Pompeii

October 21, 2003-It’s All Uphill
(photos:At one of 120 bars,
Preserved bodies)

Today has been about uphill climbs. It started as we trekked 20 minutes to the Meta train station. It’s quite tropical here. Flowers were blooming and each house had orange trees. I peeked into the town cathedral. It’s a sweet little place. There are so many area churches and some are more interesting than the huge basilicas. They’re unique each with its own personality.

We had a free bus ride yesterday since the tobacco shops where tickets are sold were closed on Monday until late afternoon. In fact, most businesses are closed on Monday and Sunday. They also close daily from 1-4pm. Then they stay open until 9pm. Italians are not workaholics. Today on the train to Pompeii we paid full freight. A busker playing a trombone and a Scottish couple who now live in Surry entertained us. An extremely handsome young man was standing next to me. He was wearing a pink sweater. I decided that real men must not be afraid to wear pink. Correcting History So much has been written about it. What can I add? Watch me try. For one thing, it was more uphill climbing. We hired a licensed guide at the site so we’d be in a small group of eight. He was an incredible resource and very upfront about where Roman culture originated. He attributed it to the Jews and Greeks.

Italians aren’t known for being law-abiding. The “no pets allowed” sign at the entrance to the site was studiously ignored. There are bands of feral though friendly dogs living off the droppings or should I say food offerings of tourists. Then there are the leashed interlopers. We saw the beginnings of a dogfight when the “locals” objected to the “new kid in the ruins.” A guard started screaming at the local banditos (sorry, that’s Spanish) and they dispersed. It amazes me that the dogs understand Italian and I don’t.

The city was founded before 700 BCE. The Greeks were there in 600 BCE and the Romans by 180 BCE. The infamous eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, which was seven miles away, occurred in 79 CE. We know so much about the eruption and the city because Pliny the Elder and his son were in the area and got as close as they could to document the event. Unfortunately, The Elder succumbed to the gases. By the way, BCE stands for Before the Common Era and CE is Common Era. Jewish people prefer that terminology to BC and AD.

The eruption lasted three days spewing gas and pumice stone (hardened lava) into the air. The city didn’t burn. Gases killed the inhabitants and the stone caused the wood roof structures to collapse and crush those still alive. The population at that time was 20,000. People did have a day to evacuate. The 2,000 who didn’t leave or who returned to retrieve their possessions died. Vesuvius is still an active volcano. The last eruption was 1944. Since disaster follows in our wake, we expect that it will erupt soon after we arrive home. The present excavation began in 1748 and continues today.

Pompeii used to be situated closer to the sea but landfill happens. It was a wealthy commercial center and dealt in fish, 24-karat gold, wine, fabric, olive oil, perfume, ceramics, and agricultural products. Fifty per cent of the population was rich, thirty per cent were poor, and twenty per cent were slaves. The wealthy families owned land outside the walls and used slaves to farm it.

No cement was used in any of the construction. The stones, bricks, and marble were cut to fit tightly. Except for one heck of an earthquake, it has lasted 2,000 years and some of it still stands. Smooth marble slabs were used to pave the roads so that the moonlight would reflect to light the way at night. They are quite uneven now and walking along them is like playing a gigantic game of hopscotch. The walls were plastered with marble dust to obtain the same reflective effect. Each house had terra-cotta indoor plumbing that emptied into the streets. Permanent stepping-stones across the streets were used to avoid the effluent. The stones were spaced to allow for chariot wheels to pass. Chariot wheels were 4 ft. 81/2 in. apart. That’s still the width used between train tracks and it was the width of the launching ramp when we went to the moon. The guide said that it provides extremely good balance.

Aqueducts brought fresh drinking water into homes by way of lead pipes. The average life span was thirty-five years, but they didn’t die young from the lead. The calcium carbonate from the water coated the inside of the pipes and kept the lead from leaching into the water. It wasn’t until the 1700’s that such conveniences returned. Perhaps it was the pewter plates they used or the consumption of a gallon of wine a day at the one hundred twenty bars in the city that did them in.

The art that survived was mind-boggling. Frescoes are made by painting on wet plaster. The three-dimensional perspectives achieved in the frescoes, the technique, the musculature and grace of the bronze statues, marble carvings, and the optical illusion of many mosaics wasn’t to be seen again in art until the Renaissance.

