Pompeii by Brian Macdonald
Pompeii happens to be one of
my favourite places and the following describes a visit not so long ago.
Here is an ancient town where
the streets and the walls of the buildings are just as they were nearly
two thousand years ago. You can even see the graffiti left from the last
election written in large red letters on the walls together with the advertisements
for the various shops and businesses.
| The streets, or at least
those that have been excavated so far, stretch out in all directions as
they always have done. Two main roads heading north and south and another
two heading east to west, all with spectacular view of either the destructive
Vesuvius or the placid snow-covered Appenines. The roads are made of stone
and twelve inches or so below the level of the pavements so as to allow
surface water to drain away. Every now and again there are pedestrian crossings
made of stepping stones at the same level as the pavements so as to save
people from getting their feet wet in the rains. And it seems that the
Romans invented the cats eyes (for they used the same term) for every fifty
yards or so one slab of the kerb was made in white polished marble which
glinted in the moonlight at night.
Along these roads and streets
can be found the public fountains and these, or so we were told, still
work thanks to the skill of the Roman hydraulic engineers. Sadly, these
days the water runs through the system for a couple of hours only for the
visitors who come to see the ruins by night. One of the drinking fountains
we saw is worn down on either side of the spout from the people grasping
the edge to lean over and drink from the spurting water coming from a grinning
face not unlike the one in which some of us placed our hands just yesterday
in Rome. Along the sides of the pavements could be seen the lead pipes
carrying water to various parts of the city. |
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From these pipes can also
be seen the smaller spurs carrying water straight into some of the houses
and shops. Those lead pipes over the years would cause untold damage to
the people drinking the water thus poisoned. Along the roads can also still
be seen the runnels and ruts made over the centuries by Roman cart and
chariot wheels slowly wearing down the stone. Since the Romans had standard
wheel gauges, these ruts are fairly uniform and stand out sharply like
embedded railway lines. That the Romans had one way streets and also pedestrian
precincts can also be seen as one walks around this miraculous place. Large
tombstone-like slabs stopped wheeled vehicles from entering one sacred
square and the direction of the ruts made by carts indicated the Roman
version of the one way street.
As one walks around, one
can still see the walls of the centrally-heated villas and houses that
ran along the streets and inside the remains of the brightly coloured wall
decorations the Romans were fond of. People, birds, fruit and food, mythological
scenes and the general way of Roman life are celebrated in these pictures
and paintings, some of them still spectacular in their execution. The mosaic
floors are still there to be admired. At the entrance of one house is the
famous mosaic of the chained, snarling dog with the inscription underneath,
CAVE CANUM, Beware of the Dog.
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The statuary still exists
though almost all of it has now been removed to museums in Naples and replaced
with
copies to guard against theft (in one villa we heard that 23 small statues
were stolen some years ago never to be seen again). These graced the public
places and the courtyards of the private villas in which the pools and
fountains are still occasionally put back into use. There is a sort of
open-air shed, fenced in and covered with corrugated iron that houses some
of the amphora and pots rescued from the ruins. In here also are some of
the statuary and pedimenta and columns from fallen temples and other buildings
and the bricks and tiles from more modest buildings. It is a builders’
yard full of ancient building material.
Here also are some of the
casts made by the bodies of some of those who died from asphyxiation when
the volcano erupted. Stark, sad and shocking mementos of that tragic day.
One body lies stretched out, another curled up like a child, another with
hands clasped over the face as if to shield it against the hot falling
ashes. |
All were buried as the ash
and cinders fell in remorselessly over the town. Over time, the bodies
rotted and later archaeologists, noticing holes in the excavations, filled
these holes with plaster of Paris to reveal the sad outlines of those poor
people.
In this shed was a life size
statue of Olivia, the Mother of Hercules. Made of a grey marble and now
missing the coloured eyes that would have been inserted in the sockets,
this wraithlike statue now gathers dust which is gathering thickly over
its head and shoulders and the folds of its toga.
But Pompeii was a living
place and, in a sense, it still lives for is it not true that people are
still treading the roads and pavements laid down over two thousand years
ago? Pompeii was a bustling and vibrant place, full of business folk and
traders all needing just the same things that we need these days; bread,
food, dentists, clothes and even brothels. Here are the bakeries with the
ovens and kneading counters still in usable condition together with the
machinery to grind the flour. Bread and pizza would have come from these
ovens piping hot (though the pizza would not have had a tomato base until
these were introduced from America). Here the fast food shops dispensed
portions of food to be eaten on the street; the forerunner of modern such
outlets. Here also are the taverns dispensing wines. Some of their storage
jars remain stacked and though empty as if still in readiness for the next
batch of customers. The Roman Empire standardised many things in life and
memories of these remain today (in, for example, the size of British house
bricks or in our roads) and even the local Weights & Measures Office
can be seen along one road. In this small office one could pour a measured
liquid into sinks of varying standard sizes to test whether one had been
given short measure (you recovered the liquids by placing your bowl underneath
the sink and then pulling out the plug). In this place one could also have
tested the weight of something you had bought or were suspicious of.
| In and around the huge area
of Pompeii (and there is an even greater area waiting to be uncovered)
are the temples in which to worship, the amphitheatre in which to watch
the games, the theatre in which to see a play, the court in which to sue
one’s neighbour, the forum in which to declaim one’s views on a subject
or hear a politician defend a view, the bars in which to be jolly and the
baths in which to relax. Who cannot fail to get some appreciation of the
atmosphere of this unique place, nestling in a valley in the shadow of
the mountains and of the volcano that killed it? Perhaps it isn’t dead,
for the streets and buildings are still full of people who come to look
at this shadow of an ancient civilisation and a civilisation that seems
to have had pretty much all of the things we enjoy these days. Perhaps
the invisible shades of the people who lived in this town still jostle
in the streets along with the modern visitor. Perhaps they still sip their
wine in the bars, or enjoy a cool bath in the heat of midsummer or nibble
their pizzas as we stroll these seemingly empty streets. |
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Is it possible that the latest
candidate for the Senate is not being heckled by a crowd looking for some
amusement as we walk through the forum or that the faithful are not at
their prayers or sacrificing as we stroll through a temple? And who is
to say that the men do not enjoy themselves in the brothel as we pass silently
through it and snigger at the paintings on the walls above the cubicles?
It had rained earlier that
morning and many of the pools in the villas had water in them. Indeed,
in the House of the Faun, a stray dog strolled over while our guide was
explaining the place to us and, unconscious of the people around it, lapped
from the pool as dogs and cats must have done two thousand years ago. The
cart ruts in the stone streets also had water in them and puddles could
be seen in some parts of the road.
Just as might have been seen
two thousand years ago.
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