Standing at Via dell’Abbondanza towards the west and how it appeared before the war. Today the buildings on the left show signs of decay due to the infestation of various plants, while the debris accumulating on the footpath indicates erosion of the infrastructure.
Looking in the other direction towards me after the bombing in an October 1943 photograph. The footpaths and road have also been worn down by pedestrian activity since excavation. Tourism has been a mixed blessing for the site. As there are 2.5 million visitors to both cities every year, their presence allows for education on the conservation issues on the site. Additionally, a law was passed in Italy in 1997, which allowed for all money raised from these tourists to be directly channelled to helping with the conservation of the site. However, the massive number of tourists also causes many problems. The general movement of them causes the gradual wearing down of the roads and pavements, particularly in the more frequented areas like the Pompeiian Forum complex. Tourists also might take chips of rock or stone from the site, as well as accidentally brushing against the walls and frescoes, further increasing their rate of deterioration. The open nature of both sites to tourists is also a leading cause in vandalism and theft.
The Stabian baths in 1945 and today with considerable alterations This is the town's most ancient bath building (2nd century ВСE), built over a previous facility (4th-3rd century ВСE) and later restored. East of the porticoed central palaestra are the bathing rooms, divided into women's and men's sections: frigidarium (with tub for cold bath), apodyterium (dressing room), tepidarium (warm room), caldarium (hot bath), furnaces (to produce heat). To the north is a large latrine, to the west a swimming pool (natatio). At the entrance and in the palaestra we can still see elegant decorations of polychrome stucco, dating from just before the eruption in 79 AD, with figurative and mythological subjects in the 'fourth style'; made of lime and calcite, stucco was moisture resistant. One should note the method used to heat the rooms: the floor was supported by short brick pillars (suspensurae) to leave an empty space (hypocaustum) below, through which the warm air produced by the furnaces could circulate: it also flowed through ducts in the walls, to envelop the room completely. 
The caldarium in the female baths showing the damage over time; the latest photo shows steps being taken to reduce this by limiting access.
Inside are the plaster casts of two victims
The Statue and Arch of Marcus Holconius Rufus in 1900 and today, the statue since having been removed. The inscription reads:
M. HOLCONIO M. F. RVFO
TRIB. MIL. A POPVL. II VIR. I. D. V.
QVINQ. ITER.
AVGVSTI CAESARIS SACERD.
PATRONO COLONIAE.
TRIB. MIL. A POPVL. II VIR. I. D. V.
QVINQ. ITER.
AVGVSTI CAESARIS SACERD.
PATRONO COLONIAE.
[Dedicated] in accordance with a
decree of the city council to Marcus Holconius Rufus the son
of Marcus, five times duumvir with judiciary authority, twice
quinquennial duumvir, military tribune by the choice of the people, priest of Augustus, and patron of the colony.
Now in the museum at Naples, the life size marble statue of Marcus Holconius Rufus once stood at the crossroads of the Via dell’Abbondanza, in its widest part (almost a little piazza) outside the Stabian Baths, next to a large arch which spanned the road and may have carried statues of other members of his family. This is not far from the Forum, where most of the other images of local worthies and imperial grandees stood, erected by a grateful (or carefully calculating) city council – the emperor and his relations occupying the most prominent positions in the piazza, the locals arranged round about so as not to upstage the imperial family. But Holconius Rufus would have stood out by being slightly separate from all the rest, and it is probably this location that accounts for the statue’s survival. The Roman salvage operations after the eruption seem to have made a bee line for the statues in the Forum, leaving very few to be found by modern archaeologists. The salvagers missed Holconius Rufus, who was standing away from the main group, a little way down the street.
