Pompeii & Herculaneum – the

living cities of the dead

HUM540
History of Ancient Cities
Spring 2010
Dr. Feuer
 Ancient Cities Model
• The Model of the Ancient City is typically an aggregated form of the many evolutionary attributes of small groups
of people growing into larger groups of extended family (villages) to a central fortified location to defend against
intrusion or attack by outside forces. These consolidated spaces for people to live in became ‘cities’ where certain
attributes took form.
• Many if not most Large cities sat near major fresh water locations as a result of mankind’s need for fresh drinking
water in daily life
• Many cities had some sort of ‘center’ and many of the cities functions occurred in that center. This included the
market place for buying/selling/trade, religious activities, a form of government administration (buildings) or
meeting place/area for assembly
• Most large cities were established with walls or a fortified position characterized by either a fortified wall or a
natural geographic advantage like being an island (surrounded by water), a desert (Egypt), or having a high
vantage point to see trouble coming from afar.
• Some for of administrative government existed in the form of tribal hierarchies, a tyrannical warrior leader, or
some other form of democracy, oligarchy to consolidate or distribute power.
• Most large cities had some form of trained or active military as a ‘protector’ for the citizens of the city. This was the
unspoken agreement between inhabitants and leaders; protection for tribute and taxes. This led to the stability of
societies and the ability to deal with both internal and external threats to that society and allowed for production of
goods, trade and economies to flourish
• Storing food created the ability to sustain societies in good and bad seasons of rain and pestilence, it also
presented security concerns from raiding tribes or people. This dual edged sword of capability required the ability
to defend their provisions and instruments of survival. Diversity of food sources followed in trade establishment.
• Building for the cycles of life and cemeteries for the rituals of death cemented people’s allegiance to an area of
land and planted their wandering tribes in a place to form an identity and become a ‘people’ of common purpose.
The Food production from a hinterland and the security of organized armed forces and technology that enabled a
defense caused all else to flourish.
 Class Model of Attributes of An Ancient City compared with
Pompeii
and
Herculaneum
• Table of Contents
• Common Attributes of Ancient Cities
• I Introduction………………………………………………………………..…..pp. 3-6
• II The Center of Public Life ……………………………………………………pp. 7-8
• III The City Authorities and Their Selection………………………………..….p. 8
• IV The Temples…………………………………………………………..…….. pp. 9
• V Veneration of the gods………………………………………………..….….pp. 10
• VI Commerce & Trade…………………………………………………………..pp. 10-11
• VII Water Sources, A Hinterland, Agricultural Resources…………………….p. 14

• Components of Ancient Cities that Pompeii & Herculaneum ‘Did Not’ have in common with Ancient Cities

• VIII Theaters & Amphitheaters………………………………………..………pp. 11-12

• IX The Tombs outside the Gates………………………………………...…..p. 13
• X. The Thermae & Palastrae of Pompeii……………..…….....……....…..pp. 13-14
• XI Division of Labor (slaves, workers, free men)…………...........……....pp. 14
• XII Armed Forces ………………………………………………………….....pp. 14-15
• XIII Water Sources (Aqueduct), Baths & Thermes…………………...……..p. 15
• XIV The Samnite and Roman Palastrae (gymnasium)…………............….p. 15
• XV (The Great Theater, The small theater & the Amphitheater……….….p. 16
• XVI Money Exchange/Banking/Barter………………………..…………..…..p. 17
• XVII Conclusion……………………………………………………………….....p. 16-17
• XVIII Bibliography………………………………………………………….….....p. 18
• XIX Addendums…………………………..………….…………………………p. 19
 Likely to Have Might Have Probably
would not
have
Village
Access to Fresh Water Walls for A standing
Some form of tribal/clan defense army
government decision making A central
A sense of community meeting place
ownership/relationship Agricultural
Multi-functional skills base base
Food storage
place
City
1.Fresh water source
2.Defensive wall and or a
standing security
force/army
3.A central market or
citadel
4.food storage
5.a hinterland for growing
food
6.a form of tyrannical,
democratic or monarchial
government
7.cemeteries
8.trade/commerce/barter
relationships established,
9.division of labor, class
systems/social stratification
• Pompeii was the equivalent of a modern exclusive resort island for
the rich and famous of that day but did have a population estimated
at approximately 64,000, that tells us that they probably weren’t all
‘elites’, but a mix of servants, merchants and support system
population to the rich and potential aristocracy of that day.
• Since Pompeii was more urban and Herculaneum was the ‘country
villa’ of sorts and more rural, the state-of-the art examples of a polis
or agora are going to be enhanced due to the massive amount of
money that was inordinate in the common ancient city of the past
and has little resemblance to the antiquated small village or small
assembly of agricultural person living primarily off of harvesting from
the land.
• Tremendous amounts of commerce and trade had been developed
to accommodate the monied class (like the Hampton’s, the east end
of Long Island, New York, today, a whole economy springs up
around the wealth that resides there).
 Mount Vesuvius

