Mount Vesuvius - Journal Article

COVER COMMENT

THE LEGACY Enrico de Divitiis, M.D. Department of Neurological Sciences, Division of Neurosurgery, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy

Paolo Cappabianca, M.D. Department of Neurological Sciences, Division of Neurosurgery, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy

Felice Esposito, M.D. Department of Neurological Sciences, Division of Neurosurgery, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy

Luigi M. Cavallo, M.D. Department of Neurological Sciences, Division of Neurosurgery, Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Naples, Italy

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Received, July 30, 2004. Accepted, August 6, 2004.

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ON AUGUST 24, AD 79, a terrible eruption of Mount Vesuvius deranged life in beautiful Pompeii and killed thousands of men, women, and children. They were restored to us by the fact that Mount Vesuvius, with its rain of ashes, proved to be a skilled sculptor, preserving the shape and even the wrinkles in the clothes the Pompeians wore while trying to escape during the day of the tragedy. The detailed description of Plinius the Younger and modern static studies of the eruptive residues have made it possible to reconstruct with great accuracy the various phases of the eruption that took place 2000 years ago, including the hours and days during which the phenomena first became obvious. Today, almost 2000 years later, Pompeii has reawakened and risen from its sepulcher of ashes thanks to the excavations initiated under King Charles III of Bourbon in 1748. Excavations proceeded slowly under the Bourbons, with the aim of enriching the Bourbon Museum of Naples rather than of classifying the ruins and placing them into a historical context. Under Joachim Murat, interest in the town planning and architecture of the uncovered cities reemerged, especially with respect to Pompeii. In 1860, however, with the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy, the excavations, now under the direction of archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli, were provided new impetus and, finally, a scientific basis. Today, the excavations are giving us back extraordinary evidence concerning the culture, the everyday life, the habits, the architecture, and the wonderful frescoes of the Roman cities of southern Italy, making possible the statement that Pompeii is “the most alive of the dead cities.” KEY WORDS: Antiquity, Archaeology, Excavations, Pompeii, Vesuvius, Volcanology Neurosurgery 55:989-1006, 2004

Reprint requests: Enrico de Divitiis, M.D., Department of Neurological Sciences, Division of Neurosurgery, Via Sergio Pansini, 5, 80131 Napoli, Italy. Email: [email protected]

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DOI: 10.1227/01.NEU.0000142521.78944.3A

onum Kal. Septembres hora fere septima mater mea indicat ei apparire nubem inusitata et magnitudine et specie” (On the ninth day prior to the Kalends of September [i.e., August 24th], at approximately the seventh hour [i.e., one hour after noon], my mother pointed out to him [i.e., to his brother, Plinius the Elder] an extraordinary cloud, huge and strange, that had appeared) (Fig. 1). In a letter that later became famous (25), Plinius the Younger (AD 61–112), nephew of his illustrious ancestor of the same name, only 17 years of age at the time but destined to become a brilliant lawyer and politician, wrote to Tacitus, providing him with a detailed description of those dramatic hours; thus, this exceptional event was handed down to posterity. It was the year AD 79: Plinius the Elder (AD 23–79), naturalist and man of science, author of the 37-volume encyclopedia Naturalis Historia, and also commander of the imperial fleet home ported in Misenum at the

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time, was called to the terrace of his house by his sister to note the enormous plume hovering above the top of Mount Vesuvius to the northeast. Plinius reassured her: “It is simply brushwood being burned by the shepherds and farmers.” Because they were 15 miles away from the column of smoke, he did not realize that the smoke already rose 6500 or 10,000 ft into the sky. A few hours later, the column had taken on the shape of a giant pine tree, formed by the falling vapor and ashes. It was only then that he understood what an exceptional event was taking place, a natural event so extraordinary that it had to be witnessed and recounted de visu. He then commanded a slave to prepare a liburna, an agile ship with two rows of oars that was ideal for short trips. As he was about to leave the villa, a messenger, greatly troubled, arrived from the site of the event, sent to him to seek help by Rectina, the wife of Guascus, an important personage and friend who owned a villa at the

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clothes he had been wearing: more like a man asleep than dead) (25). During the next centuries, another 51 eruptions occurred, some of them devastating, like the one of 1631 described by the abbot Braccini (4) and that of 1779, which occurred in the presence of Sir William Hamilton, member of the Royal Society and His Britannic Majesty’s envoy extraordinary and plenipotentiary at the court of Naples. In a letter from him dated October 1, 1779, sent to Sir Joseph Banks, President of the Royal Society in London (12), he described among other things the proverbial coexistence of religion and superstition

FIGURE 1. Painting showing Plinius the Younger and his Mother at Misenum. Angelica Kauhffmann (1741–1807), Princeton University Museum.

foot of Mount Vesuvius. The messenger told of terrible scenes of earthquakes and showers of rocks and fire and said that there was no escape but the sea. Plinius hastily ordered that all available quadriremes be made ready, and he directed this fleet toward the scene of the event to provide help (without neglecting his scientific interests, however, because he annotated all that he saw). The shower of ashes and flaming lapilli, a landslide along the coast, and an anomalous lifting of the seabed with sea cliffs appearing on the surface forced him to halt his approach before reaching the house of Guascus and to detour toward the port of Stabiae, southeast of Pompeii, where he found Pomponianus, another friend, readying to embark and flee. Plinius reassured him, pleading with him to remain calm, saying there was no real risk as long as he remained in his house. He then went to sleep but was awaked by his servants during the night because of the violence of the deflagrations, the telluric quakes, and the shower of ashes and lapilli that made it difficult even to open the doors of the house. He attempted a hasty but useless flight, protecting his head with pillows, on a morning darkened by clouds of smoke and rent by lightening. He continued to reassure others, heartening them for having escaped the earthquake and trusting that the calm would quickly follow the storm, while the toxic vapors from the hydrochloric acid and sulfur dioxide, initially flung thousands of feet high, now began to plummet to the ground. This poisonous mixture caused him to have difficulty in breathing, and he mistakenly believed that he was having one of his asthma attacks. He lay down on the ground to rest awhile, but when he attempted to rise, he again fell to the ground. The slaves abandoned him and ran off. He was found on the beach where he had been left: “Ubi dies redditus, corpus inventum integrum, inlaesum opertumque, ut fuerat indutus: abitus corporis quiescenti quam defunto similior” (When daylight returned, his body was found intact and whole, covered by the

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FIGURE 2. Painting showing eruption of August 9, 1779, taken from an original drawing done from nature at Pausilipo by Pietro Fabris.

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among Neapolitan people: “Monday August the 9th about 9 o’clock in the morning the mountain began to manifest itself by violent explosion of inflamed matter from the crater [Fig. 2]. During this day’s eruption the relicts of St. Januarius [St. Gennaro], protector of Naples, were carried in procession and exposed to the furious mountain, amidst a prodigious concourse of people who are convinced that to this ceremony alone Naples may attribute its happy escape. But it is very reasonable. Tuesday August the 10th Vesuvius was quiet.” The latest eruption took place in March 1944. Since then, the volcano appears to have been extinguished, its plume of smoke, made famous in thousands of gouaches, finally vanishing (Fig. 3). The mountain still preserves its charm as well as its threatening appearance, although the people living near Mount Vesuvius even now seem to have difficulty accepting the fact that a terrible menace looms over the area. Many small towns have grown up along the foothills of Mount Vesuvius, including all the cities originally destroyed in AD 79. Today, as in the past, there are vineyards that produce the same wine as 2000 years ago, the Lacrima Christi. Orchards also provide extraordinary fruit because the soil, also a product of the volcano, is particularly fertile and soft, divided into small plots that can produce at least three bountiful crops per year. Mount Vesuvius was considered a golden mountain because of the abundance of its products: it destroyed and created as well as taking away and giving back. During the eruption of 1794, all the vineyards were destroyed, but 2 years later, the grapes were so abundant that most of them were not harvested because of the lack of vats (22). The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 had a unique cultural impact, because it completely buried several Roman cities located along the foot of the mountain (i.e., Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Oplontis), preserving them underneath the ashes. It was also a highly important event for science, because this was the first time volcanic activity had been described in such great detail; after the letter of Plinius