The statue is a proudly military figure, dressed in an elaborate cuirass and a cloak, his right hand originally holding a spear. When he was rediscovered in the 1850s, clear signs of paint were still visible: the cloak had once been red, the tunic under the breastplate white with a yellow border, the shoes black. It is a splendid piece. The only jarring element is the head, which looks somewhat too small to fit. Indeed, it does not fit. The head, as we have it, is a replacement, perhaps for the original damaged in the earthquake of 62 (or that is one guess). Careful examination shows that it was not originally made for our statue at all. Another portrait head has been recut with the features of Holconius Rufus and inserted into the neck. So whose portrait suffered the indignity of removal and reworking, in this ancient version of identity theft? One ingenious idea is that the replacement head had belonged to a statue of the emperor Caligula, and had been surplus to requirements after his assassination in 41. Not only was the city very likely to have commissioned a statue of Caligula, given his two periods as duumvir, but archaeologists who have closely examined the reworked head think they can detect some telltale traces of Caligula’s distinctive hairstyle surviving the otherwise complete makeover. To us, the idea of recycling the head of a disgraced emperor to play the part of Holconius Rufus seems faintly ridiculous, but this practice of ‘changing heads’ is in fact surprisingly common among the portrait statues of the Roman world.Beard (206-208)
The caldarium in the Forum baths, built after 80 ВСE following the same layout as the larger Stabian Baths: on either side of the furnaces are the men's and women's sections, according to the sequence apodyterium (dressing room), frigidarium (cold bathing room), tepidarium (warm room), caldarium (hot room). The tepidarium (lukewarm bath) on the right was not heated using modern means, but by a large bronze
brazier donated by M. Nigidio Vaccula. Telamons separate the niches to
hold unguents and bath items; stuccoes in relief (from the later
restoration in 62 CE) decorated the vault with geometric partitions and mythological figures.
Beside the statue of Apollo on east side of Temple of Apollo, shown in 1944 and today. Along with the Doric temple, this is the most ancient sanctuary in Pompeii as evidenced by the surviving architectural decoration dating from 575-550 ВС, although the current layout is from the 2nd century ВСE, (subsequently redefined until the earthquake in 62 CE), when the tufa quadriporticus was built with its Ionic columns and Doric trabeation with metope and triglyphs. The building combines Italic (high podium with front entry stairs) and Greek elements (colonnade around the cell). The floor of the cell is made of polychrome stone diamond shapes, creating a cube-like effect. On either side of the portico are the statues of Apollo and Diana, depicted as archers (originals at the Naples Museum); the altar at the foot of the steps is from the Sullan period (approximately 80 ВС); the colonnade with sundial dates from Augustus.
Standing
in front of the painting of the myth of Pyramus and Thisbe in the so-called House of Loreius Tiburtinus or House of D. Octavius
Quartio, so called after the name on a signet ring found in one of the shops there, which was being renovated at the time of the eruption. The remains partly retain its original layout (2nd century ВСE): the bedrooms
(cubicula) and triclinium open onto the atrium, the heart of the
dwelling.
Beard (110)
The so-called House of the Fugitives, showing the shed wherein were found thirteen unfortunate victims:
This is a large space cultivated as a vineyard, which houses the plaster
casts of a few of the victims from 79 AD, overcome by the fury of the
eruption while they sought an escape. The director of the Pompeii digs
from 1860 to 1875, Giuseppe Fiorelli, introduced the plaster cast method
that is still essentially the same one used today: liquid plaster is
poured into the cavity left in the bed of ashes by the gradual
decomposition of the victim's body. As the plaster solidifies, it
reproduces the body's shape. The vineyard also contains a triclinium,
with masonry couches for dining outdoors.
As the cinders raining down through the hole in the centre of the roof (compluvium) accumulated in the passageway, he climbed on top of them, twisting himself with his back to the ground and his legs raised upwards, wrenching his neck and his head to get free from the rope fastened to a ring of bronze which can still be seen attached to his collar.Ruggiero (1879)
The man splayed out at the bottom of the staircase behind me was discovered in the house of Fabius Rufus along with several others, whose casts have since been lost.
View of the Macellum then and now. In the foreground, part of the stylobate (the top step of the crepidoma on which colonnades of the temple columns are placed). The platform was built on a levelling course that flattened out the ground immediately beneath the temple. The building, which was the city's main market, dates from the 2nd century ВСE and underwent subsequent renovations: the bases in front of the entrance portico held commemorative statues of illustrious citizens.
