Pompeii Study

DP: 1
a. Geographical features and natural features of Campania
b. The eruption of 79AD and its impact on Pompeii and Herculaneum
c. Early discoveries and the changing nature of excavations in the 19 th and 20th
centuries
d. Representations of Pompeii and Herculaneum over time

DP: 2
a. The economy: role of the forum, trade, commerce, industries, occupations
b. The social structure: men, women, freedmen, slaves
c. Local political life: decuriones, magistrates, comitium
d. Everyday life: housing, leisure activities, food and dining, clothing, health, baths,
water supply and sanitation
e. Religion: household gods, temples, foreign cults and religions, tombs
f. The influence of Greek and Egyptian cultures: art and architecture

DP: 3
a. Changing interpretations: impact of new research and technologies
b. Issues of conservation and reconstruction: Italian and international contributions
and responsibilities
c. Ethical issues: excavation and conservation, study and display of human remains
d. Value and impact of tourism: problems and solutions

Sources and Examples for Exam

https://dc.edu.au/ancient-history-pompeii-herculaneum/
DP 1: Survey

a) Geographical setting and natural features of Campania

 Coastal region, access to sea, good for trade, use of resources from the sea
 Volcanic proximity provided fertile soil
 Ideal for growing grapes
 Water from River Sarno
 Ideal resort towns
 Sources: written sources, frescoes, agricultural evidence including livestock and
plants, sewer systems

b) The eruption of AD79 and its impact on Pompeii and Herculaneum

Best Evidence

 Stratigraphy – layers in the ground

Mount Vesuvius

 Erupted in 1631, killing 4000 people, and during the restoration after the eruption,
they discovered Pompeii and Herculaneum ruins

Pliny the Younger

 Wrote a first-person account of the eruption

 Detailed the voyage of his uncle Pliny the Elder
 Watched the eruption from Misenum
 Leaves Misenum with his mother
 Said that tremors were common in the area
 Only eyewitness of the event to have survived

Effect on Rome

 Pompeii and Rome had a history of being at odds (Social War of 90BCE), eruption
stops any further conflicts and takes out one of Rome’s adversaries
 Roman control of Pompeii was limited, allowed to keep language and culture but did
not have status as Roman citizens
 Social War of March 90BCE
o Pompeii joins with other Samnite towns in Italy in uprising
o Demands full Roman citizenship and rights
o Roman army (more experienced) overtook Pompeiians
o Pompeii loses virtually all its independence
c) early discoveries and the changing nature of excavations in the 19th and 20th centuries

 Discoveries of bits and pieces were taken and used to decorate homes

Early Excavators

Name Year(s) Description

Charles VII and Rocque
Joachim de Alcubierre
Karl Weber
1734 Began excavations at
Herculaneum
Dug 20 meters down into
the volcanic rubble
Worked by the light of
torches, sometimes would
go out and risked
suffocation
Dug through house walls
and destroyed artifacts
Best of the artifacts were set
aside for the king’s
collection
Common artifacts destroyed
and holes filled back in
Rocque Joachim “knew as
much of antiquities as the
moon does of lobsters” –
Winckelmann (1771), art
historian
Attempted to dig up Pompeii
but found it too difficult and
returned to Herculaneum
1750 Appointed by Charles VII
Believed that the site should
be excavated systematically
and document
Discovered the Villa of
Papyri in Herculaneum
(1800 carbonized scrolls)

Fiorelli

 Divided Pompeii into 9 regions

 Numbered insulae and buildings
 Precise locating of finds
 Helps give a better overall picture
 Worked methodically, top down, room by room, one building at a time
 Systematic, prevented collapse
  Better timeline of artifacts, less destruction of the site
 Published findings
 Allows other historians to access finds
 Increased academic debate, permanent records, increased study
 Went from treasure hunting to academic excavation

Spinazzola

 Excavated half Via dell’Abbondanza

 Reconstructed streetscape and facades of buildings
 Gave visitors a “snapshot” of Pompeian street
 Looks with no substance, multiple collapses from unexcavated interiors
 Reconstructed upper stories
 Often incorrect, radically altered our concepts of streetscape

