Six Girls and One Boy

POMPEII--founded in 600 BC, eventually became a booming Roman trading city.  Not rich, not poor, it was middle class--a perfect example of typical Roman life.  It served an estimated 20,000 residents with more than 40 bakeries, 30 brothels, and 130 bars, restaurants, and hotels.  

 At about noon on August 24, AD 79, Mt. Vesuvius blew (mountain in the picture), sending a mushroom cloud of ash, dust, cinders and rocks 12 miles into the air.  It spewed for 18 hours straight, as winds blew the cloud southward.  The white-gray ash settled like snow on Pompeii, collapsing roofs and floors, but leaving the walls intact.  Two thousand of the town's 20,000 residents were entombed under 15-20 feet of powder.

 

Pompeii was rediscovered in the 1600s; excavations began in 1748.  This is a picture I got off the internet, which shows an aerial view of Pompeii.  The streets, placement of buildings, homes, businesses are all there minus the roofs.  Many artifacts were found, but they are all protected in the Archeological Museum in Naples.  

"Entrance to the Ruins"-- Entry to ruins that I've dreamed of visiting ever since I was in the 5th grade and read about Pompeii.

First sighting of Pompeii (city walls)

Porta Marina--This was the original town gate.  Before Vesuvius blew, the sea came nearly to here.  

Notice the two openings in the gate (ahead, up the ramp).  The one on the left was for pedestrians and the one on the right for large modes of transportation and hauling of supplies.

Colored plaster and---

---frescoes of a villa still visible on the walls!

Street from the port leading to the Forum!

The "beaver-teeth" stones sticking up in the middle left are traffic barriers that kept chariots out.

The bigger stone on the upper right would keep chariots off the sidewalk.

The roads were studded with reflective bits of white marble to help people get around after dark, either by moonlight or with the help of lamps.

Every day, Pompeiians flooded the streets with gushing water to clean them.  These stepping stones let pedestrians cross without getting their sandals wet.  Chariots traveling in either direction could straddle the stones (all had standard-size axels).

Notice how the wheel grooves in the pavement have worn down through centuries of use!

The Temple of Apollo was built in the 3rd C. BC.

Copy of bronze statue of Apollo--

The original statue, as well as all of the art, is in the Archaeological Museum in Naples.

White marble altar with the cella (inner room or sanctuary of a Roman temple) on a high platform behind.

Basin at the temple

The Forum--Pompeii's commercial, religious and political center!  While it is the most ruined part of Pompeii, it's grand nonetheless.  

Columns holding up covered arcarde--The Forum was rectangular in shape, paved with travertine in the center and surrounded by a covered arcade on three sides.  

Doug with Temple of Jupiter in background.

The temple, with two triumphal arches at its side, dominated the Forum!  Jupiter was the supreme god of the Roman pantheon.

Before the eruption, a warehouse and grain market were being built in the background.  Now, it is a storage area for archeological finds:---

---urns, vases, capitals and---

---even casts of victims--people and---

---a dog that archeologists believe was chained up outside a house (see the collar around his neck).---

This person apparently saw the end was imminent and curled up waiting for his death.

I will explain later how these casts were made!

Looking back through one of the arches of the Temple of Juniper in the Forum to the warehouse of archeological finds on the right.

Donkey street sign--not for pedestrians

REG - VII - INS - V--Archeologists mapped out the ruins in regions.

Pompeii had six public baths, each with a men's and a women's section.  This is the entry to the men's zone.

Dressing room--holes on the walls were for pegs to hang clothing.

Stray dogs--there were dogs everywhere in Pompeii.  Evidently they come during the day and go back to the mountains at night.  They seemed mild, but you never know.

Tepidarium (warm area between hot bath and cold plunge areas)--ringed by mini-statues--- 

---used as supporting pillars dividing the lockers---

---painted frescoes and---

---stucco reliefs decorated the baths---

---decorative bronze brazier (basin for holding live coals)---

---bronze bench

Caldarium (hot bath)--The double floor was heated from below and--- 

---double walls with brown terra-cotta tiles held the heat in the walls.--- 

---Romans soaked in the big tub filled with hot water.---

---Fountain for steam baths--which spouted water onto the hot floor, created steam.---

---The lettering on the fountain reminded those enjoying the room which two politicians paid for it, and how much it cost them.

