A research project known as the Anglo-American Project was undertaken in 2001 until 2003 to study region VI, insula 1 in Pompeii. It was a joint effort involving the University of Bradford in Britain and the Italian archaeological authorities, the Soprintendenza Archaeologica di Pompei. The purpose of the project was to conserve the buildings of the insula, complete the academic research and present the results to the wider public. By recording and preserving what has been already exposed, the project aimed to raise awareness and improve understanding of the ancient city of Pompeii. The insula includes two substantial houses, the House of the Vestals and the House of the Surgeon, as well as bars, inns, workshops and apartments. The AAPP thus …show more content…
provided further insights into the social and economic life of the urban community. Part of the Anglo-American Project involved stratigraphic investigations of the urban development in Pompeii, from its earliest occupation until the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD 79. This involved meticulous techniques of excavation and documentation, using architectonical 3D surveying and employing the services of biologists, graphics experts and painting specialists. The application of rigorous modern scientific archaeological techniques enabled historians to ask innovative questions in response to the data collected so as to provide new insights into Pompeian life. Therefore the project increased understanding of life in this area of the town for over five centuries. The Pompeii Trust has also been established as a charity in the United Kingdom to raise funds to promote research and understanding of Pompeii and support its conservation. The AAPP has worked closely with Academy Projects, a London-based architectural and archaeological partnership specialising in the conservation of historical sites, to develop a plan for the future of VI,1. Therefore, the AAPP has contributed effectively to the excavation and conservation in Pompeii, successfully preserving their part of the site for future generations. In the eighteenth century, 1800 carbonised papyrus scrolls were discovered at the Villa of Papyri in Herculaneum. It constituted the largest body of ancient Greek philosophical texts and will provide further information about the works of philosophy that influenced Roman thought and culture. However, these scrolls were crushed and fused together by volcanic debris into tight lumps. The fragile conditions of the rolls generated problems of opening, unrolling and reading the papyri. Recently, the Philodemus Project developed as an international effort led by the University of California, the International Centre for Study of the Herculaneum Papyri and the National Library in Naples to decipher and publish the papyri. Due to the advancements in modern technology, it is believed that researchers will be able to analyse and document 60% of the scrolls. Computer enhancement has increased the legibility of the scrolls, while digital multi-spectral imaging with a set of narrow-band filters set at infra-red light isolated the writing from the charred background. The resulting images were very clear and sharp with an enhanced contrast that revealed letters not visible with previous technology. Non-destructive techniques are also used for the extraction of information in order to preserve these fragile papyri scrolls. As technology improves, other promising techniques may be employed to make conservation more effective. The Philodemus Text and Translation Project also seeks to translate the papyri into English, increasing the accessibility to the wider public. There has been a plan to raise money in an attempt to find the Latin library which may have complemented the Greek library found in the Villa of Papyri. However, the debate on excavation or conservation remains controversial, and Superintendent Guzzo's decision was that conservation takes precedence over excavation, which has been supported by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill. Therefore, much progress has been made in the conservation of papyri scrolls in the Villa of Papyri in Herculaneum, but excavation has the potential to reveal more information that will contribute to a greater study of Roman life. The Herculaneum Conservation Project is a collaborative venture led by the Packard Humanities Institute and the Soprintendenza Archaeologica di Pompei with the British School of Rome.
It commenced in 2001 with the aim of halting the widespread decay that afflicted the ancient site of Herculaneum, and to develop a sustainable maintenance programme following immediate conservation. The project focuses on the urgent situations for structures and decorative features. It has been successful in reducing one of the major causes of decay by limiting water infiltration and pooling, as rain has a weathering and eroding effect that hastens the fading of paintings and frescoes. Rainwater damage also includes collapse of buildings, such as the crumbling wall of the Temple of Venus in Pompeii revealed in Source G. The ancient sewer network has been reinstated and since 2008 this drainage system has been used to collect and channel at the water towards the sea. Ensuring the protection of decorative features such as mosaics, frescoes and plasters is also difficult because they are often exposed to decay phenomena from the Mediterranean weather and climate of the Campania region. At the beginning of the Herculaneum Project, the state of decay of the decorations was very serious. It was common for individual features to experience multiple conservation problems, including plaster coming away from masonry, flaking of fragile paint layers, detachment and loss of mosaic tessarae. Part of the project involved safeguarding all the decorative features in a single building, working on a house by house basis, and performing conservation actions across the site where necessary. Since then there has been a general improvement to the overall stability of Herculaneum. Due to this success, many areas which were closed due to the fragility of their decorative features have now been reopened. Despite achieving its primary aim, the challenge now is in transforming this emergency works campaign into
a maintenance programmed that the Soprintendenza can gradually manage independently.
Politics in Pompeii and Herculaneum was an essential and important aspect of life. Politics enabled the towns to run successfully and smoothly. There were elections held for politicians, which included the election of two Duumviri and two pairs of Aediles. The comitum, which was made up of roman males who were over the age of 25, voted for who they believed should be the next Aediles and Duumviri. People who were running for the positions or people who wanted someone they liked to be elected would leave messages everywhere to promote and advocate them in hopes for them to be elected. There were over 2000 electoral notices found in Pompeii. This can be shown in source B which is the programmata from the House of Loreius Tiburtinus, Pompeii.