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the Younger, each successive eruption was defined as “Plinian.” The destruction of the cities was the subject of numerous studies undertaken during archaeological excavations from the 18th century on, providing a unique opportunity to study eruptions by observing the effects of volcanic residue on man, flora and fauna, houses, objects used in daily life, and, finally, mosaics and paintings. What remains of Pompeii provides us with a complete picture of daily life in Campania at the time of the eruption. Visiting Pompeii, one has the feeling of actually visiting the living city, learning its customs and the distribution and type of public buildings, shops and businesses, houses, and gardens. For this reason, Pompeii has been defined as “the most alive of the dead cities.” It is a city in which life stopped in a split second, interrupted but not destroyed. This catastrophic event, a circumstance that is probably unique in the history of archaeology, has returned to humanity an entire city and its varied forms of life, which may be observed and studied, even after almost 2000 years, by more than a million people a year, all thrilled and excited by the opportunity. Mount Vesuvius was the absolute protagonist of the tragedy that invested the cities nestled at its base, creating an indissoluble and rare bond between mountain and city, because, for many, Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius represent the antipodes of a single entity. Mount Vesuvius proved to be a skilled sculptor, with its rain of ashes preserving the shape and even the wrinkles in the clothes the Pompeians were wearing while they tried to escape during the day of the tragedy. The Italian poet Giacomo Leopardi calls Vesuvius the sterminator Vesevo (16), towering over an enchanting gulf and sites of unparalleled amenity, highlighting the contrast between beauty and danger. René de Chateaubriand, Secretary of the French Legation to the Holy See, describes his excursion to the volcano in his Voyage au Mont-Vésuve in July 1806 (7), where he defines the coast along the gulf of Naples, surrounded by orange groves and vineyards, as Paradise viewed from Hell.

HISTORY

FIGURE 3. Photograph showing aerial view of the crater of mount Vesuvius as it appears today.

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Located at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, dominating the entire valley of the Sarno River and providing a unique natural harbor for the nearby cities of the hinterland, ancient Pompeii was an ideal site for an urban settlement. The name probably comes from Pompe, which means “five” in the Oscan language and refers to five villages that were joined together, or it could come from the Greek word ⌹⑀´ ␮␲␱, meaning “to send” and referring to the fact that Pompeii was an important commercial port. Thanks to its strategic geographical position, it had always enjoyed wealth and prosperity; however, for this same reason, it was also a highly desirable land to conquer. Thus, it soon it became the site of a great and rapid succession of highly developed civilizations: first, the Oscans; then, the Etruscans; then, the Greeks; and, finally, the Romans, who seized it from the Samnites, a population coming from the mountain regions of the hinterland. The Samnites perhaps

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contributed more to the economic development of Pompeii than any other civilization, increasing the splendor and wealth of the city. During the period from the 3rd to the 1st century BC, the Samnites made an enormous contribution to economic development, based predominantly on agriculture, and to town planning and the development of creative arts. Their fortifications were enormous, as were those works intended to improve the quality of life of the celebrated center (6). In 80 BC, Lucius Cornelius Sulla laid siege to and conquered Pompeii, which then became a Roman city with a new constitution. Latin became the official language and Venus Pompeiana the tutelary goddess of the city. The name of the colony became Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompeiorum, from the name of its conqueror Lucius Cornelius Sulla and the goddess Venus, who was greatly venerated. The conquered lands were awarded to the veterans of Sulla who had fought with him. Publius Cornelius Sulla, the nephew of Lucius Cornelius Sulla, was made deductor of the colony. A politician and personage of many qualities, he was responsible for the initial transformations within the Pompeian administration. It was at this time that the Samnite magistrates, or meddices, were suppressed. The city was governed by a senate of approximately 100 members, the ordo centurionum centurioni; two aediles, magistrates responsible for the monuments and the roads; and two duumviri, high magistrates empowered with executive authority, of whom the first were two of Sulla’s legates, Gaius Quinctius Valgus and Marcus Portius. Under the vigilant and wise guidance of Rome, now abounding in culture and art as well as splendor and magnificence, the Campanian colony developed, growing at the same pace as the capital (21). Industry and commerce progressed, and a renewed extraordinary undertaking was begun to construct stores, shops, temples, and houses; comfort and decor permeated the city as frescoes and mosaics, gardens, and splendid atriums embellished the houses of the people of Pompeii. In AD 62, an unexpected event destabilized the socioeconomic equilibrium of this now well-established colony (1). A terrible earthquake caused serious damage to a large part of Campania and, with it, Pompeii. D. Cassius Cocceianus said: “. . . in that occasion giants were seen wandering in the area . . .” (in mythology, the vision of giants was associated with catastrophic natural events). At the time, Campania was already known as a volcanic region, a characteristic it continues to demonstrate to this day. The volcanic activity of the Campi Phlegraei (␾␭⑀␥␯␳␱´ ␵), burning a region west of Mount Vesuvius, was already evident and is still today the site of numerous small eruptions, soffiones of boiling steam and fumaroles. Not long after, in AD 64, there was another telluric phenomenon. Suetonius, a Latin historian of the 2nd century AD and author of the biographies of 12 Roman emperors, narrates that, during that year, because of the earthquake, the Emperor Nero had to suspend some theatrical performances that were to take place in Naples in which he was to sing, but that he did so only after he had finished his performance in the play already in progress (26). The cities that suffered serious damage were aided by the Roman Senate, but recovery was slow and diffi-

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cult. The onus of repairing public structures was too heavy a burden; thus, reconstruction was concentrated principally on rebuilding houses and business establishments.

THE ERUPTION The incredible efforts of the people of Pompeii to rebuild their city turned out to be futile, because on the morning of August 24, AD 79, a cloud shaped like a pine tree was observed hovering over Mount Vesuvius. The detailed description of Plinius the Younger and modern-day static studies of the eruptive residues have made it possible to reconstruct (3) the various phases of the eruption that took place 2000 years ago with great accuracy, including the hours and days during which the phenomena first became obvious. The eruption was characterized by three principal phases: 1) the explosive and sudden rupture of the crater, with the outpouring of white ash toward the southeast to a distance of up to 43 miles; 2) the emergence of a tall column of thick material (Plinian phase), frequently hurtling back to the ground and gushing along the sides of the volcano; and 3) the entrance of water into the magmatic system, forming turbulent pyroclastic flows that spread out radially around the volcano over more than 9 miles (Fig. 4). The hill that the inhabitants were accustomed to seeing as a peaceful and serene mountain, cloaked in vineyards and woodland, so loved for its lushness and fruitfulness, suddenly awoke, burying seven centuries of history and, in one brief instant, forever stopping time in Pompeii. Within the space of 48 hours from the beginning of the eruption, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Stabiae, Oplontis, Leucopetra, Boscoreale, and other minor centers of the area surrounding Sarno and Nocera ceased to exist. Pompeii and Stabiae were buried under more than 23 ft of lapilli, lava, and fiery cinders, and Herculaneum was inundated by a torrent of lava (40,000 m3/s) mixed with sand and ashes that buried this city under a layer almost 65 ft high, which, once solidified, assumed the appearance of a compact tuffaceous mass. Herculaneum disappeared completely, and all that remained in Pompeii were the tops of some buildings emerging from a desolate landscape. In the city of Pompeii, located southeast of the volcano, the pyroclastic material rapidly began to accumulate in the streets and courtyards as well as on the rooftops. Many inhabitants sought refuge under roofs and balconies and inside houses and buildings, whereas others fled toward the area of Nola, away from Vesuvius. The ensuing accumulation of pyroclastic material, especially the layers of pumice, trapped many, suffocating them during their attempt to escape. There was probably a brief pause between the eruptions of the Plinian phase and the pyroclastic flow, and this may have deceived many people, who probably returned to their homes to collect personal belongings and furnishings, leading to even more deaths. The first shower of pumice barely grazed the city of Herculaneum, located 4.3 miles west of Mount Vesuvius. The majority of its inhabitants, frightened by the enormous cloud, the

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FIGURE 4. Topographical map showing aerial perspective of the pyroclastic flow deposits (red area) and the pyroclastic fall deposits (blue area). Eruption of AD 79 (from, Barberi F, Macedonio G, Pareschi MT, Santacroce R: Mapping the tephra fallout risk: An example from Vesuvius, Italy. Nature 344:142–144, 1990 [3], modified).