Two bodies used to be exhibited here as seen in photos I took over a decade earlier.
The woman is presented on her back although she was found sprawled on the ground face-front, to better engage the interest of paying tourists.
This one was first discovered on December 28, 1882
Wearing a heavy belt, his skeletal remains are evident under the plaster mould
Looking towards the Macellum from the forum after the war and today
The Stabiae Gate in a 1910 print and 1936 and its dilapidated form today. It was one of Pompeii’s most heavily trafficked gates, as well as the earliest
of those standing in 79 CE. It is 26 feet high and had been uncovered in
1851.
The temple of Vespasian (or Temple of the Genius of Augustus). Attributed to the worship of the Genius of the emperor Vespasian, the
building was under construction or being remodelled at the time of the
eruption. At the back of an outdoor courtyard is the small
temple, with four columns on the front, accessed by stairs on either
side of the podium, with the statue of the emperor In the centre, on a
low plinth, is the white marble altar: on the long side is the scene
with the sacrifice of a bull, typical of the imperial cult; in the
background, a temple similar to this same building has led scholars to
suggest that it is a sacrifice celebrated for its inauguration. On the
short sides are the tools of the ritual; on the other long side is the
civic crown of oak leaves resting on a shield, a prerogative of his
imperial majesty. A few scholars believe that the temple was dedicated
to the Genius of Octavian Augustus, the first Roman
emperor: the religious title of 'Augustus' was granted by the Senate in
27 ВСE, then to the Genius of the various emperors that followed, and
finally to Titus Flavius Vespasian.
American troops around the altar of Vespasian in 1944 on the left, and today
Drake at the entrance to the House of the Tragic Poet with its famous mosaic with a chained dog and the message CAVE CANEM
("beware of the dog"), typical of other dwellings in Pompeii; this
warning is also recalled in literary sources such as Petronius's Satyricon in which the protagonist
is frightened to death by the large painted cane. This is the house, at
the time just uncovered (1824-1825), that served as a model for the home
of Glaucus in the Bulwer-Lytton's The Last Days of Pompeii
(1834). The name given to the house comes from the mosaic emblema in
the tablinum, depicting the scene of a theatre rehearsal by a choir of
satyrs, now at the Naples Archaeological Museum along with other
paintings of Admetus and Alcestis and episodes from the Iliad.
New Zealand troops in January 1944 looking at a painting from a felt shop showing Venus being driven by elephants whilst below shows felt makers.
Drake at the Fullonica of Stephanus along the Via dell'Abbondanza, going into the remains of the portico which had served as the drying area the fullery outside the back of the house in the garden. It is clear through the GIF that the site has been extensively cleaned and renovated over the past several decades. On the right is how it would probably have appeared. This is the best preserved of Pompeii's four fulleries. Fullers were launderers- according to Pliny the Elder, their was taken very seriously and the Metilian Law stressed the use of Cimolian earth to brighten and freshen colours that had faded due to sulphur whilst stating that the mineral saxum was useful for white clothing but harmful to colours. Fullones had a legal responsibility of the clothes they were washing and were subject to penalties if they returned the wrong clothes or damaged the clothes.
Drake at the House of Fabius Amandius, and how it appeared when excavated in the early 20th century showing how much has been reconstructed.
Drake and I in front of the painting of the marriage of Mars and Venus on the west wall of northern portico of the House of Ephebus, and showing it as it appeared when first excavated in 1912. It is on a wall hiding a water tank beside the arched lararium niche behind us, shown on the right also when just excavated. On the right is Drake at the triclinium which overlooks the porch with the central floor decorated with inlaid marble, with rosettes and lotus flowers, which is unique in Pompeii. Behind him is a reproduction of a couch. There is a small chapel in the garden dedicated to worship, decorated by a large painting of Mars and Venus. A number of statues, originally in the garden, were moved to other rooms of the house at the time of the eruption to avoid being damaged by the restorations in progress among which was the remarkable bronze statue of Ephebe, adapted for use as a lamp bearer, which gave its name to the house. The house probably belonged to Publius Cornelius Tages, a wine merchant whose name appears in the electoral inscriptions read near and on amphorae found inside the dwelling.