Frigidarium (cold plunge)--After opening up their pores in the hot baths, Romans would plunge into a large pool of cold water to close their pores.

After a bath, it was only natural to want a little snack.  So, just across the street is a fast-food joint, marked by a series of rectangular marble counters.  Most ancient Romans didn't cook for themselves in their tiny apartments, so to-go places like this were commonplace (more than 160 in Pompeii).

The holes in the counters held the pots for food.

Each container was like a thermos, with a wooden lid to keep the soup hot, the wine cool, and so on. 

House of the Tragic Poet--This house is typical Roman style.  The home is like a train running straight away from the street: atrium, den, and garden.  In the entryway---

---is the famous "Beware of Dog" mosaic.

This 2,000-year-old pipe (made of lead imported from Brittania) was part of the elaborate water system.---

---From the aqueduct-fed water tank at the high end of town, three independent pipe systems supplied water to the city:  one for baths, one for private homes and one for public water fountains.

Public water fountain/well--If there was a water shortage, the last water supply to be cut off was to the public fountains.

Courtyard of a peristyle house!

The stubby stone towers are flour grinders.  Grain was poured into the top, and donkeys or slaves pushed wooden bars that turned the stones.  The powdered grain dropped out of the bottom as flour--flavored with tiny bits of rock.  Each neighborhood had a bakery like this.

The brick oven looks like a modern-day pizza oven.

House of the Faun--This is Pompeii's largest home, where you are greeted by the small bronze statue of the Dancing Faun.  

With 40 rooms and 27,000 square feet, the house covers an entire city block.

Frescoes in one of the rooms

One of the floor's mosaic design--an intricate diamond-like design---decorates the homeowner's office.

Beyond that is the famous floor mosaic of the Battle of Alexander---

---In 333 B.C., Alexander the Great beat the Persians, and Romans had great respect for Alexander, the first great emperor before Rome.

With all of the great, big mosaics, this simple one was one of my favorites!

Macellum (Covered Market)--- 

---where Pompeiians came to buy food--fish, bread, chickens, and so on.

Frescos on the wall inside the Food Market

The following two glass cases hold casts of two Pompeiians from different angels, eerily captured in their last moments---

---While excavating, modern archaeologists detected hollow spaces underfoot, created when victims' bodies decomposed.---

---By gently filling the holes with plaster, the archaeologists were able to create molds of the people who were caught in the disaster.  

---You are looking at modern plaster mixed with ancient bones!

Ash, pumice and gas suffocated the victims!

There was no forewarning!

Remains of posts supporting roof of fish market in Macellum

The Temple of Vespasian

The Temple altar is at the center.  The raised area to the rear was likely constructed to house the statue of the diety for which the temple was named.

The marble altar is decorated with the relief of a ritual sacrifice of a bull.

Building of Eumachia--Built by priestess Venus Eumachia for the corporation of weavers, dyers and launderers.  The courtyard is where buying and selling of cloth took place.  

The plexiglass covering the entryway is the only remaining facade that once faced the Forum walls.

The decoration is of acanthus leaves---

---birds and insects, showing bounty and fertility!

Administration building, city hall, etc.---

---where town council was held.

Pompeii's basilica (palace of justice--120 BC) is the oldest surviving basilica in the Roman world.   This ancient law court has the same floor plan later adopted by many Christian churches (which are also called basilicas).  The big central hall (or nave) is flanked by rows of columns marking off narrower side aisles.  Along the side walls are traces of original marble.---

---The column stumps (all about the same height) were not ruined by the volcano--they were unfinished when Vesuvius blew.  

One last standing column!

Leaving Pompeii!

Two remaining peaks of Mount Vesuvius--When it blew, Pompeiians had no idea that they were living under a volcano, since Vesuvius hadn't erupted for 1,200 years.

Well, this is the end of our 10-day Mediterranean cruise!  I don't know why I took this picture of a single seagull sitting out on our balcony.  However, I got thinking--this bird just flies around and around taking, for one, Pompeii for granted--just another Human creation.  But, I didn't!! 

This was such a wonderful trip.  Along with all of the amazing sites we saw, I will always remember the special time spent with Doug and how sweet and fun he was, meeting people from all over the world on our ship, the history, and returning home  with renewed appreciation for our home and where we live, family, and why we are living on this great Earth!  

Thanks to all of you who took the time to look at my pictures and read through my explanations!