Pompeii

Евсеенков А.С.

Pompeii (Latin: Pompeii) was an ancient city in Campania near the foot of Vesuvius and close to the Bay of Naples. In AD 79 it was buried by volcanic ash and lapilli during the eruption of Vesuvius. The catastrophe destroyed the town, but also sealed its streets, houses, shops, paintings, inscriptions, vessels, food remains and traces of daily life.

Pompeii is therefore important not as a narrow resource for one audience, but as one of the major archaeological complexes of the Roman world. The city shows public spaces, private houses, trade, food, religion, spectacles, craft, social differences and the visual culture of the early Empire in one dated environment.

History of the City

A settlement existed on the site of Pompeii long before the city became part of the Roman state. Campania lay within a zone of Oscan, Greek, Etruscan and Samnite contacts, and this mixture is visible in the early history of the city, its cult practices, fortifications and links with neighbouring centres.

After the Social War Pompeii became a Roman colony. Veterans were settled there, Latin and Roman institutions gained strength in public life, but local traditions did not disappear at once. By the first century AD Pompeii was a lively provincial town with a forum, temples, a basilica, baths, theatres, an amphitheatre, shops, workshops and suburban villas.

Map of Pompeii with the names of the main streets. 2nd floor of the 20th century.

Streets and Urban Setting

The layout of Pompeii clearly shows the structure of a medium-sized Roman town. The forum combined administrative, commercial and cult functions. Streets had stone paving, sidewalks and raised stepping-stones; beside them stood fountains, drains, shops, house entrances and rooms opening directly onto the street.

The urban environment was not divided into museum-like zones. A house could stand beside a workshop, shop or tavern; a single room could serve as dwelling, workplace and point of sale. Election notices, announcements of games, ownership marks and graffiti show the city as a living social environment with politics, advertising, jokes and conflicts.

Houses, Cult and Daily Life

Pompeian houses varied greatly according to wealth. Alongside small shops and modest rooms there were richly decorated houses with atria, peristyles, gardens, mosaics and wall painting. The atrium was not just an architectural form: visitors passed through it, and it could contain household objects, ancestral imagery and elements of household cult.

Household religion is visible through lararia, images of Lares, Penates, the household Genius, snakes and sacrificial scenes. Such images matter together with their findspot: courtyard, kitchen, entrance zone or service room changes the meaning of the painting and shows how cult belonged to daily domestic life.

Fresco from the Villa of the Mysteries,Pompeii. 1st century AD

Food, Craft and Trade

Pompeii is especially important for the study of ancient Roman food. Bakeries with mills and ovens, wine shops, amphora stores, commercial rooms and snack bars have been excavated in the city. Thermopolia with masonry counters and built-in vessels show how hot food and drinks were sold to passers-by.

Not every inhabitant had a convenient kitchen, so street food, taverns, popinae and cauponae played a visible role in daily life. Pottery, bronze vessels, bread, nuts, fruit, wine containers, scales and working tools allow us to study not only the elite but also craftsmen, traders, slaves, freedmen and small householders.

Public Buildings and Spectacles

Pompeii's public buildings show the active life of a provincial town. The forum, basilica, temples, markets, baths, theatres and amphitheatre formed a network of places where citizens traded, took part in cults, discussed business, watched performances and displayed status.

The amphitheatre of Pompeii is among the earliest known stone amphitheatres in the Roman world. The city is associated with the clash between Pompeians and people from Nuceria during the games, after which the authorities temporarily restricted such spectacles. Gladiatorial reliefs and finds from Pompeii matter not only for military themes but also for the urban culture of public entertainment.

Bas-relief with gladiators. Marble. Pompeii,the Stabian Gate. National Archaeological Museum,Naples. 20-50 AD

The Eruption of Vesuvius

In AD 79 the eruption of Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii, Herculaneum and several villas around the Bay of Naples. Pompeii was mainly covered by volcanic ash and lapilli, while Herculaneum was more heavily affected by pyroclastic flows and hot volcanic material.

The ancient literary tradition connects the catastrophe with Pliny the Younger's letters to Tacitus. His account became one of the key texts for studying the eruption and the death of Pliny the Elder, who commanded the fleet at Misenum and tried to approach the disaster zone. For archaeology, the crucial point is not only the moment of destruction but also the fact that the urban environment was sealed from later rebuilding.

Archaeology and Finds

Excavations at Pompeii began in the eighteenth century and strongly influenced archaeology, interest in ancient art and ideas about Roman daily life. The plaster casts of the victims are especially significant: they were made by pouring plaster into voids left in the hardened volcanic material after bodies had decomposed.

Pompeii's great strength lies in the connection between objects and rooms or streets. A jug, hearth, painting, counter, graffito or working tool does not exist in isolation: it belongs to a house, shop, workshop, bath, shrine or public building. The city's material therefore allows scenes of life to be studied through their setting rather than through isolated objects.

Images and Caution

Pompeian frescoes, reliefs and mosaics are indispensable for studying gestures, poses, furniture, clothing, footwear, hairstyles, interiors and the visual language of the house. But an image is not always a literal portrait of daily life. A mythological scene, theatrical mask, decorative figure or idealized person should be read together with the house, room, date and function of the image.

Military and ceremonial objects from the Pompeian context do not turn the city into a military camp. Gladiatorial reliefs, swords, a parazonium, belt fittings and images of armed figures show how military and spectacle symbolism appeared within the urban culture of first-century AD Campania.

Related Topics

• Herculaneum
• Roman Archaeological Sources
• Roman Household Religion
• Lararium
• Lares
• Penates
• Thermopolium
• Food in Ancient Rome
• Roman Streets
• Architecture in Ancient Rome
• Clothing in Ancient Rome
• Gladiator

Literature

• Beard, Mary. Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. Profile Books, 2008.
• Dobbins, J. J.; Foss, P. W. (eds.). The World of Pompeii. Routledge, 2007.
• Cooley, A. E.; Cooley, M. G. L. Pompeii and Herculaneum: A Sourcebook. Routledge, 2014.
• Ling, Roger. Pompeii: History, Life and Afterlife. Tempus, 2005.
• UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata.

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