Visual Evidence: Pompeii

This activity corresponds to the "Visual Evidence: Pompeii" feature in your textbook. The questions below are designed to help you learn more about the topic. Once you have answered the Comprehension questions, submit your answers and move on to the subsequent questions included in the Analysis and Outside Sources sections. Each section is designed to build upon the one before it, taking you progressively deeper into the subject you are studying. After you have answered all of the questions, you will have the option of emailing your responses to your instructor.

Introduction

Although the eruption of Mount Vesuvius was a disaster for the residents of Pompeii, it was a boon to historians and archeologists. The hot ash and pumice stone from the volcano buried the city so quickly that people were frozen into the positions in which they fell and buildings were encased whole. As a result, beginning with the first excavations in the eighteenth century, archeologists found an ancient city remarkably intact and full of evidence of how Romans lived, worked, ate, enjoyed themselves, and competed for political positions. Use the questions and links below to learn more about the richness of Roman daily life.

Comprehension

1. When did Mount Vesuvius erupt and bury Pompeii?

2. What was the population of Pompeii?

3. In Pompeii's wool industry, how did workshop employees process the wool so that it would shrink and thicken?

Analysis

The following questions present you with additional information about Roman daily life as revealed by the remains of Pompeii.

1. Learn more about work-life in Pompeii at http://www2.pompeiisites.org/database/pompei/pompei2.nsf/pagine/7880D3746BF90F87C1256ABC0059B7BB?OpenDocument. How was the working day organized? What sorts of occupations did Pompeii's workers pursue? Click on the images and compare them with those you examined in the "Visual Evidence" feature in Chapter 7 of your textbook. What additional information about work and working conditions do these new images give you?

2. Read about the typical house of the well to-do-Roman at http://www2.pompeiisites.org/database/pompei/pompei2.nsf/pagine/12476F2B50FE9D78C1256AB60034F720?OpenDocument. What was the basic layout of such houses, and what were their distinctive features?

3. For Romans, bathing was both a hygienic and social activity. Go to http://www2.pompeiisites.org/database/pompei/pompei2.nsf/pagine/33A3EB4125070924C1256ABE00494F0C?OpenDocument and read more about the baths of Pompeii. How were the baths constructed? What was the typical bathing procedure? Use the links provided to examine the remains of the baths: what are their common architectural features?

Outside Sources

1. Another rich source of information about daily life during the Roman Empire is the wall inscriptions at Pompeii. Read samples of them at http://www.fordham.edu/HALSALL/ancient/pompeii-inscriptions.html. What purposes did these inscriptions serve? What was their likely audience?

2. Another house buried by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius is the Villa of P. Fannius Synistor. Go to http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/hd/cubi/hd_cubi.htm and read more about the villa, using the image links provided to examine the frescoes. What does the villa and its frescoes tell you about aristocratic life during the first centuries of the Roman Empire?

3. At http://www.iht.com/articles/1998/04/18/spomp.t.php is an article about efforts to preserve the remains of Pompeii. What has been causing the remains of the city to decay? How are scientists trying to halt the process?