rumbling, and the telluric shock waves, took flight, although calmly, along the coastal road or tried to board boats from the port, but the prohibitive conditions of the sea forced most to seek refuge in chambers on the waterfront of Herculaneum. The city of Pompeii was covered by ashes and lapilli up to a height of approximately 23 ft, whereas Herculaneum was invaded by pyroclastic flows (a thick eruptive mixture) gushing down the sides of the volcano, burying the city under 65 ft of residue and reaching out to the sea, extending the former coastline by approximately 1300 ft. The population was destroyed by the initial surge of activity (a mixture of gas and solid particles, in which the gaseous phase is prevalent) when the top of the pine tree-shaped mass that had materialized in the air above the eruptive column suddenly precipitated from a height of 65,000 to 98,000 ft, crashing down on people, homes, and objects at a speed of 93 to 124 miles per hour and a temperature of 500°C (20). These deadly clouds were described as glowing avalanches, or nuées ardentes, by Lacroix (15) because of the transport of incandescent fragments. The majority of deaths were caused by this incandescent surge, later confirmed by paleopathological studies, even though the people desperately sought shelter from direct impacts. The victims did not experience a mechan-

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ical impact; thus, they display no signs of attempts to protect themselves or contortions. They died by means of thermally induced fulminant shock and not suffocation, without even having the time to realize what was happening. This is obvious from the positions in which some of the victims were found, indicating sudden death in less than a fraction of a second, with no possibility of any defensive reaction. Other victims, however, were found huddled or embracing, almost all with their arms and hands covering their face. In one of the houses, the House of the Golden Bracelet, researchers found imprints, later used to make casts, of a woman with a child. The woman was wearing jewels and holding a case containing gold coins, evidently caught in a final attempt to save herself, her child, and her valuables. The boxer stance in which several of the bodies were found is typical of the victims of fire and pyroclastic flows and is caused by instantaneous shortening of the muscles and tendons after death. There is a distinct difference in the condition of the victims’ remains between Pompeii and Herculaneum, with the latter being buried under a river of lava much thicker than the layer of ashes that covered Pompeii. In Pompeii, the ashes blanketed persons, animals, and objects, solidifying around them. This thin layer of ashes, which was the residue of the surge, quickly hardened around the body before the soft tissues could decompose, creating a perfect mold of the body, with the layer of pumice draining the fluids and keeping the body dry. Once putrefaction was complete, the cavity remained. These cavities were filled with liquid plaster, a process known as “Fiorelli’s invention” (Fig. 5), or, more recently, with a transparent epoxide resin that allowed the bones and other parts inside the cavity to remain visible, bringing back to light the inhabitants of that city as in the case of the Garden of the Fugitives (Fig. 6). In Herculaneum, however, the skeletons are situated in a relatively thin layer of dry ashes; there are no remains of soft tissues, because the thick blanket of lava kept the tissues humid during the phase of decomposition, leaving only the skeletons intact (Fig. 7). Recent paleopathological studies on the few remaining tissues available, on teeth, and on bones have made it possible to study the living conditions that existed in the area of Mount Vesuvius. According to an examination of more than 1000 teeth, the dental systems of the victims seemed to be in excellent condition, with a percentage of cavities of only 3.9%, in spite of the fact that the diet of the period was rich in cariogenic substances such as sugar, honey, dried fruit, and nuxam cum duplice ficu (nut between two figs) (13). This apparent incongruence may be explained by the high fluoride content found in the enamel, a sign that the water in the area was rich in fluoride. The effect of the high temperature to which many of the victims were exposed is also confirmed by the pattern of cracks found on the tooth enamel. A study of the skeletons, whose bones rarely revealed signs of fracture, confirms that most deaths were caused by exposure to heat or by suffocation. The bones also indicate that the population benefited from the abundant resources of the soil: the sun, moderate climate, and flourishing agriculture provided adequate nour-

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FIGURE 6. Photograph showing the Garden of the Fugitives. In the foreground is the cast of a child.

FIGURE 5. Photograph showing cast of a victim found near the Palestra Grande.

ishment to the majority of the people. The charred remains of food provide clues about the type of food preferred by the Pompeians, consisting mainly of vegetables, fruit, and bread. Their diet was rich in fiber and vegetable protein. The significant use of vegetables grown, for the most part, in domestic vegetable gardens confirms the nickname given the Pompeians by Plautus, who called them “eaters of grass.” The cabbage of Pompeii, also known as cauliflower, was famous: “If you wish to drink much and eat heartily, take it raw before and after the meal. It will seem that you have eaten nothing and can drink as much as you wish.” In fact, bibemus et edemus (let’s drink and eat) was the Epicurean rule religiously followed by Pompeians (5). Sophisticated systems were used to preserve fruit and vegetables. Fruit was first dried and then immersed in honey, and vegetables were placed in vinegar or brine, also used to preserve bluefish, tuna, and fish innards, the latter of which was used to make garum, a sauce commonly used in the daily preparation of food. The best of these sauces were the garum excellens and the gari flos flos, which were made from the innards of tuna, mackerel, and eel, the flos murae. The

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FIGURE 7. Photograph showing a group of skeletons of the fugitives who took shelter in chambers on the waterfront of Hercolaneum.

prices for these specialties were extremely high, such that it was said they were as expensive as perfume (24). Numerous historians, poets, and writers became interested in the catastrophe that struck these areas and people. Among them was Marcus Valerius Martialis (AD 40–104), a Latin poet considered to be one of the greatest epigrammatists of the ancient world, who dedicated an epigram to the salubrious climate of Mount Vesuvius, the beauty of the countryside, the fertility of the fields, and the deliciousness of the wines found in the sites that were destroyed: “And here lies Vesuvius, till

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yesterday verdant in the shade of the vine leaves: here the renowned grapes flowed from the press and filled casks to the brim. This the mountain Bacchus loved more than Nisa: until yesterday upon this mount the Satyrs danced. Here was the city of Venus [Pompeii], whom she loved more than Sparta; here the city whose name recalled the glory of Hercules [Herculaneum]. All is engulfed by flames and leaden ashes: the gods would have preferred not to be permitted to wreak such havoc” (19).

History of the Excavations In 1594, the architect Domenico Fontana slashed into the hill of modern Pompeii to excavate a canal to bring water from the Sarno River to Torre Annunziata, known as Oplontis at the time of the original eruption. On that occasion, the ruins of buildings and epigraphs were discovered, but the city itself was not recognized. Excavations in Herculaneum were begun in 1709 by the Austrian prince Emmanuel Maurice D’Elboeuf. He came across the stage wall of a theater as his workers were excavating a well in the woods of the Alcantrine friars. The prince ordered the removal of the statues and the precious marble that covered the walls of the stage, and these subsequently found their way to the great museums of Europe. In 1748, as a result of some fortuitous discoveries, King Charles III of Bourbon ordered the first explorations of Pompeii, similar to those that were already in progress in Herculaneum. The often bitter controversies that accompanied these excavations from the beginning later led to the irrefutable accusations made by the famous archaeologist Winkelmann regarding the “excavators,” among whom was the Spanish military architect Roque Joaquim de Alcubierre, who “had as much to do with antiquity as the moon has with shrimps” and who directed the excavations together with two other engineers, Jacob Karl Weber and Francisco La Vega (30). The goal of the excavation, assigned to engineers often in conflict with each other and lacking an actual program of research, was to extract from the ground and assemble the objects found in archaeological sites; the sites were then covered up once again. The objects were to enrich the Bourbon Museum of Naples, now the Museo Archeologico Nazionale, built by Charles of Bourbon. Horace Walpole, son of the Whig English Prime Minister, in Naples as part of his Grand Tour, remarked: “The work is unhappily under the direction of Spaniards, people of no taste or erudition, so that the workmen dig as chance directs them.” Notwithstanding, the sovereign deluded himself into believing that he was supervising the works from the palace and continued to use Alcubierre, who was justly censured by more cultured and farsighted persons. The king was also a jealous custodian of anything that was extracted and claimed as exclusive privilege not only any fragment of antiquity but the right of reproduction and design. The extreme harshness of the royal penalty fell on five inhabitants of Resina, who confessed under torture to the crime of having stolen three clay lanterns and one of bronze. The misdeed was pun-

