Pompeii

Everybody has heard of Pompeii. I knew it was the city that was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius a long time ago. I figured it would be a pretty incredible place to visit, but wow.

Pompeii with Mt. Vesuvius behind

We have seen a lot of Roman ruins by now, from Egypt to Turkey to Verona and Rome. Spectacular reconstructions of some of the most prominent buildings of those long ago abandoned settlements have amazed us before. Pompeii is different. Everything is still there. It's a big city, and still you can see the remains of not only the prominent religious and political buildings, but the hovels and villas occupied by plebeians and patricians. You can walk the streets and see how the city was planned. Very little imagination was required to picture toga-wrapped Romans leaving their villa and walking to the amphitheatre to see the gladiatorial combat.

One of the two theatres

I think this is a public toilet

By now I know that the wealthier Romans lived luxuriously. Some of the villas provided further proof. They had multiple bedrooms, dining areas, peristyle gardens, formal courtyards, some even had space dedicated to exercising. Essentially every room had tiled mosaic floors, and most had frescoed walls. At Pompeii we saw it all, from simple geometric mosaics to intricate battle scenes.

A garden fresco

A guard dog mosaic entryway

What surprised me was that even the smaller, less obviously wealthy houses were decorated with mosaics and frescoes also. We realized that the middle class of Romans was bigger than we thought, and certainly bigger than the Egyptian one.

Some of the wall frescoes

We also saw the horrific final moments of the city preserved in plaster casts. I read that the cloud of gasses and rocks was aloft for twelve hours before descending on the city with a speed of 50 mph and a temperature of 400 Celsius, instantly killing all those who remained. If that wasn't terrifying enough, Kim said she wants to get up close with Mt. Etna, an active volcano, before we leave!

Casts of the victims and excavated remains

Of course the site is too big to see everything, but one the must-sees is a tiny brothel. I think it will be my favorite memory of Pompeii, but probably not for the reasons you're thinking right now. On the walls are frescoes designed to inspire the clients to try some new and different techniques. We learned that they were probably copies from a Greek instructional manual that was circulating at the time. While it was interesting to see 2300 year-old erotic art, it was hilarious to people watch there. Remembering the retired Americans elbowing each other in the stomach while pointing and giggling like a bunch of middle school kids, or eavesdropping on some septuagenarians using words atypical of that generation still makes me smile. I think it always will!

More fine mosaics