Mt. Vesuvius as seen from

the ruins of Pompeii, which
was destroyed in the
eruption of AD 79. The
active cone is the high peak
on the left side; the smaller
one on the right is part of
the Somma caldera wall.
Elevation 1,281 m
(4,203 ft)
Location
Mount Vesuvius
Province of Naples, Italy
Coordinates 40°49′N 14°
26′E
Images of Mt. Vesuvius in Pompeii
 Pompeii as a center of Western
Civilization
• Pompeii was preserved as a permanent site of archeological value
on August 24th & 25th A.D. 79.
• The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius left this as one of the two richest and
most beautiful cities known to the area and left in a state of
examination to uncover the most extensive archeological evidence
of our times, possibly not only the best documented, but the most
famous preserved reflection of the culture, civilization and wealth of
the Roman Empire at the time, to in a sense ‘define’ Western
Civilization.
• Pompeii acts as a center-point to all cultures and civilizations
primarily as a result of it being preserved in 66 feet of ash, volcanic
magma and forces of sediment that made the 1700-year wait
between when it was covered by the elements of a volcanic
disruption to the current-day remains of what has been left after
evacuating precious works of art, sculpture and pieces of that
society that could be carried off for personal profit.
Pieces of Pompeii culture &
Civilization
 An Overview of Pompeii
• While museums and exam papers patronizingly try to make history accessible by
asking what the olden days were really like for ordinary people, Pompeii does it
without asking. The scene doesn't even have to be gruesome. The most memorable
incident is the one of the painters who scarpered while redecorating a room, leaving
behind their pots of paint and a bucket of fresh plaster on a scaffold. When the
scaffold collapsed during the eruption, the bucket fell, splashing the plaster across the
neatly prepared wall, leaving a thick crust, still visible today. It's worth remembering
that the painters might have survived; most of the people of Pompeii did. It's thought
that 2,000 out of 64,000 inhabitants were killed (Beard, Mary. accessed 4/13/2010
 Conclusions of Pompeii Research
• Conclusion
• Many areas are still to be uncovered in Pompeii, but it is even more important to restore what has already been
excavated. Today 44 (322 acres) of the 66 hectares (483 acres) of urban area are visible, and it is unanimously
considered that the other 22 hectares (161 acres) must be left under the volcanic debris, in order to preserve this
important part of our past for future generations.
• Pompeii was a Roman colony and pleasure resort of sorts with many means left the city well equipped to
entertain, allow commerce and trade in wool, olives and grape (wine products) but imported many if not most
other necessities of the day.
• Herculaneum was a microcosm of Pompeii’s miniature of Rome with fewer resources, a more rural feel like a
country village and less traffic situated away from coastal routes of trade and inner roadways that led to major
trade routes.
• These appeared to be the country villages away from the traffic of downtown Pompeii and all of its temples and
trade activities of a quasi port town.
• Although abundance and wealth resided at both locations, the influence of Rome re-building the cities after a
major earthquake 16-19 years earlier had still not been completed at the time of the Mt. Vesuvius eruption. This
tells us that to some degree the Pompeii and Herculaneum area were enjoyed by Rome, but Rome did not feel
directly responsible for their upkeep and repair.
• The wealth of the money changers, like today’s Cayman Islands and other offshore money centers, tells us that
money exchange and barter had evolved to such a level that people could do the exchange of money, weights
and measures and the associated commerce and trade just by arbitrage of these vehicles in what today would be
called ‘wholesale’ and ‘retail’ of commercial activity.
• There were no signs of wars or standing armies at either location which tell us that geographically the plunder that
may have attracted any raids was too close to Rome and Rome too great in its power at that time period to
chance such a confrontation. It also tells us that the recognized players in money exchange, barter and
commerce/trade had wielded power throughout the region and anyone disrupting that organized power would not
only have powerful enemies, but many of them.
• Kind of sounds like the ‘Mafia’ or organized crime/corporatocracy businesses of the day, well what do you know, I
wonder if this IS the origin of…?
The Gruesome ‘must sees’ of the remains of Pompeii after
the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius
Misc. Cultural Artifacts
Weights & Measures, Zeus Temple and Excavation Site