The Daily Activities of an Ancient Pompeian and the Communal Areas

Where They Met

There were many activities available in Pompeii which occupied the population, these
ranged from the: baths, shops and forum of Pompeii to the theatre, amphitheatre and
dinner parties, bakeries and fullers; the Pompeians could be seen as having very lavish
lifestyles. On the other hand, it would seem that you would need money to enjoy all the
entertainment available. However, most civilians were either: slaves, aristocracy, civil
servants, shopkeepers and merchants, therefore they would pay for themselves and some
slaves would travel with their masters and mistresses.

The baths originally received a water supply from the river however, there was need for
more water and so pipes were installed. These pipes ran under the streets and to public
fountains, baths and homes of the richest Pompeians. The baths had a central heating plant
and were separated into two sections for men and women, including changing rooms. There
were three types of baths the: Frigidarium, Tepidarium and Calidarium (Figure A). The
frigidarium was a cold bath, the tepidarium was a warm bath and the calidarium was a
steam bath. An advantage of the baths was that all Pompeians could go, as it was free and
people could socialise whilst there, even slaves.

Fig. A
This is a calidarium bath

The shops consisted of a main shopping centre and street-side shops, the main shopping
centre was in the forum, this was the most profitable area for shops as it was the centre of
government, business and law. On the west side of the forum was the basilica this was a
mixture of stock exchange and law courts, under the colonnade there was a variety of small
stalls, run by subordinate traders. In the northern area of the forum there would have been
a fish market in the centre and other stalls surrounding it. There were not only shops in the
forum; in Pompeii almost all streets have a collection of shops. Places where people would
assemble frequently are popular areas for shops, such as at the baths the outer surface was
given to shops.

Food shops and markets had stone counters with huge ceramic pots deposited in them,
within these pots grain, dried fruit and liquids would be stored. Meat and poultry were hung
from a bar in the entry. The storage of food in shops seems very unhygienic as rodents could
very easily contaminate food by getting into the pots and insects could contaminate the
meat and food inside pots easily. Shops had open doorway during the day and when the
shop was closed a long shutter was pulled across the shop and held in place with two planks
of wood, this locked the door and prevented theft.

A map of the forum

(A) Three Municipal Buildings

(B) Basilica
(C) The Temple of Apollo
(D) Grain Market and Warehouse
(E) Honorary Arches Dedicated to Drusus and
Tiberius or to Germanicus
(F) Temple of Jupiter
(G) Food Market
(H) Sanctuary of the Lares Publici
(I) Temple of Vespasian
(J) Building of Eumachia (possibly served as a wool market)
(K) Comitium

The theatres were not as commonly visited as the amphitheatre because people generally
preferred the bloodshed and violence. Nonetheless, the theatre was highly commended and
still had good comments from the graffiti and there were many mosaics of the theatre
(Figure B).

Fig. B
A mosaic of the theatre showing some masks, the one on
the left would be for comedies and the one on the right
for tragedies.

There was a large open air theatre that held 5,000 people
and a smaller roofed one that held 1,200 people, this was used for concerts and recitals;
they were both near the Stabian Gate. The larger one was built into a hillside, the seats
were like large steps, the four wide ledges nearest the front, ima cavea were for the
orchestra; the seating was arranged tiered like this so every member of the audience could
see. Furthermore, it set a hierarchy of most important to least important, with more
important people at the front. Occasionally during the intermissions scented water was
sprinkled on the audience, to cool them down and perhaps to overpower any lingering
bodily odours.

The amphitheatre was at the east end of the town, they were designed exclusively to
display killings. The amphitheatre was divided into three sections: the ima cavea, fove rows
of seats was nearest the arena. The media cavea, twelve rows was in the middle and the
summa cavea, eighteen rows was at the top, it could accommodate 20,000 people (Figure
C).

Fig. C

The amphitheatre in Pompeii

There were two main means of access one at the north end and another at the south end, a
narrow path was on the west side by the death gate; where the dead were hauled out.
Frequently, riots broke out in the arena within the spectators this was usually due to citizens
from other towns visiting, very similar to football and other arguments over sport. The
consequences of riots could lead to the closure of the amphitheatre. The life of a gladiator
was short-lived and their life expectancy would be measured in weeks not years, a gladiator
was usually a slave or criminal. However, the life of a gladiator could improve, if a gladiator
managed to last in the arena long enough his life could improve hugely. After having spent a
long enough time in the arena, a gladiator would gain vital experience enabling him to
defeat any opponent. Admired gladiators would be idolized and adulated therefore, the
crowd would not allow him to be killed. Eventually, he would gain his release from the
arena. Fortunately, there is no such game today although we do have wrestling and boxing
which can be very aggressive but no one ever dies.

The games at the stadium commenced with the procession of the gladiators and then there
would be a series of mock fights to excite the audience. The gladiators entered the arena
two at a time, during the fights an orchestra would be playing and spectators would shriek
their support. Once a gladiator had been severely wounded, in theory the organiser of the
games decided upon his fate. However, in reality the crowd decided on the basis of whether
he fought well or not, if not the winner would finish the job (Figure D). An administrator
dressed as Charun the Etruscan demon of the underworld would club the defeated one to
ensure he was dead and then drag him through the death gate, nowadays this would be
seen as cruel and insensitive.
 Fig. D
This mosaic is showing a typical scene when one
gladiator has died and another is victorious.

Dinner parties were as common as they were then as they are now, the dining rooms were
actually quite small and only had space for three couches and a table. The slaves would have
had to serve from the doorway. Due to the petite size of the dining rooms and the constant
free flow of wine, the dinner parties would have been very intimate and prone to rowdiness.
Therefore, a strict code of conduct was expected when attending a dinner party, these rules
were painted on the wall of the dining room and they were: a slave must wash and dry the
feet of the guests, do not look at another man’s wife and restrain yourself from being rude
or offensive. This aspect of dinner parties is unheard of today and seems rather unusual
because you expect to feel comfortable in another person’s home as opposed to following a
set of rules. Nonetheless, it is not completely absurd as in your own home you wouldn’t
want people to behave rudely and disrespectfully.

Bakeries were very large and contained mills of grey lava turned by donkeys, the donkeys
may be blindfolded to prevent dizziness; some issues with using donkeys is they may get
tired and what would’ve happened to any excretion. There would be a kneading room in
which dough was prepared, which was then put in the oven; these ovens were huge and
one oven was found with 81 loaves inside. Pompeian ovens would be very similar to pizza
ovens, using wood and shavings and a long handled spatula to pick out the loaves. Any
smoke would be release in a chimney. Pompeian bread was typically flat and circular in
shape, whereas, nowadays we have many different types of bread from different countries
for example French croissants German sourdough and rye bread.

Fulling was the finishing of manufactured cloth, the process was very complex, this is the
procedure: firstly the cloth was checked for any flaws, then soaked in urine to stiffen it; the
urine was collected in a pot outside and people were asked to use it. The stiffened cloth was
washed with fullers earth or other cleaning agents to remove grease and then trodden in
basins. The fabric was then taken to be stretched and beaten to give it a smooth, even
surface before re-washing. The material was then combed, clipped, trimmed and taken to
the roof and laid over wooden cages. Sulphur and brimstone were burned to bleach the
cloth and finally the cloth was flattened.
 Bibliography

 http://www.allabouthistory.org/ancient-pompeii.htm
 http://www.ancientworlds.net/aw/Places/Place/324470
 http://mr_sedivy.tripod.com/pompeii_6.html
 http://www.emich.edu/abroad/staff/Benita/Pompeii.html
 Pompeii by Peter Connolly