Glenn Michael Morley

POMPEI October 24th 79AD

as a historian it is v. difficulty not to get excited about the surreal archaeological record that is Pompei - it is breathtaking time machine back nearly 2000 years - I was able to travel this past weekend to visit this remarkable historic site and was left shaking my head to even imagine something like this "frozen in time city" could exist - correct - Pliny the Younger Letters do say August 24th but that has now been updated two months forward and the error is most likely due to transcription - not Pliny - for those who have not been I will give a brief summary - the first thing that strikes is the overall size - this is an entire city - not a few houses or blocks - it goes on for quite a while and will take you a good number of hours to even walk through half of it with only a modicum of interest - next is the amount of otherwise accessible sites that were closed for no apparent reason - it seems unfair for the operators to do this when you consider the remoteness of the location and for many it will be their only chance to see it - I personally do not see why so much was closed - that was a minor disappointment - what was opened however was stunning - vivid coloured frescos on the walls that literally speak to you from a different time and world - you stare in awe at the detailed paintings - surely this is not the work of a Picasso or Michelangelo but they are all spectacular - even those that have faded or are tiny - to see anything like this in situ is a marvel and worth the expense alone to get here - but there is more - the floor mosaics were in most cases well-preserved and quite frankly not in comparison to some of the elaborate Greek period efforts that I have seen but it certainly gives you a "lived-in" sense of standing and seeing what those fated people saw just before their demise - the falling pumice and ash was said to be up to 7m in depth and the sheer weight of it collapsed most buildings so if you can imagine a city of 2-storey buildings with only 1-storey now remaining - that is Pompei - the caved in roofs tended to damage the wall murals by pulling them off - recall also that this site was re-discovered in 1592 and has since then suffered some loss via looting and poor excavation practices not to mention exposure to the elements after having been buried and preserved for so long - the next thing that strikes you is the main roads - large irregular shaped volcanic rock with unruly gaps between and as bumpy as a roller coaster ride - I did not expect the roads to be so worn and grooves from carts cut so deeply into the rock - you will also see a lot of volcanic rock in the building's walls - either side of the road is a raised narrow walk that is a chore to walk on with tourist hordes rushing to and fro hence the rough road left my feet aching by end of the day - you have numerous large preserved public buildings - a seat-worn Amphitheatre and the barely rebuilt Forum - less known is that Pompei was already reeling and in recovery from a large earth quake on February 5th 62AD - so much so that much of the buildings were still in disrepair when the big one hit in 79AD - the Forum in particular was already in a state of disrepair and recovery work was slow - every so often along the roads you had people in open store front buildings selling food in large amphora ready-made and embedded in counter-tops - pull up a seat and you get your food not much different from your road side vendors today - wealth and status was exhibited by the number - size and quantity mosaics and murals on your floors and walls - whether or not you had a courtyard and whether your high ceilings were supported by equally impressive pillars or not - regular folk - slaves quarters and the poorer homes were invariably without much of this - temples existed with sculpted statutes sitting in numerous portals embedded into the building walls - only a token few are left in situ and these are likely copies - next up is advertising and graffiti painted onto the stuccoed walls of the streets - written in Latin I cannot translate for you but to see this again really connects you to the place and time in a way that no museum can offer - to imagine that the person who wrote this could never have imagined it to have lasted so long is certainly assured - it looks like it was written on the walls just yesterday - stunning? - absolutely - there are barred-in sections that house the endless finds within the site - you see pottery - amphorae's - a complete wooden cart - tables - countless fragments in rows and shelves of boxes all numbered and labelled - everyday utensils abound and also items to make bed - wines etc and then .......... you stumble upon the cast victims - there the lie bodies retorted in various poses of struggle - pain and abandonment to their fates - some are readily recognizable in their features as men - children - dogs - pain and agony written on their chiselled rough-hewn faces - what a horrific final few minutes their lives must have been - you walk further to the necropolis and see elaborate marbled crypts of wealthy citizens or centurions - local court vineyards have been replanted and are selling Villa dei Misteri wine today - a hotel and ancient ristorante with courtyard ponds ad leisure rooms exist ran by a wealthy widowed woman - other aspects such as small burrowed portals that lead from houses underground suggest subterranean storage rooms - you have to marvel at the sophistication and the serenity of the site - it is alarming to see that places of so much historic death and destruction such as here in Pompei and in the Somme have today been eerily submersed in a peaceful quietness that is almost deafening - what I have forgot to mention is that all the while - in the background - covered in a low grey cool mist is the shadow of it - Mount Vesuvius - its entire top obliterated and only an outer rim remains overgrown - it is still active and has erupted far more than just this single epic event - you can read Pliny and his accounts - you can YouTube some videos to get a better feel for what is said here but until you visit - for some reason - none of it seems to hit home and impress like a visit can and does - history has to be experienced not just watched or read about - visiting historical sites is an experience you cannot recreate in words of images - you truly connect with Pompei when you are there and you leave saddened for the people whose lives and entire city was snuffed out within a few days - its a difficult journey to get there but worth the cost time and effort - it teaches so much and yes - it IS a time machine experience - like no other