CAVE CANEM

WARNING: If you are uncomfortable with human remains or brothels you might want to check out a more cheerful post, like one that I'll be posting soon...


I recently went on a site visit with my Ancient Roman Civilization class to Pompeii in the Bay of Naples. I was so excited because I had been studying Pompeii beginning in 10th grade with the Cambridge Latin Course. Unfortunately, as is common in the winter here in Italia, it was raining. But I refused to let the rain get me down!

We left Roma at 7am sharp and got to Pompeii a little after 10 listening to the wrath of Jove all the way down. We entered Pompeii on the Eastern side and the first thing I saw was the amphitheater. I leterally began jumping up and down. I had studied a wall painting of this amphitheater that depicted a riot between the Pomeiians and Nucerians (like a modern football riot during FIFA - or any day in Italia) which led to Pompeii losing arena privileges for 10 years. 

Even the architecture is similarly depicted!

We saw the streets and the stepping stones to cross the streets above the waste that ran through the streets. We even used them to avoid the puddles from the rain!

Yes, my that is my professoressa's hand lecturing and my friend Sam photobombing...

But the coolest thing about Pompeii are the body casts. Pompeii is a special case for excavating ancient sites. It was abandoned and sealed in volcanic ash in one fell swoop which preserved things in such a state that wasn't known before. In 79 AD Mount Vesuvius, previously thought to be dormant, erupted spitting out chunks of hot volcanic rock and down on the seaside town on Pompeii. Along with the falling debris, the eruption released toxic gases into the air suffocating the inhabitants. The eruption was actually a slightly slower event than we imagine today. Most of the inhabitants had enough time to escape the destruction on foot leaving only 10% of the population in the city, probably slaves guarding valuables or people who thought it would all blow over. Unfortunately for them, it didn't. 
This immediate sealing of human remains preserved the bodies for a while until the porous quality of the rock allowed for the decomposition of the organic materials. When Pompeii was later being excavated by Giuseppe Fiorelli he noticed that there were air pockets in the lithified ash sometimes with bones inside them. He developed a method, now called the Fiorelli method, of pouring plaster into these spaces before they were excavated to preserve the shape inside. What he found was remarkable: human casts were made sometimes detailed enough to display facial features and garments. They show dramatic vignettes of the last moments of these peoples' lives. Some gathered together and tried to provide comfort to loved ones while others seem to have been caught running by the ash and had fallen to the ground to be subsequently covered by it. 

The Fiorelli method was also applied to other organic materials like wood. We now have plaster casts of store shutters and window and door fixtures in houses.

From inside the Villa of Mysteries
 

I also got to see the lupanar, the brothel of Pompeii. I just wrote a 16 page research paper on prostitution in Rome, so I'd rather not rehash the details... but how about some pictures! I hear they're worth a thousand words...

The stone bed in the working room of a meretrix (protsitute)

Wall paintings in the lupanar - sort of like an assortment of things one can 'order.'

We also got to see some notable pieces of art like mosaics from the House of the Faun and the infamous 'cave canem' (beware of dog) mosaic!

The moasic of Alexander the Great defeating Darius III at the Battle of Issus.

It functions as a 'welcome' mat!

We also made friends with the local wildlife - stray dogs! They were actually very well behaved and affectionate. A few even followed us around the city during our lecture. It just made me miss my boys...

Our new friend - Cerberus

But greatest of all had to have been the Villa of the Mysteries. It has a room covered in a 3rd style wall painting depicting what could be an initiation ceremony into the mystery cult of Dionysus (or Bacchus). It seems to show a single woman multiple times in different scenes: learning lines, getting dressed, being flagellated, dancing, and finally wearing a ring that she did not have before. The rites of mystery cults were very secretive, so we don't actually know if this is what happened, whether it would be painted on a wall of public view, or if it could just be a play (Dionysus was the god of wine and theater).

Scenes of the woman seated and learning lines on the left and getting dressed in the yellow on the right.

Bacchus and the flagellation.

Bacchus drunkenly reclining with his thyrsus whilst the woman is flagellated.

The woman, seated, learning the lines from the scroll held by the young girl.

Painted marble bordering the scene.

The woman wearing the ring on her left hand.

One of the things I find most interesting about the ring scene is that she wears it on her left hand where we now wear wedding rings. The tradition of wearing wedding rings on that specific finger comes from ancient Rome! They believed that there was a vein that was in that finger that led directly to the heart. It was a symbol of love and a reminder of one's commitment.