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ished in an exemplary manner by public whipping with ignominy, imprisonment, and 3 years of exile. In 1750, a fragment of an inscription extracted from the well that had been excavated 41 years before by D’Elboeuf was examined by Marcello Venuti, director of the Royal Library, who said he discerned the word theatrum (31). Venuti had himself lowered to the bottom of the well by a rope; there, by the light of a torch, he discovered the layout of steps and the curve of a semicircular structure. Recalling a tale of D. Cassius Cocceianus, according to which the people of Herculaneum had been surprised by the eruption while they were in a theater, he reported to the sovereign that this was actually the city that had been buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, an observation soon confirmed by other epigraphic proof. This was the period that brought to light the villa of Cicero (later recovered), the villa of Diomedes, the theater, and the path of the Sepulchre. Even J.W. Goethe, in Italy for his own Grand Tour in 1786 and attracted by the beauties of Naples, went to Mount Vesuvius and to some of the archaeological sites; however, perhaps because the excavations had not yet achieved the extraordinary results we are familiar with today, he did not formulate any complimentary judgments of Pompeii (“Pompeii is a surprise to all visitors for the modesty of its proportions, roads that are narrow though straight and with sidewalks on both sides. Small houses without windows, rooms connected to courtyards and to porticoes whose only light comes from the doors. Even the public buildings, such as the Bank at the entrance to the city and the Temple and even a nearby villa seem to resemble toy models and doll displays rather than buildings”). In March 1787, however, he was stunned by the magnificence of the Greek temples of Paestum, where he tasted mozzarella, a typical cheese produced using the milk of the buffalos native to the area and described by the writer as animals “resembling hippopotami and with wild and bloody eyes” (11). Excavations proceeded slowly under the Bourbons, with the aim of enriching the Bourbon Museum of Naples rather than of classifying the ruins and placing them into a historical context. Many men of culture who were involved in the political debate of the period, including the Neapolitan followers of the Enlightenment, clearly disapproved of this method of conducting the excavations. This was the result of harsh and continuous confrontations between the conservatives and the supporters of renewal, as exemplified by the statement: “Vous êtes des charlatains, messieurs les antiquaires!” Thus, Charles Louis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu, reproached a dear friend in the antique business in a letter dated November 9, 1751. The irony of the writer of L’esprit des lois was directed not only to the manias of antiquarians in general but also referred to their methods, aimed at the discovery of individual objects rather than a faithful reconstruction of the complex historical experience that those objects represented. The esprit philosophique of that period condemned any cultural undertaking that was not socially useful. It also expressed the concept that the cult of ancient objects conceived the human condition to

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always be the same, codified in the beginning per aeternum. This philosophy would lead to the negation of any novelty and the passive acceptance of a static world; thus, enthusiasm for the ancient was a means to conceal nostalgia for the past and to doubt the future. It was natural, therefore, for the Neapolitan and European culture of the time, critical of the Old World, to be against rather than for any great archaeological undertaking. Under Joachim Murat, King of Naples at the order of Napoleon (1808–1815), interest in the town planning and architecture of the uncovered cities re-emerged, especially with respect to Pompeii, with a special focus on domestic construction and its increased importance in light of the culture now based on the principles of the Enlightenment. Activity resumed with greater fervor, especially in the area of Porta Ercolano and the forum. In September 1812, Queen Caroline Murat Bonaparte, sister of Napoleon, wrote a letter to the people in charge of the excavations, asking them to define the complete perimeter of the city, (“avoir le tour de la ville”), to give a name to the districts and the roads (“donner le noms à chaque quartier et aux rues”), and to make a precise inventory as the items were excavated (“à mesure qu’on fouille faire un inventaire exact”). There followed a temporary interruption of the excavations, but work was resumed from 1851 to 1859. In 1860, with the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy, the excavations, now under the direction of the archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli, were provided new impetus and, finally, a scientific basis. First of all, perhaps to respect the wishes of Queen Caroline Murat, he subdivided the city into regiones (regions) and insulae (blocks), each with a number. He also conceived the expedient of making casts of the victims of the eruption, using liquid plaster poured into the cavities found in the solidified ashes. This system was later applied to the wooden parts of the houses (doors, windows, architraves, and household furnishings), thus expanding our knowledge of even the smallest objects (9). Fiorelli was succeeded by others up to our own time, including Amedeo Maiuri and Alfonso de Francisciis, who have undertaken to complete and restore the excavations so that visitors and scientists may have as complete and faithful a view as possible of the architectural elements, the decorations, and all the minute objects contained therein (18) (Fig. 8).

THE CITY The planimetry of the city was influenced by the Greek architect and urban specialist of the 5th century BC, ⌱␲␲␱´ ␦␣␮␱␵ ⑀␬ M␫␭␩´ ␶␱␯, who is thought to have originally conceived the layout of the city according to orthogonal roadways. Although it is located in Naples, the old Greek town has a strict Hippodamean texture, set at right angles and with uniform dimensions of the blocks; in Pompeii, it is possible to find only the partial layout of such an arrangement. The city stretched out over two straight roads that crossed at the center of the city, with two decumani running from east to west (via della Fortuna and via dell’Abbondanza), and three cardines

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FIGURE 8. Photograph showing panoramic view of the excavation area of Pompeii.

running north to south (via di Mercurio, via Stabia, and via Nocera). Because the roads were essential for transportation, commerce, and exchange, they were constructed of enormously large and thick polygonal blocks to ensure solidity and durability. To make it easier for pedestrians to cross the streets when it rained and, at the same time, avoid obstructing the passage of vehicles, raised quoins were placed from one sidewalk to the other (Fig. 9). The majority of the roads of that era now seem to us to be narrow: in Pompeii, they were 7.9, 11.8, or 14.7 ft wide, and the widest of all measured little more than 23 ft. Often, fountains decorated with sculptures, sitting above rectangular basins of stone, were placed at the crossroads. Ancient Pompeii, with a population of approximately 20,000, covered an area of approximately 66 hectares and was surrounded by a fortified retaining wall 10,500 ft long. Like many Roman cities, its urban design was similar to that of the castra, fortified military encampments. The wall had seven gates (Porta Marina, Porta Stabia, Porta Nola, Porta Ercolano, Porta Nocera, and the now semidestroyed Porta Vesuvio and Porta Sarno), whose names indicated the destination of the road intersecting the gate. The gates were further reinforced by 12 square towers. Near the city gates were located the hospitia, or hotels, as well as the stabula, or barns for the animals, whereas the principal roads were filled with cauponae, or inns, and thermopolia, or snack bars. The center of life in the city was concentrated in Via dell’Abbondanza, where one could find the latest and most interesting news on elections, shows, and finance, for example, disseminated by writings and drawings executed by scriptores. The walls of the homes along this road contained numerous graffiti writings, rather like notebooks in which everyone could write: shopkeepers, students, lovers, and even slave dealers and procurers to publicize their wares. The discoveries unearthed to date in the city of Pompeii have allowed us to reconstruct daily life in that city with a

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paving stone on a street near the forum, indicating the way to the alley of the nearby lupanar, or brothel.

