
- Used photography to record stages of his excavation. Photographs have provided valuable
information for conservators working to repair 20th century damage to buildings from theft, vandalism,
war, earthquakes and exposure to the elements.
- Criticised: due to focusing on unearthing the frontages only, he had to shore them up to precent
them from collapsing from the weight of the earth behind.
- By the time of his retirement, The towns most important business artery had been cleared over
almost its entire length
Amedeo Maiuri.
- Superintendent of Excavations from 1924 to 1961. Oversaw and extensive program of excavation,
interrupted by WWII when Pompeii was damaged by Allied bombing. Most productive, determined, and
controversial director in the history of excavations.
- Uncovered significant new areas including a number of insular along the via dell Abbondanza, the
amphitheatre and large palaestra. Continued Spinazzolas work.
- Supervised re-opening of excavation at Herculaneum. Discovered House of Bi-centenary in
Herculaneum- towns largest and richest residence.
- Also interested in the Pre-Roman history of the town. Excavated right around the walls of Pompeii
and established the sequence of construction. Also uncovered the cemetery along the southern wall.
- Excavated several large houses like Villa of the Mysteries and estate of Julia Felix.
- Used mechanical equipment to clear away debris from earlier excavations and to assist in areas that
had been considered too hard to excavate. Protected some excavated buildings by erecting roofs above.
- Criticised for his methodology and conclusions. Excavations done too quickly from 1951- 61 with
very little documentation, some excavated buildings were unprotected and unrecorded. Wall paintings in
such buildings faded without ever being recorded. However, Mauiris great enthusiasm for the site and the
important buildings he uncovered, attracted many tourists and made Pompeii well-known internationally.
- Believed the rich and patricians left the city after 62 AD earthquake and retreated to country estates.
To him, Pompeii had been in decline for the last 17 years.
- Wallace-Hadrill said Mauiris model is far too rigid. Conclusions too easily come by.

 Fausto Zevi.

- Superintendent from 1977, halted excavations and concentrated instead on conserving and recording
the buildings that had been uncovered, resulting in around 1800 photographs.
- Earthquake in 1980 damaged the site and drew attention to the urgent need for the protection and
conservation of buildings.
- During this period, supervision was inadequate. Many thefts occurred. Some conservation work was
poorly done with inappropriate tools and materials, eventually causing further damage.
- By this time, Pompeii was deteriorating, natural and human elements were causing destruction.
Pier Giovanni Guzzo.
- Superintendent in 1995. Overseen several important developments.
- Negotiated with the Italian government to keep more of the money earned from tourist admissions,
trebling the annual funds available for the site to $9 million.
- Attracted international teams of experts to conduct investigations and conservation projects.

CHANGING INTERPRETATIONS: IMPACT OF NEW RESEARCH AND TECHNOLOGIES.

International co-operation and recent work from 1980- 2004.

- International co-operation has developed with projects like House of Pompeii and House of the
ancient Hunt excavations.
- Anglo- American project: of region 6 of Pompeii was a full investigation of a complete town
insular in 1994 to increase our understanding of the social and economic life of the urban community.
- Villa of Papyri: at Herculaneum. 1996-1998 rooms cleared and many more objects were found.
Prompted calls for a thorough and definitive excavation of the villa. Possibility of unearthing new scrolls.
- Villa Moregine: discovered in 2000; large structure, outside Pompeiian walls.
To decipher the scrolls at Villa of Papyri, new efforts have been taken.
- computer enhancement of text.
- digital imaging to extract images from the scrolls and uncover text not visible to the human eye.
- pattern image recognition and medical imaging techniques may allow the future deciphering of
scrolls without the need to unroll them.
Sara Bisel.
- Since 1982, closely examined the 139 skeletons from the beachfront of Herculaneum.
- Concluded that: low birth-rate as abortion may have been present; wide diverse genetic inheritance
of this population; evidence for childhood malnutrition and gum disease; widespread lead poisoning due to
its use in everyday objects.
- New technology used for alternative resins inserted into cavities found of bodies and artefacts.
Luigi Carpasso.
- very detailed study of 162 skeletons from Herculaneum was published in 2001. Showed good health
of Pompeiians during bone growth period.
- Human skeletal remains from Herculaneum are in a much better state of preservation than those of
pompeii as they were more carefully excavated and documented.
- People died due to exposure to heat, rather than asphyxiation.
Estelle Lazer.
- since 1986, worked on a sample of 300+ individuals- skeletons from female section of Forum baths.
- Techniques: forensic medicine and physical anthropology were used to determine sex, age-at-death,
height, health and population affinities of the victims- shedding light on many aspects of Pompeian life.
- Use of x-ray technology has been introduced. Used in Australia 1994 to examine Lady of Oplontis
skeleton. Showed new technology could minimise destruction of human remains.

ISSUES OF CONSERVATION AND RECONSTRUCTION: ITALIAN AND INTERNATIONAL

CONTRIBUTIONS AND RESPONSIBILITIES: IMPACT OF TOURISM.

Sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum have been damaged by 200 years of excavation, exposure, poor

restoration work and poor site management.

- Pressures of tourism have also contributed to site damage. More than a million tourists visit Pompeii
each year and almost half visit Herculaneum.
- Today, conservation programs are being undertaken in both sites and management plans are in place
restricting tourist access to some areas to try and reduce some of the damage they cause.
Wallace- Hadrill: In the end, the pivotal point is this. Until we have demonstrated that we can find a
way to manage this incomparable heritage and preserve it for future generations, specifically so at
Herculaneum, we can only add to the existing problem by undertaking new excavation.
Pompeii represents the worlds most important Roman remains, in terms of what it tells us about daily
life - Christopher Young, head of world heritage and international policy at English Heritage.
Guzzo welcomes Unescos involvement, hoping it will spur the Italian government to give Pompeii
more resources, both financial and professional.
Issues of conservation and reconstruction.
- Poor restoration work: much reconstruction work has been done by local firms that lack
specialised knowledge, e.g. timber room at the house of Meleager was poorly designed and collapsed.
Spinazzola covered frescoes and mosaics with glass. This created a moist microclimate that deteriorates
the works.
- Damage from vegetation: weeds have invaded the ruins and are hastening decay by causing
cracking or artefacts. inappropriate restoration methods and a general lack of qualified staff restoration
projects are outsourced and the quality of the work of the contractors is not being assessed. An efficient
drainage system is lacking, leading to water infiltration and excessive moisture that gradually degrades the
structural condition of the buildings as well as their decor. The mission was also concerned by the amount
of plant growth, particularly ivy.- UNESCO Report, 2012.
- Environmental factors: sunlight and ran has caused frescoes to fade, particularly in the last 40
years; roofs have been reconstructed. Earthquakes in 1980 and frequent Earth tremors causes damage to
both excavated and unexcavated ruins. Pigeon droppings are acidic, the birds continually peck at beams
and doors, but contracted falconers have been used to prevent this from occurring. The House of the
Moralist reportedly collapsed because damp soil undermined the foundations. Water has entered the
basement and risen up the walls at the Casa delle Nozze dArgento, and much of the painted plaster of the
poorly covered lararium (household shrine) at the Casa delle Pareti Rosse will not survive the winter
without immediate action. (UNESCO Report, 2012)
- Poor site protection/ management: both sites subject to looting, e.g. the frescoes found elsewhere
in Italy from the House of the Chaste Lovers. Mafia has been an issue in regards to corruption of guards.
Bags are often not checked upon entering and leaving the sites which only promotes theft. There is an
insufficient number of guards to facilitate the large crowds that enter the sites.
- Other issues: stray animals pose a rare threat. Pollution gathered from tourists has become an issue,
people are often not prohibited from eating in the houses and buildings.
Italian and International contributions and responsibilities.
- ITALIAN CONTRIBUTIONS: 1997, Italian government introduced a policy that all admission
fees and tourist revenue would be part of the superintendants budget to put back into the site.
- July 4th, 2008, Italy declared a state of emergence at the ruins of Pompeii to allow authorities to
appoint a special commissioner to oversee the sites preservation and management.
- Venice Charter: Outlines the main principles by which the sites and artefacts should be conserved

and restored.
- INTERNATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS: Anglo-American Project under the guidance of the
Pompeii Trust has made progress in excavating in region VI by employing techniques such as
architectonical 3D surveying and using the services of biologists, graphics experts and painting specialists
to more meticulously excavate and spread the take of conservation and reconstruction.
- Herculaneum Conservation Project is an initiative by the Packard institute and Hadrill to prevent
further damage to the sites. Work involves the consolidation of structures, improving drainage facilities to
prevent water damage and using contracted falconers to address the issue of acidic pigeon droppings and
pecking. Program will be eventually replaced by an ongoing maintenance program.
- 1997, UNESCO declared Pompeii and Herculaneum World Heritage Sites.
- COLLABORATIVE EFFORTS: joint effort between the superintendant, the centre DIAPREM,
the sponsoring from the firm Fassa Bortolo and the American Foundation Kacyra Family has restored
some of the wall paintings of tabernae, e..g Asellinas Theromopolium.
Impact of Tourism.
- NEGATIVE IMPACTS: flash photography is damaging mosaics and frescoes.
- 2.5 million people visit P + H on a regular basis, yet both towns had only about 20000-30000
residents which has caused detrimental effects to both towns. Large areas of Pompeii are not accessible to
visitors owing to the lack of guards, so accessible parts are overvisited and suffer considerably from
visitor erosion, - UNESCO Report, 2012.
- Negative effects on both towns particularly Pompeii has promoted Superintendant Guzzo to declare
a State of Emergency in 2008.
- Charters had been developed, e.g. the Venice Charter to outline the steps in conservation.
- Theft: an issue with frescoes and artefacts. E.g. frescoes have beeb hacked from the walls of the
House of the Chaste Lovers, giving question to another issue of corruption of security.
- Continued human damage of touching of artefacts can cause them to corrode or have fragments
chipped off beyond the point of restoration. House of the Vettii has to be closed off for this reason, some
others are not open at all to the public. The mission found that the most serious vandalism was in houses
that are closed to visitors, because of the derisory effectiveness of efforts to prohibit access. - UNESCO
Report, 2012.
- POSITIVE IMPACTS: increased global awareness of the state of these sites. Famous people like
Charles Dickens and Mark Twain have both visited the sites, documented their experiences which have
been released to the public to gauge the situation at hand. Also, International projects have been
developed, e.g. Anglo American Project, helps to divide conservation into different areas and ensures the
job has been done effectively.
- Tourism has generated revenue for the site, which is returned in the form of conservation. However,
the destruction as a result of tourism often exceeds the revenue gained.