Basilica is a Greek word meaning a place of commerce that included tribunals. In 325 AD Constantine adopted their shape for building churches. It has become known as a Roman cross. Forum is a Roman word meaning town square. Today’s piazzas still include places of commerce around the perimeter under a palisade, law, and worship. The Piazza San Marco in Venice is a dead ringer for the forum in Pompeii. The only difference is that there’s a church in St. Marks and a temple to Jupiter in Pompeii. The temples in Pompeii had sacrificial altars. The meat of the sacrifice was distributed to the poor much as it was in the old Temple in Jerusalem.

We saw many examples of commercial activity. An early feminist who ran what was a women’s co-op organized one of the centers. Another area had a large fishpond where fresh fish were sold. A bakery with ovens and grinding stones survived. It was curious to see that their bread had a hole in the middle. An early bagel?

A Fun Group

Relaxation was paramount and the wealthy had their public baths. They were centrally heated by a system of steam circulating through hollow walls and floors. Curved ceilings were grooved to channel condensation down the sides of the walls so it would not drip on clients. The original floor, benches, and bas-relief survived as well as a fountain with the name of the wealthy donor and the cost written in bronze.

The famous plaster casts of the bodies found on site were most interesting. The bodies were covered with hardened ash when first found. Only the skeleton survived inside the ash coating. In order to preserve them, the form was injected with a compound that hardened and then the bodies were cast in plaster. They’re indeed in the positions of death. One person has his arms raised as if he was holding up a cloth to protect him from the gas. There are casts of a dog and pig. It’s completely mesmerizing. Their agony is evident.

But these people did know how to enjoy life! The symbol for goof luck, a phallus, was carved in stone and stood by each entryway. Randy old Priapus is pictured in many frescoes and mosaics with an engorged penis. In one he’s weighing it on a scale; in another he’s carrying a spare. Hey, parts is parts. The Lupinare was the red-light district. Lupinare means predatory she-wolf. Prostitution was legal and they hung red lanterns to show who was open for business. Paintings of erotica festooned the walls serving as a menu of delights. Their stone beds and pillows (supposedly covered with mattresses in their day) survived as well as the toilet for guests. I wonder if it had a seat or was like the ones here today where they remove the seats and leave only the stool? In any case, it was a pay toilet. Some things in Italy haven’t changed.

It’s ironic that the Coliseum in Pompeii is the best preserved in Italy. It held 20,000 spectators and is smaller than the more famous one in Rome. There were two gates; one was an entrance for living patrons and the other was the exit for dead bodies of gladiators. Awnings were erected to shelter from sun and rain. A gymnasium and Olympic size swimming pool was included in the complex. The larger of two amphitheaters seats 5,000 and is still in use today. Our guide gave us a mini-operatic concert to demonstrate the acoustics.

We took a lunch break and decided to share a split of wine. Even though we don’t care for red wine at home we’ve grown fond of Italian rossa. We almost didn’t make it out of the cafeteria. We’re such cheap drunks. We decided that in our condition we needed some quiet so headed for the cemetery. They cremated their dead and buried them outside the city walls. The tombs were remarkable in that many survived with the marble intact and the carvings perfectly legible.

The Villa of Mystery was also outside the walls. It was a resort used to escape the heat of the city. It had some of the best-preserved frescoes. One tourist told us that they were on line if we didn’t get to see them all. There was no explanation as to the name or the mystery.

On our way out of the site we passed a warehouse for archeological artifacts. It was humbling to see household goods, human bodies, and pieces of structures piled in rows like some moving company storage facility.

I don’t know how long this precious site will last. Tourists will take a toll. They’ve left graffiti and plastic bottles. Perhaps the plastic will survive longer than the buildings. I wonder which will survive the next eruption of Vesuvius?

Down Time

We took the train to Sorrento where we strolled, shopped in Italy’s only department store chain, UPM, and had pizza for dinner….again. I’m liking our hotel more. The room is huge and the location isn’t as inconvenient as I first thought. It won’t survive as well as Pompeii, but we only need it for three more nights. We’re sharing the facility with a group of Israelis. They like their music loud but seem to go to bed early.

Tomorrow we’re off to the Isle of Capri.

Toby