Maiuri (1924-1961)

 Brought Pompeii to life

 Increased public interest
 Extensive excavations
 Much of which fell into decay
 Revealed Villa of Mysteries
 Instantly famous
 Studied a stratigraphic section
 Revealed layers of deposit of eruption
 Studied pre-Roman occupation
 Was responsible for Herculaneum

Guzzo (1995 +)

 Negotiated keeping funds from site to $9 million

 Site maintenance is costly, helps fund various projects
 Attracted international teams of experts to conduct investigations and
conservation projects
 More scholarly research, spread the cost of conservation, also give other
countries much needed fieldwork

Fausto Zevi (1977 +)

  Halted excavations, concentrated on conservation
 No new discoveries, safeguarding both excavated and unexcavated
areas for future study and enjoyment
 Photographed site, over 1800 pics
 Permanent record
 Identified poor security and incorrect conservation
 Prevent theft and repair poor

August Mau

 Published typology of 4 painting styles

 Chronological dating of decorations
 Problematic, too subjective
 Works well with styles 1 & 2
 Breaks down on styles 3 & 4
 Also published work on principal buildings
 Was instrumental in creating an atmosphere of international study

d) changing representations of Pompeii and Herculaneum over time

Name Year(s) Description

Jakob Phillipp Hackert 1799 Official royal painter of
Naples
Painted ruins of Pompeii
with romantic surroundings
Romanticism period
Highlighted the idyllic parts
of the view, probably not a
completely accurate picture
of the time
Francois Mazois 1812 Architect/artist
454 paintings
The Ruins of Pompeii
Attempts to document his
observations overshadowed
by his romantic style
 Early excavations in Pompeii and Herculaneum were hijacked by looters, treasure
hunters and those with no real knowledge or interest in preserving the past. One of the
earliest excavators at Herculaneum, Rocque Joachim, is the perfect example of the
destruction caused by the ignorance of these excavations. Appointed by Charles VII of
Naples, his only aim was to bring treasure for his king and therefore disregarded any artifacts
that were common in nature and wouldn’t please the king. His methods were also
questionable. His workmen often worked in darkness due to torches going out and risked
suffocation in the tunnels they dug. Johann Winkelmann described Joachim as “[knowing] as
much of antiquities as the moon knows of lobsters.” In Source A, it is clear that
Winckelmann is critical of the early methods used by excavators in Pompeii and
Herculaneum. His mention of how the brass letters “were torn from the walls, without first
taking a copy of them and then [threw them] pell mell into a basket” shows the careless
nature in which early excavators handled artifacts and the lack of documentation that they
provided. This is further solidified in Source B in which Goethe states that the site was
“casually ransacked as if by brigands.” Goethe takes a similar stance to Winckelmann in that
he is extremely critical of the methods used by these excavators. His lamentation of the loss
of many artifacts that were destroyed in the reckless process of these excavations shows how
incompetent men like Joachim really were.