Drake and I at the summer triclinium and Drake showing how much damage to the east wall has occurred over the last decade despite the recent restoration; note the bed recess to the left.
Venus, the city’s patron goddess, rode in a chariot pulled by elephants; on the other Mercury, the divine protector of commerce, stood in his temple grasping a fat bag of coins. Under Venus was a scene of workers busy combing the wool and making felt (with the boss himself, presumably, showing off a finished product on the right); under Mercury, the lady of the house, or perhaps an employee, is busy selling her wares (which appear now to be largely shoes). Sadly, one of the most striking examples of this type of painting – and one which captured the imagination of nineteenth century visitors – has now disappeared completely, a victim of the elements. Decorating the front wall of a bar, near the town gate leading to the sea, was a large picture of an elephant with a pygmy or two – and a painted sign saying ‘Sittius restored the Elephant’. Sittius was probably the last landlord, and he had restored either the painting or maybe the whole place (‘The Elephant Bar’). If so, he had a good name for a barman, so good one suspects that it may have been a ‘trade name’. For the best English translation of ‘Sittius’ would be ‘Mr Thirsty’.
Beard (59-60)
The Herculaneum Gate, looking down the Street of Tombs. The gate is so named because it opened onto the road linking Pompeii to Herculaneum although to the Roman inhabitants it was known as the Porta Saliniensis or Porta Salis, that is ‘Salt Gate’ (after the nearby saltworks). . It has three barrel arches, of which the side ones are smaller: the vault is partly collapsed. The gate was built after the city was conquered by the Roman general and dictator Publius Cornelius Sulla in 89 ВСE. Inside, the walls adjacent to the gate date from the 3rd century ВСE. The staircase visible to the right of the gate allowed easy access to the patrol walkway. Outside the gate, on the left, there are still the walls built with large blocks of tufa, approximately seven metres high. Along this section we can still see the marks left by the stone shots launched against the city during Sulla's siege. You can see a section of the walls by entering the gate on the left.
The junction of Via Consolare and Vicolo di Narciso
The House of the Faun in the 1860s with the empty plinth and today topped by a copy with the wife and Drake Winston.
During the war under German occupation from a soldier's personal photo album. At 2,970 square metres it is the largest house in Pompeii: built over a
previous dwelling at the beginning of the 2nd century ВСE, its current
form is the result of subsequent alterations. The entrance on the left
leads directly into the public section, the door on the right to the
private rooms: an atrium whose roof is supported by four columns,
stalls, latrine, baths, kitchen. At the entrance is the Latin message
HAVE. The 'first style' decoration, the floors of sectile opus, and
the mosaic threshold (now at the Naples Museum) highlight the dignity of
this house, more similar to the aristocratic Roman domus than local
upper class dwellings. In the centre of the impluvium is a bronze
statue of the 'faun' dating from the 2nd century ВСE- the original is in Naples and a facsimile has since been added); around it are
rooms that held mosaic paintings on the floor and 'first style'
decorations on the walls. Between the two porticoed gardens is the
exedra, the core of the dwelling, with Corinthian columns, stuccoed and
painted capitals, a splendid mosaic (now at the Naples Museum)
depicting the victory of Alexander the Great over Darius, King of
Persia, which has helped suggest a connection between the Macedonian
ruler and the unknown, educated, and wealthy owner of the house.
