Living Lavish in Ancient Pompeii
A glimpse into how the wealthy lived in the Roman Empire
Pompeii is one of those places I have always dreamed of going to one day. Its beautiful villas and ghastly stone figures provide a humbling contrast to the life of the Roman Empire.
The sudden eruption of Mount Vesuvius, while tragic, has provided a wealth of archaeological knowledge. Excavations have revealed intact houses and villas, depicting how life would have been like for people living in the coastal city.
Primarily known as a vacation destination, Pompeii was a stomping ground for many of the wealthy elite of the Roman Empire, leaving countless lavish houses and estates
Today, I want to explore how the rich and powerful lived and what their everyday lives would have looked like in Pompeii on the eve of the eruption.
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In Pompeii, the wealthy lived in stand-alone suburban dwellings known as domus, coming from the Latin world domesticus.
I’m sure many of you are familiar with the term villa; this would be used to describe larger Roman estates, typically in the…