 Tells us more about time period than Pompeii

DP 2: Investigating and interpreting the sources for Pompeii and Herculaneum

a) the economy: role of the forum, trade, commerce, industries, occupations

Herculaneum Pompeii

 slower paced resort town  bustling center of commerce

 fishing  600 or so excavated private shops,
 craftsmen bars, inns
 after earthquake in AD62, increased  Markets around the forum
demand for bricks  20 or so maritime warehouses
 prostitution, but little evidence of  Paintings of cargo vessels on the
brothels Sarno river
 Images of Mercury – god of
commerce
 Wine and oil an integral part of
society
 Agriculture the most respectable
way of earning a living
 Land ownership translating to status
 Pottery industry spawning from the
need to store goods (foods and
wines)
 Wealthy owned vineyards because
of long wait between profits
 Estates not maintained by owners
rather by hired help and trusted
dependents
 Had rooms for pressing grapes
(torcularia) and fermentation
(cellae vinariae)
 Massive capacities, thousands of
liters
 Several different varieties of wines
 Olive oils produced in same places
as wines
 Produced garum (fish sauce used as
condiment in Roman cuisine)
 Fishermen sold their catches in the
markets around the Forum, but
some garum makers sourced their
fish more directly
 Foul stench of garum meant that it
was probably manufactured outside
the city walls
 Salt plants
 Wool was important
 Dyeing of wool, washing and
 creation of fabric and cloth
 Cloth manufacture took place at an
officina (workshop) and sold to cloth
merchants
 Fulleries or laundries were
businesses (Fullery of
Stephanopoulos)
 Bakeries produced different sorts of
breads
 Bread is hard and deteriorates
quickly
 Most bakeries sold their products to
different shops, few had adjoining
shops to sell their own bread
 Carpenters
 Plumbers
 Wheelwrights
 Tanners
 Tinkers
 Ironmongers
 Goldsmiths and silversmiths
 Marble workers
 Stone masons
 Gem cutters
 Glass makers
 Prostitution, 26 brothels found
 Emeralds found in Oplontis cave
not native to Pompeii, suggests
trade with Egypt

 Wine, olive oil, wool, fulleries, prostitution, blacksmiths, smiths, gem cutters,
tanners, tinkers
 Forum:
http://ermakvagus.com/Europe/Italy/Pompeii/pompeii_forum.html
Commercial: food markets,
Religious: worship of Jupiter included shrine to the
(Zeus), Juno (Hera) and Imperial family
Minerva (Athena)
Religious:
sanctuary for Lares
(household gods
and city-wide
gods) and deified
emperor Augustus

Religious: debated use,

Religious: used for some believe it’s
worship of Apollo dedicated to Genius
(family protector) of
Octavian Augustus, cult of
Vespasian

Commercial: dedicated to
rich and influential
priestess, Eumachia,
trading fabrics and linens,
Political: “court”, warehouse for fabrics and
used for civil justice, linens
commercial life in
Pompeii, business and Political: used for
financial deals People’s Assembly
Political: offices for and town meetings
aediles in the west,
center offices were for
the council, east wing
was for the duumvirs
b) the social structure: men, women, freedmen, slaves

 Diverse mix of cultures

 Relatively healthy, but some indications of age related and dental diseases
 There were fluid relationships between freeborn, freed slaves and slaves
 Freed slaves could become very wealthy
 Women were an active part of society – economic, political and religious (could not
vote)
 Julia Felix, Eumachia and Mamia were three prominent female figures

c)local political life: decuriones, magistrates, comitium

 Political system modelled on Republican Rome

 Democratic election

Magistrates Councilors
  Elected for a period  Made up of freeborn
of one year males
 Commanded a  Reputable character
council of men who  Respectable jobs
had all previously (not actors,
been magistrates executioners or
gladiators)
 Privileges: best seats
in theaters and
Amphitheater
 Had to live in the
town or
surroundings
 Unknown minimum
land requirement
 Life appointment
 Controlled finance
and religion
 Control of Forum
and streets of tombs
(granted honorific
tombs to major
benefactors)
 Supervised building
public buildings
 Implemented
standard weights
and measures

Aediles Duumvirs

 Two aediles appointed in election  Two duumvirs appointed in election

each year, started term in office on
July 1
 Began term alongside magistrates
 “Junior magistrates”
 “Duumvirs in charge of streets,
sacred and public buildings”
each year, started term in office on
July 1
 Began term alongside magistrates
 “Senior magistrates”
 Position of aedile was prerequisite
 Oversaw the council and
implemented decrees passed by the
council
 Pompeiian Governmental Structure

Executive Branch Legislative Branch (decuriones)

Quattuorviri: City council:

- Two duumvirs - 100 members (decurions)

o Electoral rolls o Ex-magistrates
o Civil and criminal o Influential
cases o Elite
o Became the - Freeborn citizens
quinquennial o Not actors or
every five years innkeepers
to conduct - Life-long position
census o Came available
- Two aediles after death or
o Sacred and disgrace of former
public buildings holder
o Roads and - Advised the Quattuorviri
sewerage
o Markets
o Public order
o Sponsored
theater and
spectacles
 People’s Assembly Priesthood