Standing in front of the original Alexander mosaic found in the House of the Faun on October 24 1831 and now in the Naples Archaeological Museum
The original location and the reconstruction since placed in situ
At the brothel (Lupanare) excavated 1862; it is clear how poorly the site has been preserved since. It is the most famous brothel and is of particular interest for the erotic paintings on its walls. Lupanar is Latin for "brothel". The Pompeii lupanar is also known as Lupanare Grande. Lupa in Latin means prostitute, and this is the best organised of Pompeii's many brothels, the only one designed specifically for this purpose: the others were simply single rooms, or part of the top floor of a shop. There are five rooms on the ground floor as well as the upper floor plus a latrine; the stone beds were covered by a mattress. Paintings depicting the different positions to be used in the erotic games decorated the lupanare. The prostitutes were slaves, usually of Greek or Oriental origin. Prices ranged from 2 to 8 as (a portion of wine cost 1) but the revenues, being earned by women without legal standing, went to the owner or manager (lenone) of the brothel. The building dates from the city's final days: in one cell, fresh plaster captured the print of a coin from 72 CE. There have also been 134 graffiti transcribed from the Lupanar which served as one of the criteria for identifying the building as a brothel. Examples include: Hic ego puellas multas futui ("Here I fucked many girls"). Felix bene futuis (meaning either "Lucky guy, you fuck well," or "Lucky guy, you get a good fuck").  |
At the Casa della Venere in Conchiglia (House of Venus in the Shell) or House of D. Lucretii Satrii Valentes. Damaged
by one of the bombs that fell on Pompeii in 1943, and uncovered in
1952, this house seems to be built over an older one, with a larger
peristyle and triclinium and new arrangement of the rooms, which go
almost all the way around the garden. The house was made famous by the
beautiful painting on the south wall: a lush garden, filled with flora
and fauna, with a low transenna and other decorative elements spread
across three panels. To the right is a fountain basin painted with
birds, to the left a statue of Mars. A centre window gives the illusion
of opening onto the sea, where the goddess Venus lies with two cherubs
in a pink seashell, practically thrust towards Pompeii, of whom she was
protectress. Although clumsily painted, the composition is not lacking
in dramatic effect if viewed from a certain distance.
Entrance to the so-called House of the Bronze Bull, named after a small fountain statuette found on the edge of the impluvium in the atrium now gone as shown in the GIF on the right. It is therefore also sometimes referred to as the House of L. Pontius Successus after a seal stamp found near the main entrance inscribed T(iti) Pont(i) Success(i). The house is now in a poor condition having been neglected and left to the ravages of the elements since it was initially excavated in 1836. The monumental entrance on the Via di Nola, built of regular blocks of tufa, was crowned by figured capitals, of which the eastern one was found in situ; note how the capital has since been removed. When first excavated the walls of the atrium were found to be decorated with frescoes in the second style. Unfortunately little trace of this decoration remains today.
Inside, seen roughly a century apart- the bronze bull too having been removed and looking eastwards across the atrium, then and now
Just beyond is this containing the plaster cast of a victim
The so-called Arch of Caligula in 1944 on the left, with Vesuvius still erupting in the background, and comparing it with how it might have appeared. This arch marks the start of Via di Mercurio, in front of the Forum Bath and the Temple of Fortuna Augusta,
near the intersection where Via delle Terme, Via della Fortuna, Via del
Foro and Via di Mercurio cross. This is an honorary arch in brick with a
single passage-way and its attribution to Caligula is based on an
equestrian statue in bronze, found in fragments, which must have
originally been set on top and which has since been identified as
Caligula.
On the left is a fresco from the Casa della Rissa nell'Anfiteatro showing the Amphitheatre at Pompeii, depicting the riot between the Nucerians and the Pompeians. This occurred in about 59 CE when a deadly brawl occurred between Pompeians and residents of Nuceria during games in the amphitheatre, resulting in a 10 year ban on such events, a provision cancelled after the earthquake in 62 CE: the
outbreak may have disguised some resentment towards Nocera by Pompeii,
since the former had recently become a colony and absorbed part of its
territory.
The
amphitheatre in 1944 and today, showing how much is a reconstruction.
Built around 80 BCE, this is the earliest Roman amphitheatre known to
have been built of stone; previously, they had been built out of wood.
The next Roman amphitheatre known to be built from stone is the
Colosseum in Rome, which postdates it by over a century.
