Pompeii - Classics
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- Created by: Elena Prokopiou
- Created on: 05-06-11 15:56
Settlement
- Bulit on a lava spur, giving the south-west of the city excellent natural defence
- It was next to the River Sarno which led to other parts of the region; good for trade and helped the fertile environment by natural irrigation
- Pompeii was on the Bay of Naples - excellent access for trade
- The slopes of Mt Vesuvius were richly fertile
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Earthquake
- 62 AD
- Pompeians didn't know Mt Vesuvius was a volcano
- The earthquake was devestating and they considered it to be 'their terrible natural disaster'
- Houses and temples collapsed, people laid buried beneath
- Pompeians took this opportunity to improve the town - especially the houses and the forum
- It wasn't near completion when Mt Vesuvius erupted
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Eruption
- Vesuvius erupted on 24th August 79 AD
- There were some warnings in the weeks beforehand the Pompeians ignored:
- several small earthquakes
- wells dried up and springs stopped flowing
- dogs howled and birds were silent - The eruption started in the middle of 24th August and lasted 18 hours
- Debris was blown all over town, consisting of pumice and rock which built up, buildings collapsed under the weight
- Pompeians would have had plenty of time to evacuatie and the small minority that stayed behind will have chosen to do so
- One side of the volcano collapsed the following morning sending pyroclastic surges over Pompeii, burying it
- All those left in the town were killed by suffocation, poisonous gases or thermal shock
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Two Plinys
- Pliny 'the Younger' was a 17 year old boy
- Pliny 'the Elder' was his uncle, a natural historian and navy admiral
- The younger Pliny wrote two letters about what he saw of the eruption
- The letters told of his uncle's attempt to sail to the rescue of people trapped on the shore
- Pliny 'the Elder' died from suffocation of the poisonous fumes
- Pliny 'the Younger' narrowly escaped death but became a provincial governor of Rome
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Rediscovery
- Pompeii was rediscovered mid 1700s
- Early excavators were careless, causing damage to buildings while collectors took valuable artefacts
- Mid 1800s, Giuseppe Fiorelli brought a far more scientific approach to the excavation of Pompeii
- Fiorelli's Process:
- he realised that where a corpse had been buried in ash, it had rotted and a cavity remained
- wherever an excavator discovered a cavity, plaster of Paris was poured in and left to harden
- the ash was removed so a plaster replica of the person at their moment of death remained
- this process gave information about how people died & clothes they wore
- it also got plastercasts of other organic materials telling us of their furniture and plants they grew
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Rediscovery continued
- Fiorelli was also responsible for a number of other improvements:
- blocks and buildings were numbered
- he recorded everything and banned private collectors
- he built roofs to protect buildings from the weather
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The Forum
- The forum was the heart of Pompeii
- In the centre of it was a paved open area where much of the city's life took place
- The forum was lined with statues of important public figures
- No vehicles were allowed in the forum
- Around the forum lay the town's grandest buildings
Religious buildings
- The Temple of Jupiter was to the north - the most important temple in the city
- To the west was the Temple of Apollo - statues of Apollo and Diana were inside
- The Temple of the Emperor and the Temple of the Public Lares were to the east
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The Forum continued
Commerical buildings
- The macellum was to the north-east, a covered market selling meat and fish. There was a pool in the middle for fish and shops around the edges
- The Eumachia building was a clothes manufacturer
- To the north was the Weights & Measures table and Granary (self explanatory)
Political buildings
- At the south were five political buildings, 3 municipal offices for town councillors, a law court and business centre (Basilica) and the polling station (the Comitium)
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Politics in Pompeii
- The two most important magistrates were the duovirs who made legal decisions, managed public funds and oversaw meetings of the town council
- Below them were the aediles who were responsible for road maintanence, supervision of markets and upkeep of public temples
- Each pair of magistrates was based in a municipal office
- The third municipal office was the Curia, the meeting place of the town council was consisted of former aediles/duovirs
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Private Houses
- The typical design of a wealthy Roman house was built around the atrium, tablinum and peristylium
- On the outside of the house were shops which were rented out to traders to earn money
- The atrium:
- was the main entrance room
- had to be visually impressive because visitors would arrive here
- had a hole in its roof for water to fall into the impluvium
- small bedrooms were on either side - Beyond the atrium was a tablinum:
- the main study/office of the house
- its importance is showed as it was the central room of the whole house - Behind the tablinum was the peristylium:
- a colonnaded gardern
- a private area for the family
- only close family friends would be invited through here
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Private houses continued
- Around the peristylium would be dining rooms, bedrooms and a kitchen
- Furniture was sparing, beds and dining furniture were the main pieces
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The House of the Vettii
- Named after the Vettii brothers, freedmen who acquired great wealth
- They had no shops or tablinum as they were so wealthy that they didn't need to earn money
- The house's entrance had a painting of the god Priapus weighing his phallus - symbolising wealth and prosperity
