Mon Dec 16th: Pompeii

At the time of its destruction in 79 AD, Pompeii had a population of around 20,000, about the same size as Huntingdon. It contained the full facilities of a prosperous town of those days, many more than in smaller, residential Herculaneum.

The forum, a large open rectangle, was the centre of civic life, where events and ceremonies would be held. It was flanked by markets, temples and administrative buildings. This is the forum, with Vesuvius looming in the background.

There were bakeries here as well as fast food shops. This intact bakers’ oven is exactly the same as today’s pizza oven, being heated by a wood fire from beneath. Even the fancy brickwork looks modern. You can almost smell fresh ciabatta coming from the oven!

Moving on to other facilities, Pompeii has one of the best preserved amphitheatres anywhere. It predates the Coliseum in Rome by about 100 years. Its large 20,000 capacity played host to gladiator contests and games where the audience would be supporting one side or the other like a modern football match. And, as in the odd football match, feelings ran so high that in 59 AD a major riot broke out between rival fans resulting in the authorities closing the stadium for 10 years. Football hooligans, you have been warned!

The theatre seems somewhat tame after the amphitheatre, but it was very popular and in fact there were two. This is the smaller one, holding about 1500 people. Jane’s the small dot sitting to the left of the far entrance, nursing a numb, cold bum as she forgot to bring her cushion for the performance.

We now come to the delicate matter of more personal facilities provided. The photo below is of one of the cubicles in the town brothel. That is a stone bed, so even with some generous padding you’d need to be desperate to avail yourself of the services there.

The premises still bear signs of appropriate decoration. This is an example of one of the less explicit tableaux adorning the walls. Pursuing the theme of desperation, you’d need to be at the end of your tether to be leapt on by the masculine-looking floozie in the illustration, all whilst lying on a stone bed!

Now to the authority dealing with the seedy side: the Courts of Justice. Roman law is the basis of many European judicial systems, including ours, so we would have recognised the prosecution and defence arguing their case, and then deliberation by a judge to reach a verdict. Not sure if a special sitting was convened to dispense ASBO’s to the amphitheatre rioters.

The all-powerful might of Justice is everywhere underlined by solemn ceremony and magnificent buildings. Here is no exception. The column stumps in the photo would have supported a large roof to shelter the litigants. The judges’ platform is the more intact rear part. The building was then all faced in imitation marble.

Some of the dwellings still retained magnificent original wall decorations (no, I don’t just mean the brothel). This villa just outside the town walls was especially well preserved. It’s a bit overbearing for my taste though: I’m a plain magnolia man.

The levels of sophistication are quite astounding. The bath complexes, of which there were several, had underfloor and cavity wall heating. A break in the wall clearly shows the two skins with the gap for heat circulation.

Finally, the streets: these were fully block paved, with pavements on either side. In fact, the same type of lava block is used to surface many regular streets in southern Italy now. These are very bumpy to drive over, especially when towing then caravan, and make traffic calming measures unnecessary as when exceeding 30 mph your wheels fall off. Some Pompeii  lava blocks show grooves worn by carts, as can be seen in the photo.

Pompeii was a fascinating demonstration of the variety and sophistication of life in those days. There was more to see than could be covered in a day: you could spend a lifetime studying the details.