Public Buildings

FIGURE 9. Photograph showing the Via dell’Abbondanza connecting the area of the forum with the Porta Sarno (3rd century BC).

certain degree of accuracy: what the people of Pompeii did in their leisure time in the thermae, the theatrum, and the amphitheatrum. Life there was lived at a frenetic pace, with constant bustle in streets filled with persons going about their business, buying and selling, or working in the numerous craft shops of the city, whereas many others would be found eating in the numerous thermopolia. Frescoes, mosaics, and statues reconstruct even the sexual habits of its people with naturalness and simplicity. Customs were free of any prejudices, and there were absolutely no taboos regarding sexual proclivity (28). The people of Pompeii were open-minded on the subject of sex, considering it an important part of daily life and an activity to be carried out with extreme lack of constraint. Sexual habits that we may today view as perversions were practiced openly because they were considered as fulfilling practical and earthly needs, granted through the benevolence of Venus, the protectress of the city. There are sexual symbols and scenes everywhere: graffiti or paintings on the walls of the thermae and in the lupanar depict the most varied of sexual positions and services, and phalluses of varying size and shape are found at the entrance of many homes and business establishments because they were symbols of plenty as well as being useful as doorbells. Inside many houses, frescoes or statues representing Priapus, the god of fecundity and abundance, always with extraordinary attributes, welcomed everyone who entered. There is even a phallus sculpted into a

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At the intersection of the two main roads or its immediate vicinity was the Forum Civile, a long rectangular square paved in travertine and enclosed on two sides by columned porticoes on two levels. Dominated on the north by the Temple of Jupiter, the forum was the center of religious, political, and commercial life, with the most important public buildings located around it according to a repetitive scheme similar to the layout of many Roman cities throughout the world. The forum was the Greek 〈␷␱␳␱´ ␣´ , the fulcrum of the urban system and of city life (Fig. 10). This vast porticoed rectangular area, with public buildings along three sides, set the scene for most political and religious activities, business meetings, and leisure time. Carts were forbidden from entering the area, and the square was surrounded by more than 100 blocks containing buildings in which all the urban, public, religious, lay, residential, and commercial functions took place. At the back of the square, to the north, was the Temple of Jupiter, built in the 2nd century BC; after the founding of the Roman colony in the year 80 BC, it was transformed into the Capitolium and dedicated to the cult of the Capitoline triad (Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva). Along the western side were located the horreum (public granary), the treasury, and the mensa ponderaria (i.e., weighing tables that made use of standard-capacity measures and were supervised by special magistrates to prevent any fraud by shopkeepers; a total of 12 units of measurement were used). To the south were the buildings used by the public administration: the buildings of the duumviri, the aediles, and the curia (municipal council). On the eastern side was the eumachia, headquarters of the fullones guild (manufacturers and washers of woolen fabrics), and the macellum (Fig. 11), the food market. The basilica, also located along the square, was used for business dealings and for the administration of justice. This was the meetingplace for businessmen and was used by lawyers to meet with their clients. The graffiti in the Oscan language found written along the walls and the seal Ni Pupie (Numerius Pupidius, Samnite magistrate) place this building among the oldest examples of this style. Next to the forum is the Temple of Isis (Fig. 12), a cult imported from Egypt, containing a small subterranean cavity used to preserve the sacred water of the River Nile and a large room in the back of the temple that served as a meeting place for the numerous worshippers of this cult. At the crossroad of the main roads were located the thermae suburbanae (Fig. 13), the suburban thermal baths, arranged on two levels and connected by an internal stairway (14). The steam issuing from the water heated in huge tanks circulated through the classical premises by means of cavities in the walls and in the floors. The lower level was the actual thermal area and contained the apodyterium (dressing rooms) (Fig. 14), the frigidarium (cold baths), the tepidarium (premises with a moderate temperature), the laconicum (a small room for steam

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FIGURE 11. Photograph showing the macellum.

FIGURE 12. Photograph showing the Temple of Isis. FIGURE 10. Photograph showing the Forum Civile.

baths) and, finally, the calidarium (a room containing the hot water). In such suburban baths, no distinction was made between premises for men and women, in contrast to the other two thermae that served the city: the thermae stabianae and the thermae forenses, where men and women were separated. The city was served by an aqueduct for public use and for the private residences of the rich. The castellum aquae was the city outlet for the aqueduct built by Augustus to supply the imperial fleet at Misenum. Fed by the sources of the Serino, near modern-day Avellino, it was built on the highest point of the city, behind the Porta Vesuvio, to exploit the pressure of the falling water. It consisted of a watershed that branched out

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in three directions, bringing water to the different areas of the city. Distribution was regulated by metal floodgates. In the section of the city where there was a small hill, a building used for theatrical performances already existed as early as the 5th century BC. This had been constructed “in the Greek style,” by excavating steps along the flank of the hill. The Greeks were not familiar with the arch, but the Romans, modifying it from the Etruscans, used it to create arched and vaulted structures capable of supporting any type of masonry structure. In ancient times, performances were delivered during the day in theaters and arenas that the public entered free of charge, because these were part of the religious rites in honor of Dionysus. The current theatrum, which also had an

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FIGURE 13. Photograph showing the thermae suburbanae. The thermal complex was built in the early imperial age and is found outside the city walls.

FIGURE 14. Photograph showing the thermae suburbanae with apodyterium (wooden boards for clothing). On the top floor were some erotic paintings without any decorative function (perhaps sexual performances by the slaves).

area covered with porticoes to shelter the public when it rained, could contain up to 5000 persons. The steps, or cavea, in the shape of a horseshoe, were divided into three zones: the lower or ima cavea, in marble, was reserved for the decurions and citizens who had served their country; a balustrade decorated with the claws of the winged griffin separated the ima from the media and the summa cavea, reserved for the general public. Usually, the performances consisted of the plays of Plautus or Terentius; popular farces in Oscan, the Atellanae; and mimes and pantomimes accompanied by dances and music. The duumviri Gaius Quinctius Valgus and Marcus Portius, both lieutenants of Sulla, built the amphitheatrum (Fig. 15) around the year 80 BC at their own expense. Partially embed-

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FIGURE 15. Photograph showing the amphitheatrum. In the background is Mount Vesuvius.

ded in the mountain, this is the oldest Roman amphitheater in existence. Although it did not have the structural and construction complexity of the later imperial amphitheaters, it was sufficiently large to accommodate 20,000 spectators. In AD 59, this amphitheater became the site of a terrible fight between the Pompeians and Nocerians (27) that took place during the course of an exhibition of gladiators organized by Livinius Regulus. The citizens of Nocera and Pompeii began to trade insults, which led to rock throwing and then sword thrusts, finally ending up with a great number of wounded and dead. The Emperor delegated the Roman Senate to investigate, which, in turn, delegated the Consuls, who suspended all performances in Pompeii for 10 years and condemned Livinius and the instigators of the riot to exile. Next to the great amphitheater is the gymnasium, surrounded by a portico, with a swimming pool at its center. According to the plentiful graffiti found there, this is where the gladiators trained for their performances.

Commercial Establishments All along the streets of the city, stores and shops occupied the premises on the ground floor of the buildings, many transformed to this use only during the final years of Pompeii when the mercantile class became more fully developed. In their single ground floor premises, some of the shops also had a mezzanine, usually made of wood, used as a residence for the shopkeepers. This functional scheme is still visible in many of the shops in southern Italy to this day. At times, the shops opened onto the sidewalk, with a small wooden portico providing shelter from the sun and used to display merchandise. At the entrance to the shops was a long stone counter covered

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in marble and containing rounded amphorae filled with oil, wine, or grain. A study of the wall graffiti and the painted plaster on the walls provides an idea of the social and religious customs of the city at the time and has allowed us to identify the different types of shops and public services available (8). Various tools and objects, such as stone grinders to produce flour in bakery shops, and the discovery of numerous carbonized loaves of bread found in ovens later revealed the use of these premises. The fullonica, purportedly of Stephanus, is one of 4 large laundries of a total of 18 that existed in Pompeii. This was constructed by restructuring an existing house in which the ground floor was reserved for work activities and the upper floor was used as a residence. The restructuring of the house into a fullonica required the transformation of the impluvium into a basin to be used to wash and rinse the clothes and the modification of an inclined roof to a flat roof to be used as a terrace to dry the various items. Clothes were washed using water, soda, and urine (the most prized of which was camel urine imported from the East), because soap was not known at the time in Pompeii and was only subsequently discovered in Gallia. Urine, later taxed by the Emperor Vespasianus (26), was collected daily in the gastrum urinarum, a urinary amphora of terra cotta without a neck, located at the corner of roads and alleys or near the entrance to the fullonica to be used by those who passed by. The fullones, or washermen, then collected the urine, which was much prized for its cleaning and disinfecting properties. At the back of the shop was a kitchen used to prepare meals for the workers. At the time of the excavations, the door to the shop was found closed with a lock, and inside was a skeleton with the sum of 1089.5 cesterces in gold, silver, and bronze coins (the income of the day or perhaps the savings of a fugitive in search of shelter). The macellum (Fig. 11), a Greek word meaning market, was used principally for the sale of meat and fish, which were weighed using the classic lever scales; one of these scales was unearthed along with the weight, which was in the shape of a bust of Mercurius. Inside was a porticoed courtyard with rows of shops. The pistrinum (Fig. 16), one of the 34 bakeries found in Pompeii, was used to make bread. Such shops had been in use since the 2nd century BC. The special characteristics of these shops are the grinder and wood-burning oven, similar to the ovens that are still in use today in the pizza restaurants of Naples. The grinder was pulled by a donkey and used to grind the grain, which was poured from the top. The textrina (textile shop) has been reconstructed on the basis of graffiti. We know that the upper level, where the weaving took place, contained the looms and that the lower level was used to sell the finished product. The work was performed principally by women, according to the graffiti found in the textrina of Terentius Eudox, giving the names of 11 women and seven men. This work was considered particularly suitable for women; indeed, Augustus himself encouraged his wife, daughters, and nieces to weave. Many of the