Archaeology and the Trojan War “. he [Heinrich Schliemann] found layers of ruins. and two bore unmistakable signs of violent destruction. One of these layers, the seventh according to more recent excavators, was no doubt the city of Priam and Hector. The historicity of the Homeric tale has been demonstrated archaeologically.”
Throughout the ages, many scholars and future-scholars have offered an explanation for the meaning of structures from the ancient years, either by their placement or construction. None has fascinated or pushed scholars for reasons than structures and art of the ancient Romans, more specifically those constructed in the years of the Pax Romana and Crisis and Decline of the Roman Empire (27 BC to 284 AD).
However, the artefacts brought to England from Benin in 1897 were an anomaly. The craftsmanship and sophistication were such that some were reminiscent of the beautiful figures in the Hofkiche, Innsbruck 1502-1563 (plate 3.1.12. Visited...
Sullivan, Mary Ann. Images of San Carlo alle Quattro Fontane (facade) by Borromini, 1665-76, Rome. Digital Imaging Project. 2005. 02 02 2011 .
The true greatness of the building is in the main room, the atrium is a huge open area in a radial style with a central point being in the center of the room. The room is filled with a combination of circles and squares which illustrates the Romans fascination with geometric shapes. Along with geometric shapes the inside of this building full of brilliant shades of oranges, blues and purples. There are ionic style pillars around the base of the room as well as sculptures of different gods. Just above the main room there is a frieze of false windows that make a band around the midlevel of the room. Although the windows are false there ar...
The engineering discoveries of ancient Rome have played a key role in the history of architecture and engineering. Many of Rome’s roadways, bridges, and aqueducts have been in use from the first century until the twentieth century. Many American buildings have used the Roman dome. Several major structures from early Rome still stand, including the Collosseum. These remnants of feats of Roman engineering stand as a monument to the ability of ancient Roman builders.
Pompeii is possibly the best-documented catastrophe in Antiquity. Because of it, we know now how the Pompeians lived because they left behind an extensive legacy of art, including monuments, sculptures and paintings. Pompeii lay on a plateau of ancient lava near the Bay of Naples in western Italy in a region called Campania, less than 1.6 kilometers from the foot of Mount Vesuvius. With the coast to the west and the Apennine Mountains to the East, Campania is a fertile plain, traversed by two major rivers and rich soil. However, in the early days, it was not a remarkable city. Scholars have not been able to identify Pompeii’s original inhabitants. The first people to settle in this region were probably prehistoric hunters and fishers. By at least the eight century B.C., a group of Italic people known as the Oscans occupied the region; they most likely established Pompeii, although the exact date of its origin is unknown. “The root of the word Pompeii would appear to be the Oscan word for the number five, pompe, which suggests that either the community consisted of five hamlets or, perhaps, was settled by a family group (gens Pompeia)”(Kraus 7). In the course of the eight century B.C., Greek and Etruscan colonization stimulated the development of Pompeii as a city around the area of the Forum. A point for important trade routes, it became a place for trading towards the inland. Up until the middle of the 5th century B.C., the city was dominated politically by the Etruscans.
GREECE & ROME. Archaeology [serial online]. November 1987;40(6):18. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 22, 2011.
Beard suggested that besides the presence of shops selling goods on the streets, it was also possible that these streets may have been generally filthy due to the faeces that people and animals produced which thus created an unsanitary environment . One key aspect of Pompeian life was the extravagant gladiatorial events that occasionally took place in the “amphitheatre” . These events were known as “Munera Gladiatoria” and were a form of competition whereby warriors fought each other or foreign animals on some occasions, to the death , however, death depended on the performance of the gladiators . In this essay I am going to discuss how the gladiatorial games played an important role in the lives of Pompeii’s citizens in terms of its social, economic and political influence by examining the data obtained by scholars such as Beard (2008) and Weidemann (1992). I am also going to discuss how archaeological finding have allowed people to gain a better understanding of these events and how people in ancient Pompeii
However, the soil and the crops were not the only reason the Pompeians inhabited Campania. The splendid and magnificent location did its fair share in attracting the population. Pompeii was situated only 500 m from the Mediterranean Sea, which helped give it a warm, pleasant climate. Unfortunately, the Pompeians were not aware that this picturesque setting was hiding a deadly force hide it, and many souls were trapped and immortalized inside the “paradise” land.
"National Roman Museum - Palazzo Massimo Alle Terme." Soprintendenza Speciale per I Beni Archeologici Di Roma. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
The Fragment of a Fresco is dated to 50-25 B.C., generally categorizing it into the Second Period of Roman paintings and placing its creation during the time of transition of Rome from a Republic to an Empire. This particular fresco was discovered in Pompeii, which is considered one of the leading sites of such pieces of art. While many Roman frescos throughout all four styles depict scenes of historical importance in both military and cultural aspects, this particular piece, Fragment of a Fresco, provides more of an architectural and interior design quality than that of other pieces from this time period.
In the city of Pompeii, people sat outside, enjoyed the sun and not have a worry in their minds. This came to an end, as the sky turned black, everyone had to run for their lives to escape the volcanic eruption. In 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius erupted near Pompeii and buried this ancient Roman city, many people died before their time. Before anyone could understand why this is such a popular event in world history, it is best to know about the city of Pompeii and the events that followed after. If a student heard about Pompeii, it would have appeared to be another tragic event in history that led to a large amount of people dying.
Boëthius, A., Ling, R., & Rasmussen, T. (1978). Etruscan and early Roman architecture. New Haven: Yale University Press.