Peril in Pompeii

I learned from my 8^th grade history teacher, Mr. Deupree, all about the ancient city of Pompeii that was covered by ash from the erupted volcano of Mt. Vesuvius. Unbeknownst to the ancient Romans, the little town nestled in the foot of mountains near the Amalfi coast was located in one of the most dangerous places in Italy. In 8^th grade I remember thinking how scary it would have been to see a dark cloud blow up in front of my eyes, only to blink and have that black cloud descend on my home in an instant, burying me for centuries.

The first day in Naples I had the opportunity to visit the preserved city, exactly how it was just centuries before when the eruption occurred. Thank goodness the volcano is now dormant, especially since there are still towns littered around the base of the mountain because the ground is extremely fertile- perfect for lemons, olives and wine, some of Italy’s finest goods.

The city itself is certainly still in ruins, but much of it seems to be preserved. The red dye on the columns was sucked out from the eruption (apparently chemicals from the ash removed it) but some red stone is still visible at the base of the columns that was an interesting contrast to the gray stone and ashen colored streets. Our tour group walked throughout the ancient streets learning about the everyday life in ancient times including gladiator shows, bakeries, and how people rode around in steel horse-drawn wagons that cut into the stone roads.

The most interesting story that we heard however was about the brothel. We learned that Pompeii is riddled with phallic symbols, usually meaning good luck, especially in fertility, however some symbols were special signs directing the men of the town to brothels. Following the giant male genitalia, we found ourselves in a small stone house with about 4-5 rooms including stone beds (I’m pretty sure that would be incredibly painful) and visual depictions of the services offered above each door. Apparently the prostitution business was comprised of mostly slaves that spoke a different language, so a man entering the brothel just pointed at the picture of the actions her desired. Our guide made sure to explain that although this was an important commercial business to the ancient Romans, only single men engaged in the behavior- so if you were a woman, or married, the brothel was not for you.

We wandered about the streets of Pompeii, by ourselves for the last bit of the tour, taking obscure pictures in the ruins (which always seems to happen when I travel with my dad) and tried to imagine what life would be like back in ancient Rome. I decided it might not have been so bad, especially since the view was beautiful of Vesuvius… but it was obviously a dangerous place to be. The next day I planned to hike the volcano, and I couldn’t wait to see the view of the Amalfi Coast from above.