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FIGURE 16. Fresco showing the pistrinum, one of the most ancient bakeries managed by a freedman of P. Priscus, one of the oldest and important families in Pompeii.

tombstones in memory of dead women also describe the deceased as lanifica assidua (a steady weaver). The thermopolium (Fig. 17), similar to our modern-day snack bar, was popular, given the habit of the time to eat the pran-

FIGURE 17. Photograph showing the thermopolium. In this sort of restaurant were served hot meals and drinks (from which came the name). Along the back wall are the Lares.

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dium (lunch) outside the home. This type of eating establishment, a sort of “fast food restaurant,” could provide a hot meal that could be eaten while remaining in the street, through a wide opening in the premises, or while going inside, to the rooms in the back. The structure had a masonry counter in which were embedded the dolia, containing the merchandise. In one of these containers was found a number of coins weighing approximately 3 kg and valued at 680 cesterces, perhaps the income of the day, given the enormous quantity of change (374 aces and 1237 quadrants). The graffiti written on the doors of different buildings identify numerous craft shops, each having a different specialty, indicating the high level of efficiency that existed in Pompeii at the time of the earthquake. On the majority of the entrances to commercial establishments hung the tintinnabula, which had the dual function of warning of the entry of a customer and keeping away the evil eye (apotropaic function, from the Greek ␣´ ␲␱␶␳␱´ ␲␣␫␱␵ [keeping away the evil]). The writing of the words faber ferrarius Iunianus indicated a hardware store, where horse bits, common keys, falces vinitoriae (small scythes for the vineyards), and four sets of compedes (fetters for slaves) were found. Another example of graffiti read quactiliari rogant (the felt workers recommend); to the left of the entry to this shop was a Pompeian Venus laden with jewels and cloaked in felt. The shop of the lignarius, or woodworker, had a bas-relief of a phallus at the entrance to protect against the evil eye. In the shop of a pottery maker called Zosimus, which sold the vasa faecaria (i.e., containers for garum sauce) among other things, six containers with residue of the sauce still inside were found. In the officina lanifricaria, which specialized in shearing and wool making, graffiti indicate the best period to shear sheep—between the spring equinox and the summer solstice (March 21–June 22) and preferably during the waning moon. The officina infectoria, with the graffiti infectores rogant (dyers suggest), contained recommendations on how to keep colors bright.

The Home Almost two-thirds of the urban area of Pompeii was occupied by private homes. The city of Pompeii provides an excellent opportunity to study the private residence in all its aspects and through the entire period of Pompeii’s social and historical development, lasting more than 4 centuries, from the 3rd to 4th century BC to the 1st century AD. Because the different types of construction refer to distinctly different eras, it is possible to determine the date of the initial construction of a building as well as all subsequent renovations and/or transformations. Pompeii provides us with a rare and precise anthology of the domus, whose basic scheme was established by the Samnites. The Samnite era is characterized by the opus incertum and by constructions of tufa stone. The constructions dating to the first Roman period, on the other hand, consist of small square blocks with an octagonal grid placement, whereas brick was introduced during final Roman period. Through the centuries, each invading population transplanted to Pompeii its own customs and culture, but of all the invasions, the people that left the greatest imprint were the

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Samnites, with their influence still felt even after 4 centuries of progressive Romanization. The style of the houses varied according to the social status of the owner. Wealthy aristocrats, landowners, fenatores (bankers), forenses (lawyers), and the nobiles (nobility) lived in luxurious homes having a surface area of 4842 to 32,280 sq ft, mostly situated in the regio VI. In Italic style, these were later enlarged with peristilia (gardens), triclinia (dining rooms), and oeci (salons), for example, with enchanting hanging terraces overlooking splendid panoramas. The house was designed specifically with receptions and banquets in mind, because this class was accustomed to providing “. . . atria et perystilia amplissima, silvae ambulationesque laxiores . . . praeterea bybliothecas, pinacothecas . . . quod in domus eorum saepius et publica consilia et privata iudicia arbitraque conficiuntur . . .” (. . . wide atriums and peristyles, ample gardens and porticoes . . . libraries and art galleries . . . for their homes were often used for public councils as well as for private arbitrations . . .) (29). The more modest and less wealthy class of freedmen, artisans, and businessmen lived typically in smaller houses ranging in size from approximately 1291 to 3765 sq ft. The rooms were grouped around a central covered atrium or around a garden enclosed by a retaining wall called a viridarium. Wall and floor decor was less luxurious even though rather elegant at times. The third type of residence, called a house-shop or simply shop, was usually 215 to 538 sq ft in size, with a room behind the shop or a loft built above the shop area called a pergula that could be reached by a wooden stair. This latter type of residence was considered quite humble: habitare in pergula meant living in a hovel “. . . hic qui pergula natus est, aedes non somniatur . . .” (he who is born in a hovel, dreams not of palaces) (23). The names assigned to the houses by the excavators during the various eras followed different criteria. If the name of the owner was found on a bronze seal or on wall graffiti, that was the name assigned to the house (e.g., House of the Vettii), the name may refer to an important object discovered in the house (e.g., House of the Faun, House of the Golden Bracelet), or the name may refer to a painting found therein (e.g.,Villa of the Mysteries, Villa of the Ship Europa). The domus italica had a number of rooms used principally to meet physical requirements, such as bedrooms, toilets, kitchens, and dining rooms, all located alongside the spaces reserved for the family’s social and cultural activities (17). These spaces were either covered, as in the case of the atrium (Fig. 18), or open, as in the peristilium (Fig. 19). The most popular, the atrium-style house, consisted of a central nucleus, the atrium, with a roof having an opening in the center to allow rain water to flow into a tank called an impluvium. Linked around the atrium were the various rooms for the family and servants, and in the back was a large area used partly as an orchard or vegetable garden and partly as a flower garden. At the entrance to the house and to many of the commercial establishments was a lararium, the private oratory of the Romans or chapel used to worship the Lares, the household gods who protected the house and the family. The well-preserved lararium of the House of the Vettii was inserted in an aedicule; in the middle was the Genius of the owner, and laterally were

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FIGURE 18. Perspective drawing demonstrating reconstruction scheme and section of an atrium-type house (from, “Pompei e gli architetti francesi dell’800”; catalog of the exhibition, Naples, 1981).

FIGURE 20. Fresco in the House of the Vettii showing the Genius (spirit) of the household in the center, the Lares (protectors) laterally, and the Agatodemon (good snake) at the bottom. The lararium is located in an aedicula.

FIGURE 19. Perspective drawing demonstrating reconstruction scheme and section of a peristilium-type house (from, “Pompei e gli architetti francesi dell’800”; catalog of the exhibition, Naples, 1981).

the Lares, together with the Agatodemon (the good snake) (Fig. 20) as opposed to the Kakodemon (the evil snake). The Agatodemon was represented by the Greeks with a crowned head and a tail with a lotus flower. In the lararium of the thermopolium, Mercurius, god of commerce and profit, and Dionysus, god of wine, are represented together with the Lares (Fig. 21). This design was so practical that the Romans did not change it for hundreds of years. The only changes they made involved simple additions to the domus to increase the service rooms.