- Used for the election of - Integral to political life

magistrates - Expected to use own
- City divided into voting funds to maintain
precincts imperial cults
- Could vote individually or o Therefore, had to
as part of a group (guild) be rich
- Both wealthy freeborn
and freedmen eligible
- Many magistrates were
part of this group

d) everyday life: housing, leisure activities, food and dining, clothing, health, baths,
water supply, sanitation

Housing
Wallace-Hadrill has identified four general types of houses:

Type I: one or two roomed houses, used as both residence and shop or workshop.

Type II: from two to seven rooms, with larger workshops and living areas.

Type III: the average Pompeian residence of between eight and thirteen rooms with a
combination of public and private spaces.

Type IV: the largest houses, designed for entertaining. They may have been created from a
number of smaller houses remodeled to make a singly building. They included quarters for a
number of slaves.
 Latin Term Definition
fauces the entrance corridor
vestibulum entrance hall
atrium Reception room, generally with
compluvium and impluvium
compluvium opening in the roof which allowed light and
rainwater into the atrium
impluvium shallow pool which collected rainwater
from the compluvium
tablinum room off the atrium, used for receiving
clients and conducting business
peristyle colonnade or covered walkway around a
courtyard or garden
cubiculum a small windowless bedroom
triclinium a dining room with space for three long
couches around a serving table
lararium family shrine of the lares, the spirits of the
entry of houses

Limitations of architectural evidence

 Difficult to determine function of houses

 Size of house doesn’t necessarily line up with status
 Difficult to determine if the house was occupied by one family or several

Townhouses

 Wallace-Hadrill (ancient historian at Cambridge) – “interlocking jigsaw of large,

medium and small houses” (on first impressions of Pompeii
 Flimsy houses suggest boom in population (e.g. House of Trellis)
 Exterior – not indicative of status or wealth, open out into raised streets, bland and
not decorated, wooden doors
 Vitruvius (Roman author, “De architectura”) – “buildings having magnificent
interiors [should also have] elegant entrance courts to correspond: for there will be
no propriety in the spectacle of an elegant interior approached by a low, mean
entrance.” (fauces and vestibulum)
 Earliest houses have no compluvium (opening in roof), shows progression and
evolution of Roman architecture.
 Peristyles – favored way of bringing light into house, some grander houses had more
than one (House of Citharist – three)

Leisure Activities
  Athletics
o Palestra (adjacent amphitheater)
 Drinking
 Gambling
 Spectator sports
 Blood sport, gladiators and hunts
o Numerous inscriptions announcing blood sport events:
 “the gladiatorial troupe of Certus, aedile, will fight at Pompeii on 31
May. There will be a hunt and awnings.”
 “Good fortune to Gnaeus Alleius Maius, the leading games-giver.”
 Music
 Theater
 Executions

Food and Dining

 Food and Dining

o Cereal: barley, millet, wheat
o Pulses: peas, beans, lentils
o Meat: goat, sheep, cattle, poultry, game birds
o Seafood: fish, scallops cockles, lobster, cuttlefish, garum
o Nuts and Seeds: walnuts, almonds, chestnuts, poppyseeds
o Vegetables: cabbage, onion, garlic, lettuces, asparagus, cucumber, leek,
radish, turnips
o Fruit: figs, prunes, dates, pears, peaches, apples, cherries, olives, grapes,
pomegranates

Clothing
Very little actual clothing survives, and although there is plenty of visual representation in
frescoes – there is an issue with reliability;
 Only the upper classes commissioned works of art
 Individuals posed, and so they most likely dressed up – the painting is idealized
 Very little day to day life
 Doesn’t account for style changes

What we do know is;

