Visit FABULOUS Pompeii! (pre- C.E. 79)
A handy travel brochure for the intrepid time-traveler.
Outside
Inside
Pompeii, like much of Rome in its day, was home to some exceptionally lavish lifestyles. It was certainly a hedonistic society, with people enjoying food and leisure, and being generally more open about sex than we are in our current Western society. To see that we only need to look at the city streets: there are phalluses prominently displayed on many of the buildings, and on paving tiles as well. If that does not speak strongly enough, we can look to the numerous mosaics available not just in the brothels but in many homes and public places alike. The mosaics portray sex in nearly as many configurations as the mind can imagine. It is because of this fascinating attitude that I chose Pompeii as my focus for this project, but what drew me in upon studying it was the many facets of life that were both completely different and strikingly similar to how we live today.
Pompeii boasted some of the most beautiful, opulent homes I’ve ever seen. At least, it must have if my imagination serves me well. Based on what was left behind and not incinerated by mighty Vesuvius, the rich of the city lived in splendor that is grand even by modern standards. Just consider the hand-crafted floors, covered in tiny black and white tiles representing anything from geometric patterns to elaborate scenes from popular stories (Albentiis et al., ch. 8). For all their splendor, however, even the most extravagant homes lacked any more than the most basic bathing facilities, as many Pompeiians took their baths in public.
The baths at Pompeii are worthy of a paper all to themselves. Their clever design included heated floors and tepidariums, which were rooms moderately heated and placed between the dressing rooms and the hot baths so that bathers would not experience a sudden change in temperature when passing from one to the other. The baths were a wonder of period engineering, and they performed a vital function to the people, most of whom did not have bathing facilities in their homes. Additionally, the baths were where folks would casually socialize, much like modern cafes (Mau & Kelsey, ch 27).
A major Pompeiian draw for locals and tourists alike was the great Amphitheatre. Here, spectators could enjoy circuses of all kinds, most notably (and popularly) the gladiatorial games. Gladiators were warriors who would fight each other and occasionally wild animals, sometimes to the death. The Gladiators could be slaves, or freedmen, or even freeborn men who signed up for profit. They could achieve significant celebrity and even grow rich in these exploits. We know some of the names of the most famous Gladiators thanks to surviving graffiti from around the city as well as the Gladiators’ barracks themselves (Sheldon 2010).
Graffiti is another topic which is certainly worthy of a separate paper. Roman graffiti has provided us with much of what we know concerning the daily lives and opinions of the population, as well as the political climate they lived in. Graffiti mentions all aspects of human existence and is completely intersectional, meaning people from all walks of life have literally left their mark in Rome, and specifically in Pompeii.
Some of the most colorful graffiti to be found is in the city’s numerous brothels. Many of these scrawlings reveal the names and deeds of both the patrons and the workers. Some examples: We two dear men, friends forever, were here. If you want to know our names, they are Gaius and Aulus. A note from a jealous lover: Amplicatus, I know that Icarus is buggering you. Salvius wrote this. A recommendation, or perhaps an advertisement: At Nuceria, look for Novellia Primigenia near the Roman gate in the prostitute’s district.And this charming taunt: Weep, you girls. My penis has given you up. Now it penetrates men’s behinds. Goodbye, wondrous femininity! (Harvey 2007)
The brothels are decorated not just with graffiti but with pornographic art, some al fresco (painted into wet plaster), and some mosaic. These are thought to be representations of what services were available, although they could be simply for mood enhancement. The workers here, like the Gladiators, were often slaves, while some were freed and others were free to begin with. While the brothel workers did occasionally entertain rich patrons, the rich in Pompeii could often afford to keep their own concubines or hire courtesans, who were sex workers of high class and wealth. Therefore the typical brothel patrons were ordinary Romans, and the writing they left behind is all the more telling of common life in Pompeii .
For this project, I started with a delightful 2013 article written by Mary Beard. Using her tips on what to visit, I decided on five main aspects I wanted to highlight: the Marketplace, the Amphitheatre, food, lodging, and of course the brothels.
For the front cover I found a beautiful fresco of three nude women who seem to be dancing together, known as the Three Graces: Wisdom, Beauty, and Intellect (or Rationality). I enjoy this image and thought the idea was appropriate for what I meant to advertise. A brief guide to this image can be found at http://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Kharites.html.