ETHICAL ISSUES: STUDY AND DISPLAY OF HUMAN REMAINS.

Vermillion Accord on Human Remains (1989) and The Tamaki Makau-rau Accord on the Display

of Human Remains and Sacred Objects (2006).

Accords aim to show respect and compassion for the remains whilst trying to continue scientific research.
Insights of diets, demographic patterns can be gained. One can analyse how they have changed over time,
compare life expectancy and predict future population trends.
Scholars: Baxter, De Carolis, Patricelli and Mastrolorenzo. Shown there were differences in the way
victims died depending on where they were at their time of death.
- victims of Vesuvius did not receive cultural funerary rights but were buried by a natural disaster. Is

it still disturbing cultural practices if the individuals beliefs were uncertain? Or if they werent buried by
choice? Or even if it is post-mortem?
Study of remains.
- Fiorelli: introduced a method of pouring plaster into the cavities left by the people and animals,
enabling deductions to be made about the manner of their deaths.
- In order to study finds like skeletal remains, they are often stored in jumbles- uncategorised and not
systematic. In Pompeii, Lazer from USYD studied said skeletal remains. First examined were those from
the House of Menander, where she found some of the skeletons uncovered had in fact been assembled
from a number of different skeletons. She then examined the remains of more than 300 people stored in
Sarno Baths. Using techniques of anthropology and forensic medicine she investigated sex, age, height,
signs of disease and the relationship between the victims.
- She also believes that victims were a good representative sample of the population. Bones showed
that the people of P were healthy and well-nourished, although their teeth were in bad stages of decay and
wear. Evidence suggested people lived well into their 50s or 60s.
- In Herculaneum, initial 130 skeletons found in the boathouses were examined by Sara Bisel in the
1980s. She examined the remains to establish levels of health and socio-economic status, as well as causes
of death. Some of her conclusions were highly speculative, especially those about the identity and
occupations of some individuals.
- A subsequent and more detailed examination of the remains was conducted by an Italian team, led
by Luigi Carpasso, 2000-2002. Skeletons of the victims of H have been preserved due to the nature of the
volcanic deposit which kept them air tight. These skeletons are in better condition than those in Pompeii as
individual skeletons have been kept largely intact and excavation and storage have been more carefully
conducted.
- A spate of crumbling walls and other mishaps at Pompeii, including an episode late this summer
when a supporting beam collapsed at the so-called Villa of Mysteries, has put its preservation problems
under a starkly unflattering spotlight. In 2011 the European Union allocated $135 million over four years
toward the safeguarding of Pompeii, but experts concur that the problems there go beyond a lack of funds
and include issues of management and bureaucratic inertia. - Elisabetta Povoledo.
Display of remains.
- often no warning for visitors about to witness these remains which can create sensitivities for certain
cultures.
- Italian society has a tradition of displaying bodies or body parts of saints and martyrs. In the broader
context, international museums held human remains for research & public display for more than a century.
- Latter part of the 20th C: in response to the demands of indigenous communities, attitudes began
to change and debates centered on whether human remains were of scientific or cultural significance.
- Codes of ethics were developed by museums, universities and archaeologists which showed
sensitivity to community attitudes. Some museums closed exhibitions and returned human remains to the
countries or communities from which they had been removed. This is the context that is raising questions.
- Early excavations: at Pompeii, human remains were regarded as exhibits for important visitors.
Skeletons were assembled (often incorrectly) in tableaux which allegedly depicted the last moments of
the individuals concerned. Reviving history for a modern audience is one of the beautiful things we get to
do, said Mr. Camardo, the lead archaeologist with the Herculaneum Conservation Project.
- Fiorellis plaster casts were considered appropriate for general exhibition. They were displayed in
situ, assembled in groups in new locations or displayed individually in glass cases, e.g. Muleteer.
- International visitors rather than Italians have expressed concern about the way bodies are displayed
and discussions have begun about more sensitive ways of dealing with human remains at the site.

- Human remains at Herculaneum have been treated differently. When the skeletons were discovered
in the brick chambers along the shoreline, they were not displayed to the public. Bones were excavated
and replaced with casts.