 Most males wore a knee-length tunic made from wool, worn with a belt
 Only citizens were allowed to wear a toga
 Women, both freed and freeborn, wore full length tunics (tunica). But married
women wore a stola, a sleeveless tunic suspended from the shoulders by short
straps
 Many women wore a palla, a long cloak, when they went outdoors.
Health

o Evidence of dental problems and age-related diseases

o Not a good idea to go into the baths with open wound because of gangrene
risk
o Twins found in cellar at Oplontis show signs of Syphilis, which supposedly
wasn’t introduced to Europe until Columbus

Baths

o Social occasion
o Wellbeing of body and spirit
o Archaeologists have discovered four in Pompeii
 Stabian (oldest)
 Forum
 Central (under construction during the eruption)
 Sarno

o Archaeologists have discovered two in Herculaneum

 Suburban (best preserved of either city)
 Forum
o Different sections or hours for men and women
 o Layout:
 Vestibule: often an exercise yard
 Apodyterium: changing rooms
 Frigidarium: one circular cold bath
 Tepidarium: transition room so people’s bodies could adjust to
temperature changes, sometimes accompanied by laconicum (sweat
room heated by brazier)
 Caldarium: hot room with alverus (hot, rectangular bath, capacity
approx. 10) and labrum (cold, circular bath for washing

o Suburban Bathhouse
 Supposedly financed by Marcius Nonius Balbus
 Elegant
 Faced sea
 Vestibule: four red columns, fountain, bust of Apollo
 Back room for sex
o Lively places
o Open nights as well as day
o Snacks, stroll, reading
o Sexual activities

Water Supply and Sanitation

 Aqueducts – covered to keep water pure

 Utilized the arch
 Running water
 Castellum Aquae – water tower, at the high point of Pompeii with three holes that
emptied into three tanks
o Private homes
o Public baths
o Public water fountains
e) religion: household gods, temples, foreign cults and religions, tombs

 Religion was essentially a political affiliation

Capitoline Triad

 Juno (Hera)
 Jupiter (Zeus)
 Minerva (Athena)
 Games held in their honor on the first day of September
 Temple based off a similar one in Rome, represents Rome’s power in Pompeii

Hercules, Apollo, Venus and Mercury

 Hercules
o Greek Herakles
o Regarded as the founder of Herculaneum
o Popular with sailors and traders because of his journeys
o Images and statues of him in Pompeii (statuette in Temple of Isis)
o Statue in the peristyle (walkway around the courtyard) of House of the Deer
 Apollo
o Emerged in the 6th century BCE
o Temple rebuilt in Hellenistic style in the 2nd century BCE
o Augustus accepted Apollo as his patron god
o Nero embraced him as god of music
 Venus
o Believed to have been born in the waters and is therefore often depicted
nude in a seashell surrounded by water nymphs
o Sailors sought her protection
o Patron goddess of Pompeii
o Worshipped by people of all classes
o Urged through graffiti to endorse and sabotage political candidates – political
presence
o Blamed for misfortune
 Mercury
o God of commerce
o Messenger god

Imperial Cult

 Cult of the emperor’s genius (household god)

 Set up by Augustus
 21 part time priests called Augustales (connects to politics)
 Temple of the Genius of Augustus also known as Temple of Vespasian
Public Ritual

 Sacrificial banquet
 Sacrifice animals
 Rigid ritual with no deviation

Mystery Cults

 Cult of Isis
o Temple of Isis
o Shows strong trade links between Pompeii and Egypt
o Possibly could have been introduced through prostitutes (who were usually
foreign slaves)
o Inscriptions indicate one third of worshippers were women
o Julia Felix was one of the worshippers
o Chapel dedicated to Isis, Serapis and Anubis – House of the Gilded Cupids
o Two daily services
o Isis – happiness, salvation and consolation from suffering
o High-quality wall paintings provide evidence
 Dionysus
o God of wine and fertility
o Later became cult of Bacchus
o Originated as women only but Annia Paculla (priestess) admitted men
o Celebration of rites five times a month
o Spread quickly
o Wine and feasts were part of celebrations
o Committed debaucheries while under the influence of alcohol
o Secretive nature worried Roman senate because of potential political
conspiracy
o Suppressed in Rome and continued to flourish in Pompeii and Herculaneum
o Light-hearted
o Paintings in the Villa of Mysteries depict rituals of this cult