The center outside panel (the “back”) of the brochure features a map of Pompeii I found at http://www.discusmedia.com/maps/pompei_site_maps/4424/. It was made in 1920, and has a wonderful old-timey feel to it in addition to being actually useful to travelers. Below that, an image of the Amphitheatre from Paul W.S. Anderson’s movie Pompeii. More information can be found here: http://www.cliomuse.com/pompeii-2014-paul-ws-anderson-director.html. Below that, a fabulous photo from Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii. This is one of my all-time favorite Pink Floyd performances, and I could not resist tossing in a little joke about them playing “after the remodel.”
The left outside panel, which would be visible upon pulling back the front flap, features at its top one of many floor mosaics sporting fish. I found that image in Albentiis et al.’s book Secrets of Pompeii. The center image is a still from the Dr. Who episode “The Fires of Pompeii” (2008.) It represents the bustling marketplace of Pompeii, which I am trying to lure the tourists to on that flap. At the bottom, two images I also took from Secrets of Pompeii, one displaying a beautiful glass urn, intact, and the other four glass bottles which melted, probably, during the eruption. Interestingly, they were unlikely to have been melted by the flow itself (the ash would not have been hot enough), but instead by a fire started in someone’s home as a result of a panicked departure (I read about that at https://medium.com/@kironcmukherjee/a-curious-case-of-glass-9dc9c22f715f#.vmozwiw2k). Again, I thought it was cute to make a joke of the deformed glass as if it had been done on purpose.
On the inside left panel are three images meant to entice a reader to try out some dining. The top image I chose for her facial expression and placed so that her eyes would fall on an image in the next panel. The fresco itself actually seems to be from another place, the ‘Inn of the Sulpicii’ in Murecine, Italy. I lifted it from a Google image search. Below that, a detail of another fresco called Still life with Eggs, Birds, and Bronze Dishes, from the house of Julia Felix. Underneath that, a photo of a service counter where customers could sit and eat. I found this image in Secrets of Pompeii.Apparently the dugouts are for food dishes, but when I first saw it I thought I was looking at a vomitorium.
The inside center panel is dedicated to the Lupanar, which was one of only a few buildings built to be brothels. It is the most famous brothel in Pompeii and the most visited building in the city because of its context, its fresco wall paintings, and its graffiti. Neither of the images I chose for the panel are actually from or about the Lupanar, but this is a fantasy trip, so I figure it doesn’t matter that much. The first image I found on a travel blog, which I have not been able to find again. It is said to point the way to a nearby brothel. The second image is yet another fresco which displays one of the most risque suggestions for sexual activity: two men and a woman. If I had not already used the phrase “Something for everyone” (and if it were indeed true of this image, which it isn’t… quite) I would have used it here. This painting is in the Suburban Bath House, not in a brothel, which emphasizes the people’s proclivity for sex-related activities.
Lastly, the inside right panel is dedicated to lodging and bathing. The top image is a bedroom at the Villa at Boscoreale, which is featured for its “Second Style” wall paintings. The Met has a write-up here: http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/works-of-art/03.14.13a-g/ The middle image was a photo of, I’m ashamed to say, the Roman Baths in the English city of Baths. Apparently I did not read the caption correctly. It is such a lovely pool, and so inviting! I had to change it to a graphic representation I found here: https://sites.google.com/site/classicspompeiibang/home-life. Below that we have the oldest Beware of Dog sign in existence! It is a mosaic floor decoration from the House of the Tragic Poet.
Please find below the updated brochure. This has absolutely been an epic journey through time.
References
Albentiis, Emidio De, Alfredo Foglia, Pio Foglia, Luisa Chiap, and Emidio De Albentiis. Secrets of Pompeii: Everyday Life in Ancient Rome. Los Angeles: J. Paul Getty Museum, 2009. Print.
Beards, Mary. The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, 07 Feb. 2013. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.
Harvey, Brian. “Graffiti From Pompeii.” Pompeiana.org. N.p., 2007. Web. 2 Dec. 2016.
“Homosexuality in Ancient Rome.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 2016. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.
“KHARITES.” CHARITES (Kharites) — The Graces, Greek Goddesses of Pleasure & Joy. N.p., 2005. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.
Mau, August, and Francis W. Kelsey. Pompeii, Its Life and Art. New York: Macmillan, 1899. Print.
“Old Map of Pompei (Pompeii) in 1929. Buy Vintage Map Replica Poster Print or Download Picture.” Www.discusmedia.com. N.p., 2015. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.
“Pompeii (2014) Dir. Paul W.S. Anderson.” Cliomuse.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.
“Pompeii Ruins.” Pompeii Ruins — Pompeii Amphitheatre. Pompeii Online, 2012. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.
Sheldon, Natasha. “The Gladiators of Pompeii.” Ancient History and Archaeology.com. N.p., 2010. Web. 02 Dec. 2016.