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The atrium was often embellished with columns, and the garden was adorned with fountains and statues. Private rooms for women only (the gynaeceum), rooms for conversation (the exedrae), and private thermal baths (the balneum) were created. From the 2nd century BC, this model underwent a Hellenic influence, whereby one or more peristyles were added in the rear, the area previously used as an orchard or garden. The garden was the heart and center of the house, where the family would eat, pray, work, and relax. The older houses also had fruit and walnut trees, underneath which vegetables were grown. In modern houses, the gardens were more ornamental, with lawns, berries, viburnums, laurel, oleanders, and roses. Initially, the garden, or hortus, simply had the function of providing food and was the responsibility of the lady of the house: “. . . Haec cura feminae dicebatur . . .” (24). In time, however, the garden assumed a more architectural aspect and was placed under the responsibility of a topiarius, the master gardener. The old hortus was now transformed into a place of prestige to be used for rest, amusement, and receptions, and it was adorned and enriched with swimming pools, statues, and paintings. Naturally, there was also a nymphaeum, a place of meditation, where water was the dominant element. Some of the houses uncovered in Pompeii are especially significant: the House of the Faun takes its name from a small bronze statue of a dancing faun. The house occupies an entire block and was the largest and most luxurious villa in the Pompeii of the Samnite era. In addition to numerous valuable paintings, it contained a floor mosaic representing Alexander the Great defeating the Persian king Darius at the peak of the Battle of Issus (333 BC), now visible in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale of

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Naples. The Villa of the Mysteries is one of the most important of the monumental buildings uncovered in the city. Built during the first half of the 2nd century BC as an urban residence, it underwent extensive renovation, becoming a highly elegant patrician villa (Fig. 21). After the earthquake of AD 62, it fell into the hands of crude owners; shorn of its previous furnishings, it was transformed into a rustic villa and farmhouse. The villa, with its large Dionysian painting and farming installations, more than any other, represents a unique synthesis of art, religion, and work in the fields, displaying all the various and essential aspects of Pompeii. Inside the villa, in a marble-paved room approximately 376 sq ft in size, is the Hall of the Great Painting (Fig. 22), a fresco that extends over a surface area 56 ft in length and 10 ft in height (megalography), with life-sized figures on a red background, the typical color of Pompeii. The 29 figures in the painting are grouped and separated into different scenes, human activities alternating with divine figures and actions. According to recent studies, this painting illustrates a bride’s initiation into the Dionysian mysteries; thus, the name. The ecstatic and sensual cult of Dionysus, the god who inspired passion and debauchery and who was honored with unbridled dances to the cry of Evoè (the typical cry of joy of the bacchantes), was widespread in southern Italy, in spite of a severe ban imposed by the Roman Senate (Senatus Consultum de Bacchanalibus). The scene begins with the figure of a child (perhaps Dionysus) reading the sacred papyrus containing the rules for the ritual (Figs. 23 and 24). The House of the Vettii reflects the life of the wealthier classes in the Pompeii of the 1st century AD. Two bronze seals have led scholars to attribute this house to two wealthy freedmen, Aulus Vettiius Restitutus and Aulus Vettiius Conviva. The villa has a superb peristyle enriched by a splendid garden, in which are expertly located fountains and decorative waterworks that have been uncovered intact by the excavations (Fig. 25). All around are rooms decorated with the fantastic architecture of the fourth pictorial style, with elegant wall paintings of mythological subjects. Along the southern wall is a painting depicting the struggle between Hero and Pan. On the northern wall is an illustration of the myth of Cyparissus, who was guilty of killing a favored deer of Apollo; Apollo then avenged himself by transforming

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FIGURE 22. Fresco found in the Hall of the Great Painting (megalography) in the Villa of the Mysteries.

FIGURE 23. Fresco in the Villa of the Mysteries showing the first part of the great painting.

FIGURE 24. Fresco in the Villa of the Mysteries showing the second part of the great painting.

FIGURE 21. Drawing of the Villa of the Mysteries demonstrating perspective (P. Scurati Manzoni, 1991).

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Cyparissus into a cypress. On the northeast corner of the peristyle, Daedalus is showing Pasíphae, the wife of King Minos of Crete, the wooden cow he has built for her. Pasíphae enters the cow and couples with a bull with whom she has fallen in love, thus conceiving the Minotaur. Another structure of great value is the House of the Papyri, located in Herculaneum approximately 98 ft underneath the

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FIGURE 25. Photograph showing the garden of the House of the Vettii.

current level of the city. This villa stands out for its grandiose architecture. Its facade is 820 ft long, with a rectangular peristyle measuring 328 ft by 121 ft, with 25 columns on the major sides and 10 on the minor sides and a pool at the center measuring 216 ft. There is also an immense terrace opening out toward the sea, with a lookout reached by means of a long path paved with precious and elegant marble inlays. This was the home of the patrician Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesarinus, the father-in-law of Julius Caesar, a man of extremely fine taste and profound and eclectic culture. He loved surrounding himself with works of art in marble and bronze (which are today found in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale of Naples) and had a complete library of Epicurean philosophy, with texts by the philosopher Philodemus Gadarensis, consisting of 1759 papyri. These papyri were found rolled and charred, but special methods and equipment have been used to open them without damage, allowing us to read, translate, and interpret them (10).

Paintings The paintings found in Pompeii provide an idea of the nature of ancient paintings: each house or shop, even a modest one, contained murals, which were considered an essential element for the embellishment of the walls. Figurative paintings were almost always copies, usually of well-known Greek works. It is surprising that there was such a great number of works and of such excellent quality, considering the relatively modest importance of the city compared with Rome. The technique used for the wall paintings, known as fresco, consisted of applying two or three layers of plaster made of a mixture of lime, sand, and marble powder to the walls. This was used to paint the background and was then left to dry. After drying, decorations were added. The colors used were made of colored earth such as ochres, mineral dyes such as copper carbonate, and vegetable and animal dyes. Contrary to ancient oriental art, which placed no great emphasis on scenery, or the Greek art of Praxiteles and Phidias, which focused on man, Pompeian art provides us with an entire array of all that can possibly be painted: still lifes, animals (i.e., insects, fish, reptiles, birds), and landscapes. Apart from the purely

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mythological inspiration of the majority of these works, artists also attempted to evoke the pleasure of the countryside with all the characteristic elements of idyllic scenery: shepherds, flocks, small temples, villas, and, farther away, mountains. Even though artists were not familiar with perspective (the rules of this type of representation were not developed for more than 1000 years), they drew faraway items and persons as small and those that were closer or more important as large. Thanks to the countless discoveries made throughout the different eras, scholars have identified four distinct styles of painting, not particularly specific to Pompeii but well known throughout the Roman world. The first style, also known as the “encrustation style,” goes back to the Samnite era, around 150 BC, up to the initial years of the Roman colony, around the year 80 BC. It takes its name from the Latin word crusta, meaning to cover with marble slabs, an economical surrogate for marble, and consists of simple squares in the predominant colors of red and black. Hues are intense, indicating an elementary chromatic sensitivity. This style was widespread in buildings and homes and is found in the basilica and Temple of Jupiter as well as in such private homes as the House of the Faun. The second style is the “architectural style,” which was predominant from the year 80 BC to AD 14, that is, from the origin of the Roman colony to the death of the Emperor Augustus. Paintings of this period consist of a plinth above, on which is painted an architectural pseudoperspective containing mythological paintings as part of a vast landscape. The Villa of the Mysteries, with its Hall of the Great Painting, perfectly expresses this style of painting and this period. The works of landscape painters of this period are usually inspired by details from a garden. Pompeii is full of such examples, presaging the French and Flemish tapestries known as verdures. It was also the fashion to paint animals such as birds and fishes together with vegetables and different types of fruit in an extraordinary series of still lifes. Some of the wall decorations in this style are of the trompe l’oeil variety (Fig. 26). The third style, or “Egyptian style,” also known as the style “of the royal wall,” has a complex architecture depicting fantastic buildings adorned by small suspended figures. This style was in vogue from AD 14, the first imperial age, to AD 62. The artists of the new school completely overturned the three-dimensional opening of space. They traced on the walls a loosely woven and inconsistent structure, similar to bamboo, with many Egyptian motifs, a result of the conquest of this country by Rome in 30 BC. At that time, drawings aimed for a certain flat and decorative aspect similar to tapestries and draperies, which, according to the nails and hooks that were discovered, were used to cover the walls. The landscapes painted on the walls during this period were small, so reduced in size as to appear to be miniatures drawn on the masonry. Finally, the fourth style, or “ornamental style,” from 62 to 79 AD, is the style of the final Pompeian period and the one that best renders the luxurious and mercantile character of the houses of Pompeii before the eruption. This style encompasses different genres of painting. Because the fourth style belongs to the final

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FIGURE 27. Fourth style. Fresco showing mythological scenes in the triclinium of the House of the Vettii.

