Pompeii
Our next surprise was Naples. But more of that shortly.
My first priority was a day trip to Pompeii by train.
As I suppose everyone knows in 79 CE Mount Vesuvius erupted and in a few hours a pyroclastic flow of hot poisonous gas killed most of the 11,000 inhabitants and then buried the town and sounding areas, including Herculaneum and nearby villas, under 4 to 6 m of ash and pumice.
In the middle ages it was forgotten but was partly rediscovered in 1599 and became of archaeological interest in 1748 when the first systematic excavations revealed an extraordinary level of preservation such that plaster could be poured into the cavities left by bodies to reveal the shape of the dead person where they lay or sat and domestic items were still in place on tables. Many houses retained their original decoration: painted walls, murals and tiled floors. Temples still contained images of the gods. Since the 1800's time has caused some to fade and crumble and many of the most important artefacts have been removed for safe keeping.
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Just two plaster casts remain on display in Pompeii - the rest are in Naples
Obviously the bones of the dead person are inside
Pompeii has remained a site of huge interest to archaeologists and tourists ever since and is still a work in progress with little teams of fossicking archaeologists digging here and brushing there. But nowadays most of the significant finds are in the museum in Naples and have been replaced on site with replicas.
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Home sweet home - but Beware the Dog (cave canem)
Bread (the machine in the foreground is for grinding flour) and Circuses
The town covers a substantial area and its a challenge to visit even those buildings that have been identified as particularly interesting like temples the amphitheatres and the significant villas. There is an audio guide and numbered stops to facilitate this.
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Interior decoration Roman style - a bit faded today
Those paying attention will notice what appears to be an angel in the lower right-hand panel. There are several such depictions from Pompeii. This seemed odd to me since Pompeii was buried before Christianity was adopted and this depiction is certainly not Jewish. Rome was still celebrating finally putting down the Jewish Rebellion and the destruction of Herod's Second Temple. Indeed, some even claimed the Vesuvius eruption was a sign of God's wrath.
It is almost certainly Eros/Cupid/Amore. In classical times the winged son of Venus was a slim boy, not the chubby child with the bow and arrows we have come to recognise today. With Mercury (with wings on his helmet) he was a prototype that evolved into Jewish/Christian/Islamic angels, as messengers from God.
The people of Pompeii seemed preoccupied with love and sex. The public Suburban Baths served both men and women but have only one set of dressing rooms (apodyterium). In the 1980s archaeologists discovered erotic wall paintings in the apodyterium with both lesbian and heterosexual themes.
As in other Roman Baths the apodyterium has facilities, niches or lockers to store clothes and leads to the tepidarium (lukewarm room), followed by the calidarium (hot room). A furnace under the building heats the water and tunnels hot air to the rooms appropriately.
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Taking a Bath - first remove your clothes
One of the biggest crowd pleasers is one of the town's brothels that still retains it's instructive murals. Several tour groups queue to get in at any time but I managed to slip between them.
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One of numerous brothels - this one retaining murals depicting sexual positions
It's hard to see but there's a phallus sticking out of the wall indicating the building's purpose
But these are not the only explicit images found. Private villas often had a garden containing erotic sculptures and similar wall decorations.
Meanwhile Vesuvius is still active and overlooks the site. From time to time it belches fiery larva and smoke but subsequent eruptions have never repeated the destruction or loss of life in 79 CE.
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Vesuvius looms in the distance
Of course geologists monitor it closely and evacuation plans are in place. Like earthquakes and Tsunami we no longer believe volcanoes to be the result of human affairs; or attribute these events to the wrath of the gods; or build temples to the High God of the mountain - Yahweh; or sacrifice goats to prevent reoccurrences.