Contemporaneously, it was known as a spectacula rather than an
amphitheatrum, since the latter term was not yet in use at the time. It
was built with the private funds of Quinctius Valgus and Marcius
Porcius. The amphitheatre's design is seen by some modern crowd control
specialists as near optimal. Its toilet, located in the neighbouring
palaestra has also been cited as an inspiration for better bathroom
design in modern stadiums. Built
(approximately 70 ВСE) , this is one of the oldest and best preserved
amphitheatres in existence, and held over 20,000 spectators. The
auditorium is divided into three sectors: the ima cavea (front row) for
important citizens, and the media and summa, higher up, for everyone
else. A velarium, or awning, was often spread over the stands to protect
spectators from the sun. The building was used for gladiator battles.
Two gates opened onto the main axis of the arena: participants in the
games paraded in through one gate, while the dead or injured were
carried away through the other.
From Marc Monnier's The Wonders of Pompeii (1871) on the left, and during the war under German occupation and with my mother in the centre today.
The
amphitheatre in 1944 and today, showing how much is a reconstruction.
Built around 80 BCE, this is the earliest Roman amphitheatre known to
have been built of stone; previously, they had been built out of wood.
The next Roman amphitheatre known to be built from stone is the
Colosseum in Rome, which postdates it by over a century.
Contemporaneously, it was known as a spectacula rather than an
amphitheatrum, since the latter term was not yet in use at the time. It
was built with the private funds of Quinctius Valgus and Marcius
Porcius. The amphitheatre's design is seen by some modern crowd control
specialists as near optimal. Its toilet, located in the neighbouring
palaestra has also been cited as an inspiration for better bathroom
design in modern stadiums. Built
(approximately 70 ВСE) , this is one of the oldest and best preserved
amphitheatres in existence, and held over 20,000 spectators. The
auditorium is divided into three sectors: the ima cavea (front row) for
important citizens, and the media and summa, higher up, for everyone
else. A velarium, or awning, was often spread over the stands to protect
spectators from the sun. The building was used for gladiator battles.
Two gates opened onto the main axis of the arena: participants in the
games paraded in through one gate, while the dead or injured were
carried away through the other.
Modern Crowd Control Lessons (from Ancient Pompeii)
Drake Winston atop the Large Theatre
At the covered theatre, or Odeon.
At the covered theatre, or Odeon.
Close-up of Ares and Aphrodite in 1904, the arrival of Dionysus on Naxos with a sleeping Ariadne in 1908, and an episode from a myth of Hercules and how they appear today.
Painted lararium with Mercury depicted in the niche with the Agathodaemon, a large snake representing a nature spirit and companion to the household guardian spirit of the place in the cryptoportico that survived the September 19, 1943 bombing which had destroyed the portico next door. Here it is shown before the war and today as well as the north wing of the building then and now, after restoration.
The tomb of Aesquillia Polla in 1910 and today
The tomb of Aesquillia Polla in 1910 and today
The fountain nearby
American troops at the
Temple of Isis during the war and at the site today; it's clear how much has been reconstructed since. Dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis, this small and almost intact temple was among one of the first
discoveries during the excavation of Pompeii in 1764. Its role as a
Hellenised Egyptian temple in a Roman colony was fully confirmed with an
inscription detailed by Francisco la Vega on July 20, 1765. In
the aftermath of the temple's discovery many well-known artists and
illustrators swarmed to the site. The preserved Pompeian temple is
actually the second structure; the original building built during the
reign of Augustus was damaged in an earlier earthquake of 62 AD.
Seventeen years later with the massive volcanic eruption, the Iseum
alone was the sole temple to be completely re-built—ahead even of the
Capitolium. Although the Iseum was wedged into a small and narrow
space, it received significant foot traffic from theatre-goers at the
Large Theatre, businessmen in the Triangular Forum, and others along the
Stabian Gate. Principal devotees of this temple are assumed to be
women, freedmen, and slaves. Initiates of the Isis mystery cult
worshipped a compassionate goddess who promised eventual salvation and a
perpetual relationship throughout life and after death. The temple
itself was reconstructed in honour of a 6 year-old boy by his freedman
father, Numerius, to allow the child to enter elite society. Many
scenes from the temple are re-created in the dining rooms of Pompeians,
however, indicating that many individuals visited this temple for
political, economic, or social reasons.