- The house had two atria:
- in the first were two large bronze chests storing their wealth
-next to the second was a kitchen and a service quarter
- one room contained ****** paintings
- the other service quarter was a stable for horses - The focal point was its peristylium:
- he garden had its own water supply (shows wealth) and had a number of running fountains
- it had a number of bronze and marble statues
- it was surrounded by reception rooms
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The House of the Vettii continued
- Three of the five reception rooms were decorated:
- east of the peristylium contained the Cupids' Frieze
- south-esat was Ixion's punishment
- south-west was the depiction of Pentheus being torn apart - The Vettii brothers were keen to show off their wealth
- They had so many reception rooms showing that they were keen entertainers
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The House of the Faun
- Occupied the length of a whole block
- It had two atria which could be entered from the front
- The 'main atrium' lef to the tablinum so created a powerful impression
- It had more important features:
- two peristylia separated by a summer room which had a huge mosaic of the battle between Alexander the Great and Darius on the floor
- the house had its own water supply, bathing room and hypocaust
- there was a status of a dancing faun in the impluvium and other works of art - It is not clear who owned the house at the time of the eruption
- Whoever did clearly enjoyed entertaining (2 atria and 4 dining rooms)
- The owners were keen to show off their education (we know this by all of the artwork)
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Inns and thermopolia
- Pompeii was visited by many merchants and traders, providing and industry because it needed bars and inns to cater
- The most common thermopolia sold hot food and wine
- Some were just snack bars and others doubled up as inns or stables
- Bars and inns were common, especially near main gates and busy streets
- The best preserved thermopolium is named after a waitress, Asellina
- People sat in or took away
- Many had shrines depicting gods, oping for a blessing of the business
- People ate, socialised and played games
- There were many foods e.g. bread, nuts, dates, olives, meat and fish - suggesting they had a varied diet
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The Baths
- The majority of people kept clean by visiting public baths daily
- The baths were funded by the government to make sure people kept clean and to prevent disease so entrance was free or very cheap
- Pompeii had three bath houses, a fourth under construction
- The Stabian Baths were the oldest and largest, central in the town
- The baths were diverted into two areas, for men and for women
- A man entered via the main entrance and changed in the apodyterium
- Beforehand, they'd work up a sweat in the palaestra and have a dip in the pool
- He'd go the the tepidarium - the warm room - to get used to the heat
- Next he'd go to the caldarium - the hottest room
- Finally, the frigidarium - the cool room
- The Stabian Baths had an area for women who entered via the back - they had no frigidarium and couldn't use to palaestra
- The baths were heated by hypocaust (underground heating)
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The Baths continued
Importance
- The baths were an important social and business place
- Many people would conduct their business meetings here
- People would make contacts and show off power - often having as many slaves as possible escorting them to the baths to show wealth
- It was a good place to socialise and people would often meet here before an evening out
- It kept Romans healthy and acted as a social club
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The theatre
Roman Comedy
- Drama came from the Greek world but Pompeii was keen on comedy
- Their most famous playwright was Plautus who often used farce and slapstick humour
- Most plots were about love affairs with slaves who turned out to not be a slave
- Actors wore caricatural masks with great grinning mouths; brown masks for male characters, white for female
- Old men wore white costumes, youths wore multicolours, prostitutes wore yellow, rich wore purple, poor wore red, slaves wore short tunics and soldiers wore cloaks
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The theatre continued
The theatre
- It was built into a natural hill with semi-circular seating
- Decurions sat in the front row, everyone else sat behind
- A number of aisles were in the seating area to make seat access easy
- The seats were very small, about 40cm wide
- The audience were protected from the sun and sprayed with scented water to keep them cool
- The main actors performed on the stage and the musicians in the orchestra
- They had scenery and decorations
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The theatre continued 2
The audience
- The audience were very vocal in expressing their views
- They became bored if the plot was hard to follow or if it was too similar to previous ones
- If an actor sang out of tune or mispronounced his words, he could be insulted, hissed at ot booed off stage
- If the audience was pleased, they'd cheer wildly and clap
- Famous actors were worshipped - most famously Paris, who had graffiti all over town and a fan club
- Most actors were looked down on and given the same social status as prostitutes
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The amphitheatre
- A capacity of 15,000
- Gladiators had special living and training barracks - they were very important to the Pompeians
- Evidence indicates that the shows were very similar to those at the Colosseum; most commonly gladiator fights and wild beast hunts
- Games were paid for by a sponsor looking to gain popularity
- He would pay for advertisements and make sure everyoe knew he was providing the games
The riot - 59 AD
- Pompeians fought with Nucerians
- Stones being thrown led to swords drawn and many were killed
- Pompeii was banned from holding games for 10 years and the sponsor was sent to exile
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