Daily Updates
Week Six: 26 October
26 October. Dan Racic Reporting:
In the early morning light, our band of happy-go-lucky archaeologists trooped to the ancient site of Pompeii for a day filled with learning and exploring, Lecturing on the steps of an ancient Doric temple in the triangular forum, Professor Ulrich told us about three distinct phases of Pompeian history: the Oscan phase, the Tyrrhenian phase, and the Samnite phase. Over seven hundred years before the Romans formally established their colony in 80 B.C., ancient peoples inhabited the site, as evidenced by biconical urns dating to the 9th century B.C. Vesuvius erupted on August 24th and 25th, in 79 A.D., killing over 2000 people in a monumental catastrophe, but preserving the city in layers of ash and pumice. Everyone took copious notes during the historical lecture, but we were all equally happy to get up and walk around, especially because we had a permesso to go in the House of Lucretius Frontas and the House of the Silver Wedding. Joined by a friendly guard who opened the off-limits areas to us, we observed excellent examples of 3rd style Pompeian wall painting (pictured below), as well as two different types of impluvium: Tuscan and tetrastyle. Everyone separated after lunch, because we all spread out to study our own individual oral report topics. Noting every feature of our temple, public building, entertainment complex, or necropolis was exhausting, and a tired group of students coalesced at three thirty for a final bit of 'classroom' time. Small shops lining the streets were called tabernae, and Professor Ulrich explained that they were usually only about 4 meters deep, with a loft above for the shopkeeper to sleep in at night. He listed various types of construction, including opus incertum, opus mixtum, or opus a telaio (pictured below). Everyone learned about the brickwork in Pompeii - which only came into widespread use after 100 B.C. - and by the late Augustan age, it was scarce enough in the city that it was often mixed with the local stone. In the Villa of the Mysteries, our final stop of the day, we saw one of the most famous rooms in the city, in which a female initiate is shown moving in stages along the wall. She is first depicted sitting down, but as the scene progresses she is whipped by a winged figure as another woman watches in terror, and finally the initiate is comforted by a Cupid. He is holding a small mirror that reflects her serene, composed face as she looks out at us. Our day ended with this powerful image, but we were also treated to the experience of watching Professor Ulrich kick out some of the random tourists who had wandered into the roped off room (because only we had permission to be in the room past the rope). Tomorrow should be another fun filled day in the city of Pompeii!
The group.
House of Lucretius Frontas with 3rd style painting.
Opus Mixtum
Opus Quadratum at the House of Sullust
Opus Vitattum
Porta Nocera Necropolis
Taburnum, with post holes for second floor.
Tetrastyle Impluvium in the House of the Silver Wedding
Wall Painting of Narcissus