Fostering Friendships - Enhancing Social Bonds in the Classroom
Hum2220 roman time capsule pompeii & herculaneum
1. ROMAN TIME CAPSULE
The Ancient City of Pompeii
Professor Will Adams
Valencia College
Spring 2012
2. Pompeii & Herculaneum
Pompeii & neighboring
Herculaneum were
buried on August 24 &
August 25, 79 AD by
the eruption of Mt.
Vesuvius.
Pompeii is the most
important archaeological
site for learning about
life in a Roman city.
3. THE CITY OF HERCULANEUM
Much less is known
about Herculaneum
because:
Part is under very
hard volcanic rock.
Part is under the
modern city of
Naples. Italy.
4. THE ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS
The eruption of Mt.
Vesuvius was massive.
It was particularly
violent because
Vesuvius had not
erupted for a very
long time (over 200
years).
5. THE CITY OF POMPEII
No other ancient site
has captured the
imagination of those
interested in ancient
Rome more than
Pompeii.
Yet, there are many
misconceptions about
the site of Pompeii.
6. MISCONCEPTIONS
Some misconceptions about Pompeii are:
The victims were “buried alive;” they had
no chance of escape.
The city was buried “as it was;” the
victims were caught completely unaware.
Pompeii was never again explored since
ancient times.
7. MISCONCEPTIONS
There are even some doubts about the date
of the eruption because:
The historical text that gives the date is
corrupt.
Remains of fruit that are more suitable for
autumn have been found at the site.
Many victims were found “bundled up” in
warmer, autumn clothes.
8. REALITIES
Some of the realities about Pompeii include:
The eruption did not occur without
warning; there were many earthquakes in
the week leading up to the eruption.
Many people did escape; some of those
who did not may have been looters or
were simply unwilling to leave.
9. REALITIES
Pompeii as it appears today is not an exact
reflection of a typical Roman city:
It was a city from which people were
trying to escape.
A massive earthquake had occurred in 62
AD, so sometimes it is impossible to tell if
the damage was from the earthquake or
the eruption of Vesuvius.
10. REALITIES
Some parts of Pompeii have been rebuilt
because:
It needs to look sensible and attractive
to tourists.
Some of it was destroyed by Allied
bombs during World War II and it had to
be “re-built”.
11. REALITIES
The victims were not “buried alive” as
they were going about their days:
Victims were killed by the thermal heat of
Vesuvius’s pyroclastic flow as they tried to
escape
In fact, the heat was so intense that it killed
them instantly; it was not the volcanic ash.
12. REALITIES
Pompeii was explored shortly after the
eruption:
Pompeii’s inhabitants went back to look for
their belongings.
Treasure hunters dug tunnels into the site to
look for treasures.
There are signs of their presence, and some
of the remains may actually be looters.
13. THE PLASTER MOLDS
Despite these misconceptions, no other
ancient site shows what an ancient city may
have been like better than Pompeii.
The most striking example of this is the
plaster molds from Pompeii.
In 1863, Giuseppe Fiorelli, an Italian
archaeologist, invented the technique of the
plaster molding.
14. THE PLASTER MOLDS
Pompeii was buried under roughly 70 feet of
volcanic ash.
Fiorelli realized that, by pounding on the ground,
he could identify areas which were hollow
below.
The hollow areas were once filled with remains
- pottery, bodies, or other items - that had long
since decomposed, leaving negatives.
15. THE PLASTER MOLDS
By pouring plaster into this hollow area, the
plaster would dry and take the original shape
of what once laid there.
Archaeologists could then dig around the
plaster, and take out the positive model of
what was once actually contained there.
The following are some examples:
17. THE SITE
Pompeii is a very large site.
First excavated in the 18th century, treasure
hunters explored it in the 18th and 19th
centuries, and formal, academic excavations
started in the 19th century and continue until
today.
The plan of the site of Pompeii looks like this:
20. THE FORUM AT POMPEII
The forum was the political, economic, and
religious center of a Roman city.
The forum contained buildings for running the
city (senate house, courts, etc.), temples, and
shops.