Household Guardians Description

Lares Protector of the household, protector of
farms and boundaries, depicted as two
dancing youths, lararium
Penates Store of food, reside in the recesses of the
house
Genius Force or spirit of the head of the house
Vesta Goddess of hearths and altars, prayers and
sacrifices addressed to her
Bacchus and Mercury God of money and patron of commerce
Agathodaemon Snake wrapped around the altar to protect
the hearth and bring fertility
 Death and Burial

 Most, aside from those within mystery cults, had no clear concept of life after death
 Tombs lined the streets leading to the city gates

Herculaneum has shops

and villas interspersed
with tombs

Two most impressive 8 necropolises

outside the Nucerian and outside the city gates
Herculaneum gates

Those without families Paterfamilias responsible for

belonged to “funeral seeing to the proper burial of
clubs”, paid a fee while everyone in his family
alive and ensured they Necropolises including slaves and
would be cremated freedmen

Family tombs

Most people were

cremated by 1st
century CE

Kept in glass or
terracotta urns
 Public Private
Temple of Apollo The Lares (household god) was kept in a
Lararium and prayed to and made sacrifices
to in the home
Temple of Isis There might also be paintings of the main
gods in the home
Temple of Capitoline Triad (aka Temple of Jews have their personal shrines
Jupiter)
Temple of Vespasian Egyptians had their personal gods
Temple of the Lares It is believed there was some Christianity
(questionable).
Temple of Venus Tombs were a public display of private
interment, and wealth
Temple of Asclepius Many foreign cults were only celebrated in
 the home, i.e. The Dionysiac Rituals (House
of the Mysteries), also cults of Herakles and
Isis
Temple of Fortuna Augusta

(Herakles/Hercules was the patron of both Pompeii and (especially) Herculaneum, found in
Herculaneum: libation bowl, devotional lamp, sacred oil container, statues all suggest cult of
Hercules.)

Pompeian Temples

Roman Temples

 Temple of the Capitoline Triad (aka Temple of Jupiter)

 Temple of Vespasian
 Temple of the Lares
 Temple of Venus
 Temple of Fortuna Augusta

Greek Temples

 Temple of Apollo
 Temple of Asclepius

Egyptian Temples

 Temple of Isis

Other religions

 Judaic adherents
 Various cults from Mesopotamia
 Cult of Dionysus
 Cult of Herakles
f) the influence of Greek and Egyptian cultures: art and architecture

Greek

House of Vettii:

Doric Ionic Corinthian

Picture Description

N/A

“The punishment of Ixion”

House of Vettii
 “The sacrifice of Iphigenia”
(Trojan War)

Picture Description

“The Nile Mosaic”

“The Alexander Mosaic”
House of the Faun
House of the Faun

“Isis (left) welcoming Io (right)”

Peristyle in theofHouse
Temple Isis of Vettii

 Found in frescoes, statues, architecture

 “Sound mind, sound body” attitude comes from the Greeks
 Herculaneum named after Hercules
 House of the Faun – Greek tragic masks with curly wigs, depictions of Greek theater
 Greek architect Hippodamus created the grid structure for the city of Pompeii

Egyptian
 Temple of Isis was one to be reconstructed after the earthquake of AD62, suggesting
its significance and importance in Pompeii
DP 3: Reconstructing and conserving the past

a) changing interpretations: the impact of new research and technologies

General Health (connects to DP:2, everyday life)

 Health is a combination of genetic and environmental factors

 Health and nutrition can be identified by the growth of bones
 Can draw conclusions about diet and lifestyle of an individual through CT scan, DNA
and coprolite analysis

Pathology (disease) (connects to DP:2, everyday life)

