Illuminating the Past Essay

Pompeii

Submitted by: Kristina Wantola

Submitted to: Miss Chong

Date Submitted: February 22, 2006

Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near the Bay of Naples. It was located at the base of the volcano known as Mount Vesuvius. Vesuvius was dormant for many years. It was dormant so long that it was thought to be a dead volcano because there was no human record of an eruption. In 79 C.E. Vesuvius sprang to life in what was one of the deadliest eruptions ever recorded. It released a column of ash that reached almost nineteen miles into the sky. When the column collapsed it sent a ball of hot ash and gas down the mountain at speeds of over one hundred kilometres per hour. This cloud of gas is also known as a pyroclastic cloud which suffocates and destroys everything in its path. The city was then buried under over ten feet of ash. Everything in the city,from the tallest building to the smallest child, was preserved in the manor in which it stood when the volcano erupted. The city was frozen in time allowing us to study life, art and architecture at that time. Pompeii is one of the greatest discoveries of ancient Rome because it has allowed the world to learn about Roman life, art and architecture and this precise moment in history.

The people in Pompeii were preserved in the ash so the world can learn about their lives and daily activities. They were covered in ash and pumice which hardened to form a cast of the body. The body would then decompose inside the cast leaving bones and an empty space. The empty space would then be filled with plaster by archaeologists creating a plaster mummy of the person. From this we have learned many things about the Pompeii residents such as life expectancy and height. Archaeologists have gathered that the women were about four and a half feet tall and lived to about thirty-nine and the men were only a few inches taller and lived to about forty-one. “More than 400 finds recorded by 25 international research groups in the past ten years have provided the most accurate picture of what life was like in Pompeii,”[1]They even gathered enough information to re-create a day in the life on Pompeii’s residents. From these casts of Pompeii residents the archaeologists were able to learn about the daily life of the citizens as well as the citizens themselves.

Many of the original paintings and scrolls have been found by archaeologist allowing them to be seen and studied by the modern world. Many beautiful frescos have been found as well as murals. Some people also believe that there may be a priceless treasure under the mud filled terraces. Some scholars believe that there may be a hidden library under these terraces which could possibly contain lost plays by Sophocles, Euripides and Aeschylus. They believe that there may also be copies of Livy’s History of Rome which over 100 of the original 142 are missing and also some lost dialogues of Aristotle.[2]Many carbonized scrolls have been found but there has not been technology that could analyze them. They now have a new specialized digital camera with a uniquely designed filter system and muti-spectral imaging that can read these carbonized scrolls. It will only be a matter of time before they decode all of the scrolls and unravel the mystery behind them. Much of these frescos and scrolls are priceless but there is so much that can be learned from them about the past and the citizens of Pompeii.

The architecture at Pompeii is in good condition considering it is almost 2000 years old which allowed archaeologists to learn from it. “Traces of walls show that the city was occupied since the sixth century B.C.E.”[3] Archaeologists were able to learn many things from the architecture of the buildings for example, how old the city was and the technology that they used. They have learned that the rich would put a lot of money into their homes. Each room in many households was heated by hot air which would run through the cavities and under the floor while very sophisticated hydraulic pumps would provide them with running water. This technology can be seen in the houses that have been excavated. “The ancient Romans achieved their power because they had a deep knowledge of technology and science,”[4] This technology would not have been discovered if the city had not been excavated which makes Pompeii an important discovery. An amphitheatre was also found in Pompeii and it is the earliest known permanent stone amphitheatre. It was build in 70 B.C.E. and could hold around 20,000 people. From this structure and the graffiti on it, archaeologists have learned that there were riots around 59 C.E. which lead to the termination of gladiator fighting for about a decade. This also reveals that gladiator fighting was very popular at the time. Many new things have been learned from Pompeii including hobbies and new technologies.

Some counter-arguments that many people have about Pompeii are that archaeologists cannot learn anything from the body because it has decomposed; the art has been carbonized so it cannot be seen and also many of the buildings are crumbling soinformation cannot be gained from them. Even though the bodies have decomposed there are still remains of the bones and the hollow cast. From the cast alone archaeologists can learn the size of the people and their features. From the bones the age of the person and such things as calcium deficiencies can be found using many methods of which one is carbon dating. The art has been carbonized but there is a new technology that was originally developed by NASA that has allowed archaeologist to get clear images from it. "Where conventional photography has failed, multi-spectral imaging, with its uniquely designed filter system and a modified digital camera, has provided readable images of these carbonized scrolls. Basically, we are able to take out the blackness of the papyri and enhance the ink because they have different reflective characteristics,"[5]Lastly the architecture, even though it is crumbling restorations can still be made. There isn’t so much crumbling that there is nothing left, it is just crumbling from the force of the pyroclastic cloud which can be restored by architects. Therefore there is nothing that cannot be fixed so that archaeologist and the world can learn from Pompeii.

Pompeii is one of the greatest discoveries of ancient Rome because it has allowed the world to learn about Roman life, art and architecture and this precise moment in history. The ash from Mount Vesuvius has left the world a time capsule to discover and learn from. Much more is now known about Pompeii and Ancient Rome at that time because of the discovery ofPompeii. Even though so much has been learned from the city there is still so much more to be discovered.

Works Cited List Essay/Poster

  • The Discovery Channel. Pompeii: The Last Day.. 23 Feb. 2006 <
  • BBC History Programmes. Pompeii: The Last Day.. 23 Feb. 2006 <
  • MSN Nucleus. Plate Tectonic - Hazards.. 23 Feb. 2006 <
  • SISU. SISU.. 23 Feb. 2006 <
  • Catfangz, . Pompeii.. 23 Feb. 2006 <
  • Italian Cultural Institute. Program of Events.. 23 Feb. 2006 <

[1] Lorenzi, Rosella. Pompeii.. 23 Feb. 2006 <

[2]Lorenzi, Rosella. "Lost Plays of Sophocles".. 23 Feb. 2006 <

[3] Pesando, Fabrizo. Bringing the Oldest Pompeii to Life.. 23 Feb. 2006 <

[4]Discovery Channel. Pompeii: The Last Day. 2006. 20 Feb. 2006
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[5] Booras, Steven. "Multi-spectral Imaging".. 23 Feb. 2006 <