Pompeii: One Day Before the End

Pass through this gate and forget the ruins. Imagine a city in the middle of a working day. You are in Pompeii, a Roman city of about ten thousand people. It had taverns, baths, theaters, markets and election campaigns. This was called the Porta Marina. It faced the sea, which was much closer then. Today the coast lies far away, pushed back by the volcano's deposits. And in the distance, Vesuvius. The Pompeians saw it every day. It was a green mountain, covered in vineyards. Few suspected it was a volcano. There were warnings. In the year 62, an earthquake had damaged half the city. Many r…

This is the Basilica, the largest building in the forum. And one of the oldest. It was built around 120 BC. It was not a church. At that time, a basilica was a covered public building. It worked as a courthouse and business center. Here lawsuits were judged, contracts were signed and deals were argued. A long hall, surrounded by columns, with a platform at the far end for the magistrate. Think of the noise. Merchants haggling, lawyers arguing, slaves carrying documents. A dispute over an inheritance. An unpaid debt. A mule sold sick. Look at the walls. They are covered in graffiti. Insults…

You are in the heart of Pompeii. The forum was square, market, temple and politics, all in one place. It is a long rectangle, surrounded by columns. Around it stood the buildings that ran the life of the city: temples, courthouse, markets and offices. Imagine an ordinary day. Sellers of bread, wine and fish. Scribes, bankers, messengers, children running. And politicians asking for votes. Yes, votes. Pompeii held elections. Its walls still preserve painted slogans. Something like: vote for this candidate, he is worthy of the office. Look toward the temple at the far end. Behind it rises Ve…

This temple closes the forum. It is dedicated to three gods: Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. It was the religious center of the city. For a Roman, honoring that triad was a way of affirming loyalty to the state. Praying and voting went hand in hand. Look at it now: no roof, broken columns and only a raised base. It is not just the passing of time. This temple was struck by the earthquake of the year 62. And seventeen years later, it was still under repair. The Pompeians had not finished restoring their gods. Step back toward the square and look. Vesuvius appears right behind the temple, like a …

Step in and look up. This is one of the best-preserved bath rooms in the Roman world. The baths were much more than a place to wash. They were Pompeii's social club. People came to chat, do business and exercise. Entry cost very little. First came the changing room, with niches to leave your clothes. Then the warm room, and finally the hot one. The system was ingenious. The floors were hollow. Hot air from a furnace circulated beneath them. It is called a hypocaust. Notice the stone figures that seem to hold up the ceiling. They are telamones. And look at the bronze brazier, a gift from a …

This is the largest house in Pompeii. It fills an entire block, almost three thousand square meters. It belonged to a very wealthy family. It was built around 180 BC and grew over time. It has two atriums, two gardens with columns and rooms to receive dozens of guests. Look at the threshold. There is a mosaic with the word HAVE, which in Latin means welcome. Further inside stood a bronze statue of a dancing faun, which gives the house its name. What you see here is a copy. The original is in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. The masterpiece is there too: the Alexander mosaic. I…

You have left the city, and entered the world of the dead. This is the Via dei Sepolcri, the street of tombs. The Romans did not bury inside the walls. So tombs lined the sides of the main roads. Everyone who entered or left Pompeii saw them. And that was the idea. Many Roman tombs asked the traveler to stop and read the name of the deceased. The worst thing that could happen to you was to be forgotten. Look for the tomb of Naevoleia Tyche. She was a freed slave. She had a monument built for herself and her husband, also a freedman. The city council had granted her husband a seat of honor.…

This villa lies outside the city, surrounded by fields and vineyards. It was a luxurious residence, with living quarters and a working estate. But what made it famous is one room. It is painted with figures almost life-size, on an intense red background. It is Pompeian red. The scenes seem to tell a ritual. Women, a boy reading, winged figures and the god Dionysus reclining. Many specialists believe they show an initiation into the mysteries of the god of wine. Nobody knows for certain what they mean. That is why it is called the Villa of the Mysteries. Look at the expressions on the faces…

This is one of the most famous stops. And one of the saddest. The Lupanar is the largest brothel in Pompeii. It has ten small rooms, five downstairs and five upstairs. Each with a stone bed. The word comes from "lupa," which means she-wolf. That is what prostitutes were called. Look at the walls. There are more than one hundred fifty graffiti. Names of clients, greetings, comments, prices. The women who worked here were almost always enslaved. Many came from Greece or the East. They chose nothing. The price ranged from two to eight asses. A cup of wine cost one. Above the doors there are…

Sit down on the stands, even if only in your imagination. This is the Large Theater of Pompeii. It was built in the second century BC, taking advantage of a hillside. It had room for about five thousand people. For a city of ten thousand inhabitants, that is an enormous number. The seats were divided by social class. In front, the notables. Behind, the humblest. Even in the theater, rank was visible. Wealthy families paid for renovations, and in return they gained statues and prestige. Next to it there is a smaller theater, roofed, for music and readings. Comedies, tragedies, pantomimes a…

Now you are on the main street of commercial Pompeii. It is called Via dell'Abbondanza, after a fountain with a statue of the goddess Abundance. Walk slowly. Notice the wheel tracks. They are grooves left by carts, sunk into the stone pavement. And look at those big stones in the middle of the street. They are crosswalks. They let you cross without stepping in dirty water, and they let wheels pass between them. Look at the shops. Taverns, bakeries, laundries, workshops. Each has its stone counter, with large jars set into it. They were Pompeii's fast-food bars. The Romans ate standing up, …

You are in the oldest surviving Roman amphitheater. It was built around 70 BC. Look at the size. It held about twenty thousand people. More than the city's inhabitants. People came from all the surrounding towns. Gladiator fights and animal hunts were held here. It was the favorite spectacle of the age, and also the cruelest. But something happened here that sounds very modern. In the year 59, during a show, the fans of Pompeii clashed with those of neighboring Nuceria. First, insults. Then, stones. Then, swords. There were dead and wounded. And the Roman Senate punished Pompeii: it banned…

You have reached the end. Here, in the Garden of the Fugitives, is the hardest thing to see. Look at these figures. They are not statues. They are plaster casts. Inside each one, there is a body. This is how it was done. When the volcano covered Pompeii, the ash hardened around the victims. The bodies decomposed and left a hollow with their exact shape. In 1863, the archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli poured liquid plaster into those hollows. When it hardened, they appeared: people curled up, hands over faces, or embracing. In this garden there are thirteen. Among them, children. Pompeii was …