Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town

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Baths were not a luxury. Baths were the foundation of civilization. Baths were what raised even the meanest citizen of Rome above the level of the wealthiest hairy-assed barbarian. Baths instilled the triple disciplines of cleanliness, heathfulness, and strict routine. Was it not to feed the baths that the aqueducts had been invented in the first place? Had not the baths spread the Roman ethos across, Europe, Africa and Asia as effectively as the legions, so that in whatever town in this far-flung empire a man might find himself, he could at least be sure of finding this one precious piece of home?”

Contemporary scholars have been drawn to the study of graffiti, interested to hear the voices of the non-elite and marginal groups that earlier scholars spurned and then surprised to learn that the practice of graffiti was widespread among all groups across the ancient world. Today, graffiti is valued for the nuance it adds to our understanding of historical periods.With his trademark elegance and intelligence Robert Harris recreates a world on the brink of disaster. El protagonista principal es Atilio, el aguador encargado del mantenimiento del acueducto. A raíz de la muerte de unos salmonetes y de unas alteraciones en el flujo del agua, Atilio comenzará a notar que algo raro está pasando, aunque lo que no se imagina es el final de todas las anomalías que van surgiendo. El acueducto, su estructura y todo lo que pasa con la dichosa agua, eso es lo que centra la atención. Ojo, al principio no está nada mal conocer información sobre el sistema de abastecimiento de agua de esa época, pero llega un punto en el que todo eso va resultando muy repetitivo. The Bodies | Perhaps the most famous and fascinating representation of the tragedies which befell Pompeii and our own mortality, these 13 casts are not actually 'mummies' or corpses 'frozen in time'. Instead, they were the ingenious creation of Giuseppe Fiorelli in the 19th century, who poured plaster into the void in which flesh and bone had wasted away within caked ash of Vesuvius, effectively creating negative imprints of these citizens in their final terrifying moment of existence. That doesn't make them any less haunting though. This is a novel but it has much of the science of volcanic eruption that I found in Simon Winchester’s Krakatoa https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

For early archaeologists, the disaster of the city's final days was the primary draw, unearthing buildings and streets as they stood at the time of the eruption. I do not know if the geological and volcanological elements would put others off, whether others may prefer a story about people only, but I happened to find them extraordinarily fascinating. And yet, the very act which destroyed Pompeii with such callous, brutal efficiency under an avalanche of ash and stone, would preserve it for the ages. Having read Imperium by Robert Harris few short months ago I found that I quite enjoyed his uncomplicated writing style. I in no way mean unsophisticated or simplistic, for he is an author who can comfortably shoulder the mantle of an old fashioned storyteller. From the very beginning, archaeologists noticed copious amounts of graffiti on the outsides of buildings. In the late 1800s, scholars began making careful copies of Latin inscriptions throughout the ancient Roman world, including Pompeii, and cataloging them. This effort is a boon to scholars like Benefiel, since more than 90 percent of Pompeii’s recorded graffiti have since been erased by exposure to the elements.If you would like to book a guided Pompeii tour, the following are all highly rated and well-priced, so would be a good start point. We recommend booking a tour which meets you at Pompeii, rather than includes transport to/from Naples, as this opens up better options as well as more flexibility for what you do after the tour ends! A guided tour around Pompeii will really help to bring the history to life, and your most convenient option is to book this in advance online too. A sweltering week in late August. Where better to enjoy the last days of summer than on the beautiful Bay of Naples? But even as Rome’s richest citizens relax in their villas around Pompeii and Herculaneum, there are ominous warnings that something is going wrong. Wells and springs are failing, a man has disappeared, and now the greatest aqueduct in the world – the mighty Aqua Augusta – has suddenly ceased to flow. Attilius—decent, practical, and incorruptible—promises Pliny, the famous scholar who commands the navy, that he can repair the aqueduct before the reservoir runs dry. His plan is to travel to Pompeii and put together an expedition, then head out to the place where he believes the fault lies. But Pompeii proves to be a corrupt and violent town, and Attilius soon discovers that there are powerful forces at work—both natural and man-made—threatening to destroy him.