January 14: Our Day in Pompeii

The Garibaldi Gang started the day by sleeping in, much to our relief.  Morale was high and we were ready to explore Pompeii with our amazing tour guide Gianni.  We took the subway to the train station, and boarded the train from there to reach Pompeii.  Much to our satisfaction, the weather was not nearly as bad as Mike had prepared us for.

We entered the ancient city on a ramp that had been used by the "merchants of old" before the Mount Vesuvius explosion of 79 CE.  Pompeii had eight main entrances, but this one was used by merchants who would come to the city on boats bringing food and textiles.

Here is a picture of the main entrance ramp that we walked up to enter the city. The grass to the left of the ramp used to be water where boats would be docked and the goods would be unloaded.

Gianni taught us that although it was previously believed the eruption occurred in August of 79 CE, experts now hypothesize that it was in October or November of 79 CE. Their evidence for this claim is that the people buried by the volcanic ash in Pompeii were discovered bundled in warm clothes, the heaters in the city were running, and olives and nuts were found, which are abundant in the winter months.

We walked through the streets of Pompeii, examining the differences between shops and houses. You could tell the difference between the two because shops would have ridges in the ground that held sliding doors, and houses would have smaller entrances.  We also noticed that the streets had small pieces of white marble scattered throughout the cobblestone. This acted as a way to reflect the moonlight at night time because there was no electricity or other forms of light. We use this same idea on highways in modern times. 

We then visited the main marketplace that people would use to buy and sell goods. It also had a speaker stand for people of importance to give speeches, like in a Roman forum. 

This is the square where the citizens of Pompeii would sell and trade textiles, meats, cheeses, wines, etc.

The next part of the tour brought us to the chilling exhibits of some of the humans and animals that kept their form after being covered in 25 feet of volcanic ash and mud. When scientists were exploring Pompeii, they inserted liquid plaster into the bottom of the city rubble, salvaging the shape of these life forms, and even capturing their last body mannerisms and facial expressions before death.

Here is a citizen of Pompeii who had been laying down when the ash covered the city.

Here is the plaster of a dog trying to escape.

Here is a curled up citizen.

This is the plastered form of a young child.

For the majority of the rest of the tour with Gianni, we walked through sidestreets and shops, learning how the rich and the poor had lived their lives. We set foot in many rich houses, and recalled the beautiful mosaics that had been excavated from these sites that we saw yesterday in the National Archeological Museum. 

This is a fountain in one of the wealthy houses.

This is a space for recreation and games.

This is a replica of the mosaic of Alexander the Great in battle, located in a wealthy home. The true mosaic is in the museum, and we saw it yesterday.

Walking through Pompeii was a firsthand way of experiencing how ancient Greek and Roman cultures lived up until the year 79 CE. We learned about their architecture, how they cooked food, how they made money, and how they spent their leisure time. Seeing the petrified forms of humans and animals was a moving experience, and we gained more respect for the citizens of Pompeii and how they lived their daily lives. 

See you in Rome!

Sarah Austin