The remains of the forms of Pompeii look like
this:
26. THE STREETS OF POMPEII
One can walk the streets of Pompeii in the
form they would have been walked by the
city’s inhabitants.
One can see how the Romans paved their
streets, as well as the complex system the
Romans used to deliver and channel water.
28. THE AMPHITHEATRE
Pompeii has the oldest known amphitheater in
the Roman world; it dates to 80 BC.
An amphitheater is a stadium which is enclosed
on all sides to form an oval.
Its seats (cavea) are supported by a
complicated series of vaults, arches, and
arcades.
31. THE THEATRE AT POMPEII
Pompeii also had a
major theatre.
A theatre is a half arc,
not a full circle.
It was likely used for
concerts, or plays.
The theatre at Pompeii
looked like this:
33. THE PALESTRA
Also found at Pompeii is something called
the palestra.
The palestra was a large open field
surrounded on all sides by colonnades.
The palestra was originally used for
schools, as Roman education stressed both
the mental and the physical.
34. THE PALESTRA
The rooms that were housed within the
colonnades would have been used for
educating Roman pupils in literature and the
art of public speaking, while the field would
be used for athletic training.
Later, the palestra was converted to a
gladiatorial training school.
35. THE PALESTRA
We are told that the Roman Emperor Nero
had to ban gladiatorial shows in Pompeii for a
decade because of a riot that broke out over
an gladiatorial competition between the
Pompeians and the neighboring Nicerians.
Apparently, the Pompeians were sore
losers!
36. THE PALESTRA
In one of the rooms of a palestra, the remains
of 17 gladiators have been found, chained to a
wall.
A woman, who appears to be wealthy (she
was wearing jewelry) was found there as
well.
This begs the question: What was she doing
there?
38. DAILY LIFE IN POMPEII
The remains of certain buildings give us a
glimpse of what daily life was like for the
people of Pompeii.
Among some of the buildings we have
remains of are shops, baths, and homes.
Even graffiti on the walls still remains in
certain areas of Pompeii.
42. ROMAN HOUSES
Because of its inhabitants’ wealth,
Pompeii also has some of the most
magnificent houses in Rome’s history
Among the more famous homes are:
The Villa of the Mysteries
The House of the Faun
The House of the Vettii
45. HOUSE TERMS TO KNOW
Fauces: The narrow entryway from the street.
Atrium: The central public room of the house, just inside the
entryway; it usually has an impluvium, or water basin at its
center.
Cubiculum: The small, painted-but-windowless bedrooms &
dressing rooms surrounding the atrium.
Tablinum: The homeowners’ office, study, or greeting area.
Peristyle: The open courtyard or garden surrounded by a
colonnade at the back of the house.
Triclinium: The dining room, located off the peristyle.
Lararium: A shrine to the Roman household gods, usually located
in the peristyle.
46. SOCIAL ASPECTS OF THE HOME
Like the Greeks, the Romans (and Italians) were big on
social hierarchy.
The plans of most of the homes differ slightly in the
layout, but inevitably are designed to enable the visitor to
see into the home.
When the front door was open during the day, a
passerby could see directly into the atrium, then the
tablinum, which lead directly into the peristyle.
The more gardens and courtyards you had, the greater
your wealth and status.
47. HOUSE OF THE VETTII
One of the best preserved
houses at Pompeii is the House of
the Vettii, an old Pompeian house
remodeled and repainted after
the earthquake of 62 AD.
This photograph was taken in
the fauces.
It shows the impluvium in the
center of the atrium, the opening
in the roof above, and in the
background, the peristyle garden
with its marble tables and mural
paintings.
47
48. HOUSE OF THE VETTII
The house was owned by
two brothers, Aulus Vettius
Restitutus and Aulus Vettius
Conviva, probably freedmen
who had made their
fortune as merchants.
Their wealth enabled them
to purchase and furnish
houses that would have
been owned only by
patricians.
49. ROMAN HOME DECORATION
These houses also contain a number of
magnificently preserved decorative
elements in the form of:
Frescoes: Wall paintings created by painting
into wet plaster to create a bonded image &
wall.
Mosaics: Images created from tiny, tiny pieces
of glass or tile that are called tessurae.