 Analysis of bones (and soft tissue where available) affords the identification of such
diseases as: porotic hyprostis, HFI (Hyperostosis frontalis interna), Brucellosis,
Tuberculosis, Respitory disease and lice infection
 Draw conclusions on the health of an individual and of a population as a whole
 Soft tissue is extremely rare P&H, and bone analysis is dependent on the sample and
not all diseases make into the bone until last stages

Cause of Death

 PLASTER CASTS
o Preserved impressions of soft tissue
o Some positioning reveals manner of death
o Peter Baxter studied 41 casts, 50% displayed the pugilist pose – exposed to
very high temps at death or soon after (Muscular contraction is a result of
heat on protein) 200-250C
o Cadavic spasm = total muscle contraction caused by thermal coagulation,
accounts for the unusual positioning of some of the bodies
 SKELETONS
o Have no soft tissue which is what makes scientific analysis next to impossible
o They do display the same poses as plaster casts, by do NOT maintain that
pose once excavated

DNA

 Can reveal the relationship between individuals and groups, info about sex, inherited
diseases etc.
 Less than 2% of the DNA that can be found in fresh bones is extractable from ancient
skeletons
 Development of polymerase chain reaction technique has enabled minute quantities
of DNA to be amplified for study
 High temperature the bodies were exposed to destroyed much of the genetic
material
 Example
Italian Central Institute for Cataloguing and
Documentation (1970)
The Houses in Pompeii Project (1978 –
1986)
The Via dell’Abbondanza Project (2004)
The Herculaneum Conservation Project
(2000)
Description
 18000 photos of painted walls and
mosaic floors
 Only 20% of everything that had
been revealed
 Documented before 1980
earthquake that destroyed many
buildings
 German Archaeological Institute
 Salvage and investigate
architectural finds
 Recorded two houses: House of the
Ancient Hunt and House of Colored
Capitals
 New state of the art technology –
surveying, photographic and
computer
 Archaeological Superintendency of
Pompeii
 Created photomosaic of 900-meter
street (Via dell’Abbondanza)
 Useful digital resource for future
 Packard Humanities Institute
 Aim to halt the decay of
Herculaneum
 Solved groundwater problems by
restoring ancient underground
sewer systems
 House of Relief of Telephus had a
previously unknown floor, which
they discovered
b) issues of conservation and reconstruction: Italian and international contributions
and responsibilities

Four basic issues:

 Natural threats
o Sun bleaching
o Rain
o Damp
o Algae
o Lichens
 Human threats
o Trampling
o Graffiti
o Rubbish
 Museum displays
o National Archeological Museum in Naples is “inadequate” - Deiss
 Failed conservation

http://www.pompeii-sustainable-preservation-project.org/?lng=en

International Efforts

Italian Efforts

https://whc.unesco.org/en/news/818
 c) ethical issues: excavation and conservation, study and display of human remains

THREE POINTS OF VIEW

Past Romans Present Italians Viewer

 Scientists,
 Consider their archaeologists,  Is it educational
rituals historians or immoral?
surrounding  Lack of outcry can  How will they feel
death be seen as upon learning the
 How would they acceptance of horrors of
feel about their current practices Pompeii’s
remains being  Long held downfall?
used for scientific tradition of  Do they soil it by
research? displaying bodies, denying these
 How does their especially in people the rites of
religion tie in? Christian sense their culture?

It has been accepted in scientific circles to collect and study human remains, especially in the 19th and 20th
Centuries. Museums have extensive collection and displays of bodies, skeletons, skulls etc. in various
stages of preservation.

Keeping remains HAS come under scrutiny, often from indigenous groups seeking repatriation of the
bones of their ancestors. (A case in particular is indigenous Australians, wanting the bones of their
ancestors back from the British and Ashmolean Museums for proper burial. In a rare case, their cultural
artefacts and skeletal remains were returned to the Aboriginal community)

The assembling or positioning of human remains for dramatic effect, a common practice during early
Pompeian excavations, is not acceptable today.

Over the past 50 years attitudes have changed as cultural sensitivity about the display of human remains
varies from community to community.