Mozart is known to have visited the Temple of Isis at Pompeii in 1769, just a few years after it was unearthed and when Mozart was himself just 13 years old. His visit and the memories of the site are considered to have inspired him 20 years later in his composition of The Magic Flute.
At the so-called Villa of the Mysteries. Built
on the slope towards the seaside in the 2nd century ВСE, it was
renovated around 60 ВСE, then again in the 1st century AD: it is one of
the more than 100 villas discovered in the Vesuvian area, usually
related to agriculture, but it was also fashionable for the upper
classes to have an out of town "getaway" where they could recreate an
environment suffused with Greek culture. It includes a residential
section overlooking the sea and decorated with splendid specimens of
'second style' (early 1st cent-20 ВСE), and a servants' section next to
the winery rooms (torcularia): here stands a rebuilt grape press, with
its ram's head trunk. Along the walls of the triclinium is the large
fresco (megalographia) depicting a mystery ritual scene (whence the name
of the villa), a woman's initiation to marriage. Splendid examples of
'third style' on a black background are found in the tablinum, with
miniaturist motifs drawn from Egyptian art.
A wine-press was discovered when the Villa was excavated and has been
restored in its original location. It was not uncommon for the homes of
the very wealthy to include areas for the production of wine, olive oil,
or other agricultural products, especially since many elite Romans
owned farmland or orchards in the immediate vicinity of their villas.
American B-25 Mitchell Bombers Flying Past Vesuvius, March 17–21, 1944. Such bombers dropped 150 bombs on Pompeii in the Second World War as part of Operation Avalanche to liberate southern Italy in the autumn of 1943. British and American forces fought to dislodge German soldiers and disrupt their resupply routes. Important targeted roads, railways, bridges, and overpasses were located near the archaeological site of Pompeii, whose ruins were badly damaged by a series of bombings carried out by American and British fighters. Significant destruction occurred throughout the site, and some of Pompeii's most famous monuments, as well as its museum, were struck. After the war, many of the structures were rebuilt. Ironically, the recent, highly publicized collapse of some Pompeian buildings did not involve ancient structures but rather post–Second World War reconstructions shown in the comparison photos below. The map on the right shows the bomb damage on Pompeii.
We have received from a British officer, who recently visited Pompeii, an account of the damage done to the place during September, when the Germans were encamped on the site and allied aircraft were obliged to treat it as a military objective. The following is a summary of the damage observed:
We have received from a British officer, who recently visited Pompeii, an account of the damage done to the place during September, when the Germans were encamped on the site and allied aircraft were obliged to treat it as a military objective. The following is a summary of the damage observed: “There is one crater in the arena of the Amphitheatre, and several near misses. The wall of the Gladiator's Training School was hit in three places. There is a crater in the eastern end of the Via dell' Abbondanza, to which incomplete excavation had prevented further damage. The houses of Rex Tiburtinus and of Trebius Valens were hit. The Cenacoli and house of Epidius Rufus were destroyed. The houses used for restorations north of the Via degli Augustali and the adjoining house were destroyed. The Temple of Jupiter on the western side of the Forum was hit. The Temple of Apollo and the House of Triptolemus north of the Via Marina were badly damaged. The Museum is now in ruins, but how much of the contents perished remains to be disclosed. The director of the excavations at Pompeii, Professor Maiuri, whose contributions to The Times will be remembered, was last heard of in a hospital at Torre del Greco with a leg injury received in an air raid.”The officer was told that two bombs had fallen on the Temple of Hercules in Region 8, and that the Houses of Sallust and Pansa in Region 6 had also received direct hits.
From The Times, 9 November, 1943
Much of what we see are reconstructions after the original sites were destroyed in allied bombing:
The Large Palaestra and, on the right the 'Samnite palaestra' behind
the temple of Isis, which a dedication
engraved in the Oscan language dates to the second half of the 2nd
century ВСE stating that the building was erected by the duumvir Vibius Vinicius with money which Vibius Adiranus had left for the use of Pompeii's youth.