FIGURE 26. Second style. Frescoed door demonstrating trompe l’oeil. The limecontaining amphorae testify to the work in progress to repair the damage caused by the earthquake of AD 64 to the vestibulum of the house of C.J. Polibius.

years of this city, the paintings are also more numerous. Typical of this period is the House of the Vettii (Fig. 27) (2). All four styles are in total harmony with the common idea of placing illustrations on masonry, with an imaginary depth that is the basis for future drawings in perspective. Apart from any stylistic classification, there are also numerous paintings of popular subjects depicting the environment and the social customs, including, in particular, the paintings of the Lares, scenes of sex in the lupanarii and thermae, scenes in inns, and depictions of fights in the amphitheatrum. Among Pompeians was diffused the habit to represent with splendid masks characters sometimes human and sometimes mythological. These were found in numerous frescoes, which, unlike Christian painting, were never painted on walls of churches or temples but mainly in private houses and villas (Figs. 28 and 29). Pompeii, one among the best-preserved ancient cities, today represents a rich field of study and investigation for scientists. The excavations were initiated under the Bourbon king and are still at the height of their course; scientists tend to believe that only 30% of the city has been unearthed. This city, together with other cities of the Mount Vesuvius area, represents one of the most famous models for historians, archaeologists,

NEUROSURGERY

FIGURE 28. Fresco on a wall of the oecus in the House of the Golden Bracelet showing a mask.

urbanists, volcanologists, geologists, paleopathologists, and other experts. Buried, together with other cities, between August 24 and 25, AD 79, Pompeii remained sealed under the

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ished world in all its past splendor, with its artwork openly divulging the details of its public life, the secrets of its private life, and even the mysteries of its religious rites (22).

REFERENCES

FIGURE 29. Fresco on a wall in a house in Insula occidentalis showing a mask.

deposits of the eruption of its volcano for almost 2000 years. Although the eruption killed thousands of defenseless men and women, it preserved intact and perpetuated one of the most precious documents of antiquity. Thus, streets, monuments, villas, temples, and gardens of these blooming settings remained forgotten for centuries. Today, the excavations are giving us back extraordinary evidence concerning the culture, everyday life, habits, architecture, and wonderful frescoes of the Roman cities of southern Italy. As Goethe said: “. . . no disaster gave so much joy to the following generations . . ..” If everything that was removed from Pompeii was put back today, imagination could make us believe that the city is still alive. The shop of the pharmacist, with the symbol of the Caduceus and the phials, seems to tell us that the pharmacist has just gone into the other room to prepare a potion. Entering in the pistrinum and seeing the sacks of wheat, the oven, and the millstone, we could believe that the donkey turning the mill-wheel has just run away. In the mensa ponderaria, the weigher is not there because he went to force a fraudulent trader to pay the fine. Entering in the amphitheatrum, one seems to hear the tumultuous sounds of the fight between the Nocerians and Pompeians. Goodness knows but that one day, during an excavation, it may happen that one of the modern archeologists hears from underground the voice of a Pompeian asking for help: “maxime Jupiter salvum me fac” (“supreme Jupiter, save me”). Covered by a shroud of ashes and lapilli after centuries of sleep, one fine day Pompeii reawakened and arose from its sepulcher, revealing itself to an aston-

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1. Andreau J: Histoire des seismés et histoire économique: Le tremblement de terre de Pompéi (62 ap JC). Annales Economies Sociétés Civilisations 28:369–395, 1973. 2. Archer WC: The paintings in the alae of the Casa dei Vettii and a definition of the Fourth Pompeian Style. Am J Archeol 94:95–123, 1990. 3. Barberi F, Macedonio G, Pareschi MT, Santacroce R: Mapping the tephra fallout risk: An example from Vesuvius, Italy. Nature 344:142–144, 1990. 4. Braccini GC: Dell’incendio fattosi nel Vesuvio a XVI dicembre MDCXXXI. Napoli, Secondino Roncagliolo Ed., 1632. 5. Cato PV: De Agricoltura, in Mazzarino A (ed): Catone. Leipzig, B.G. Teubner, 1982. 6. D’Ambrosio A, Guzzo PG, Mastroroberto M: Storie da un’eruzione: Pompei, Ercolano, Oplontis. Milano, Mondadori Electa, 2003. 7. de Chateaubriand R: Voyage au Mont-Vésuve. Mercure de France 25:55–62, 1806. 8. Della Corte M: Case ed abitanti di Pompei. Napoli, Fiorentino Ed., 1965. 9. Fiorelli G: Pompeianorum Antiquitatum Historia nunc primum collegit indicibusque instruxit: I-III. Napoli, 1860–1864. 10. Fosse B, Kleve K, Stormer FC: Unrolling the Hercolaneum papyri. Cronache Ercolanesi 14:9–15, 1984. 11. Goethe JW: Viaggio in Italia. Milano, Mondadori Ed., 1993. 12. Hamilton W: Account of the great eruption of Mount Vesuvius in the month of August, 1779, in a Supplement to Campi Phlegraei. Napoli, Banco di Napoli Ed., 1985, pp 1–29. 13. Horatius QF: Sermones, Liber II, in Fortunati G (ed): Rileggendo Orazio. Roma, Luggiani, 1926. 14. Iacobelli L: Terme suburbane: Stato attuale delle conoscenze. Riv Stud Pompeiani 2:202–208, 1988. 15. Lacroix A: Les dernières jour d’Hercolaneum et de Pompéi interprétés à l’aide de quelques phénomènes récentes du vulcanisme. Bull Soc Geographie 18:5, 1908. 16. Leopardi G: La ginestra (o il fiore del deserto), in Ranieri A (ed): Edizione accresciuta, ordinata e corretta secondo l’ultimo intendimento dell’autore da Antonio Ranieri. Firenze, Le Monnier, 1845. 17. Maiuri A: Portico e peristilio. La parola del passato 3:306–322, 1936. 18. Maiuri A: Pompei. Roma, Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, 1978. 19. Martialis MV: Epigrammata: Op. Joannem Joubitium. Napoli, Biblioteca Nazionale, 1626. 20. Mastrolorenzo G, Petrone PP, Pagano M, Incoronato A, Baxter PJ, Canzanella A, Fattore L: Herculaneum victims of Vesuvius in AD 79. Nature 410:769–770, 2001. 21. Onorato GO: Pompei: Municipium e colonia romana. Rendiconti Accademia di Napoli 26:115–156, 1957. 22. Orgitano G: Da Napoli a Pompei, in de Bourcard F (ed): Usi e costumi di Napoli e contorni. Napoli, Reprints Ed., 1976, pp 297–320. 23. Petronius A: Satyricon: Amstedami apud I Inussonium. Napoli, Bibòlioteca Nazionale, 1634. 24. Plinius GS: Naturalis Historia, Op. Iolito di Ferrarii G. Napoli, Biblioteca Nazionale, 1543. 25. Plinius GS: Epistularum libri: C. Plinius Tacito suo salutem dicit, in Semi F (ed): Plinius. Pisa, Giardini degli Editori e Stampatori di Pisa, 1977. 26. Suetonius GT: Vespasianus, in Merone E (ed): C. Suetonii Tranquilli Divus Vespasianus: Commento, appendice critica e traduzione. Napoli, Intercontinentalia, 1966, 124 pp. 27. Tacitus PC: Annales: Op. Davanzati B. Napoli, Biblioteca Nazionale, 1641. 28. Varone A: L’erotismo a Pompei. Roma, L’Erma di Bretschneider, 2000. 29. Vitruvius P: De architectura, in Barbaro D (ed): I dieci libri dell’Architettura di Vitruvio. Venezia, de Franceschi et Chiriege, 1584, vol VI. 30. Winckelmann JJ: Storia dell’arte nell’antichità. Milano, Abscondita Ed., 2000. 31. Zevi F: Gli scavi di Ercolano e le Antichità: Le Antichità di Ercolano. Napoli, Banco di Napoli Ed., 1988, pp 15–17.

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