The Italian view is that there is a long tradition of displaying the bodies and body parts of dead saints,
bishops and priests in religious context, such as a church. Therefore, their beliefs will be at odds with
other communities.
 The International Council of Museums (ICOM founded 1947 and which works closely with UNESCO)
hasn’t banned the display of human remains, but rather it encourages sensitivity to community reactions.

The plaster casts in Pompeii give us valuable information about the general health of the population, and
also reveal information about the circumstances of their deaths, which has contributed to our
understanding of what happened. But what then should happen to the body within?

Archeologists believe that it is important to dig NOW before the site is lost to decay and seismic activity,
however there are wealthy landowners that do not wish to give up their land for the sake of Pompeii’s
excavation and conservation.

d) value and impact of tourism: problems and solutions

Awareness
Money

Interest

Broken curbstones, worn

roads Numbers contribute to wear and

tear of the site

Theft

Rubbish
Vandalism
Possible Solutions:

 Blocking off sections of the site

 Channeling tourist money into conservation projects
 Using technology, cameras, to police theft, vandalism and breakage

Sources and Examples for Exam

The eruption:

Example Description
Pliny the Younger First-person account of the eruption

Changing nature:

Example Description
Rocque Joachim Dangerous working conditions
Stolen artifacts
Destroyed buildings
“knew as much about antiquities as
moon does of lobsters” - Winkelmann
Karl Weber Systematic approach
Discovered Villa of Papyri
(thousands of scrolls)

Changing representations:

Example Description
Jakob Phillipp Hackert 1799
Painting of Pompeii
Romanticism
Idyllic nature
Pompeii (movie) 2014
Dramatized
Hollywood

The economy:
 Example Description
Building of Eumachia Commercial
Linen
Fullery of Stephanopoulos Fullery business
Emeralds at Oplontis Suggests trade with Egypt
Public weights and measures table at Commerce, trading system
Forum

Social structure:

Example Description
Skeletons at Oplontis Variety of races
Variety of genders
Variety of social class
Green bone discoloration suggests
wealth because of jewelry
Building of Eumachia Suggests prominent female figure
Eumachia
26 brothels Show prostitution

Politics:

Example Description
Political graffiti Campaign slogans
Basilica “Court”, civil justice
Municipal offices Offices for aediles, duumvirs and
council members

Everyday life:

Example Description
House of Trellis Flimsy house suggests population
boom
Vitruvius “buildings having magnificent
interiors [should also have] elegant
entrance courts to correspond: for
there will be no propriety in the
spectacle of an elegant interior
approached by a low, mean entrance”
Palestra Athletics activities
Inscriptions Announcing blood sports like
gladiators
Skeletons in Oplontis, twins Suggest dental problems, age-related
diseases and Syphilis
Suburban Bathhouse Elegant, faced sea, bust of Apollo

Religion:

Example Description
Temple of Apollo Greek religions as well as Roman
Temple of Jupiter Roman religions
Temple of Isis Egyptian religion
House of Deer Statue of Hercules in peristyle
Villa of Mysteries Paintings of Dionysus cult

Greek influences:

Example Description
House of Vettii Doric, Ionic and Corinthian columns
Temple of Apollo Greek religion
House of Vettii – The punishment of Reference to Greek mythology
Ixion
House of the Faun – The Alexander Reference to Greek hero
Mosaic

Egyptian influences:

Example Description
House of the Faun – The Nile Mosaic Depiction of Egypt shows connection
between Pompeii and Egypt
Temple of Isis – Isis welcoming Io Reference to Egyptian mythology

Impact of new technologies:

Example Description
CT scan, DNA analysis and coprolite Reveals details about diet and
analysis lifestyle
Bone analysis Identifies diseases such as lice
infection, respiratory disease and
 tuberculosis
Via dell’Abbondanza Project New technology used to create
photomosaic of 900-meter street

Italian and international:

Example Description
Pompeii: Sustainable Preservation German initiative
Project Conservation and education
campaigns
Italian government Cooperating with others conservation
efforts