The House of Triptolemus (aka House of the Cissonii or House of L. Calpurnius Diogenes) located in front of the Basilica and adjacent to the Sanctuary of Apollo. The residence had been named after a fresco depicting Triptolemus destroyed by the 1943 bombing (shown on the right in a 1944 USAAF photo from the air). Triptolemus was usually depicted as the messenger of Demeter when she restored fertility to the ground having taught and spread her arts of agriculture to new lands at that time and later, often travelling in a magical car drawn by winged dragons, a gift of Demeter. He is sometimes merged in identity with the infant Demophon of the Hymn or said to be his brother; in Plato, Triptolemus is a judge of the dead.
The Schola Armaturarum Iuventutis Pompeianae (aka House of the Gladiators) from the early 1930s and after it had been been bombed in 1944 after having been reconstructed from the wartime bomb damage.
How it is thought to have originally looked, with the façade in 1916 and today
How it appeared before and after its sudden collapse on November 6, 2010. Known officially by its Latin name “Schola Armatorum ” the structure was not open to visitors but was visible from the outside as tourists walked along one of the ancient city’s main streets. There was no immediate word on what caused the building to collapse, although reports suggested water infiltration following heavy rains might be responsible. There has been fierce controversy regarding the collapse.
Porta Marina before the war and today, and surveying the bomb damage in 1944. This is the most imposing of the seven gates of Pompeii and takes its name from the fact that its road led to the sea. It has two barrel arches (round arch opening), later combined into a single, large barrel vault in opus caementicium. The ring of walls visible today, already present in the 6th century ВСE, is over 3,200 metres long: it is generally a solid ring of wall, protected on the outside by a moat and inside by an embankment, atop which runs the patrol walkway. Twelve towers to the north, where the flat ground made Pompeii more vulnerable, also ensured its defence. Pompeii's definitive entry into the Roman orbit (with the Sullan colonisation: 80 ВСE) reduced the importance of the walls, which were occasionally reused or destroyed to make room for houses and baths.
Damage is not of course always accidental. Whilst Pompeii is supposedly guarded, many artefacts still find their way to the illicit antiquities market. Often these acts of theft also cause accidental damage to surrounding objects, and the thieved antiquities are no longer in situ and lose their context and cultural associations. In 2003, two frescoes were hacked off a wall in the House of the Chaste Lovers in Pompeii. This act of theft also damaged several other frescoes in the house, and, though a camera system exists in Pompeii, it had been out of operation for several months when the event took place. These frescoes were recovered some months later, but many others have disappeared from the site, never to be returned.
Vesuvius erupting in 1944, seen from Naples
From where the so-called Secret Cabinet (Gabinetto Segreto) is found, containing the collection of erotic or sexually explicit finds from Pompeii including this formidable statue depicting Pan engaging in sexual congress with a goat.
A piece from Pompeii contributes to a surviving legacy of the fascist era in Japan- Benito Mussolini had heard of the story of the Byakkotai- a group of very young soldiers who committed ritual suicide- and was deeply impressed despite the fact they had been fighting against the militarists who dominated the Meiji restoration and who would become the bestial eastern allies of Hitler and Mussolini. In 1868 a group of twenty teenage samurai, known as the Byakkotai (White Tigers), looked down upon Tsuruga-jō, saw it shrouded in smoke, and concluded that imperial forces had captured the castle. Rather than surrender, they committed seppuku (ritual suicide by disembowelment); one lad survived and devoted the rest of his life to passing on the story. In 1928, he donated a column from Pompeii to be erected by the graves at Iimori Hill; this column remains there to the present day. Topped by an eagle, it surveys the horizon from
the top of Iimori-yama, surrounded by Byakkotai graves and the steady
stream of Japanese tourists scanning the horizon to see what the White
Tigers couldn’t: a fully intact castle.
It reads (in preposterously pompous language):
S.P.Q.R. S.P.Q.R.
NEL SEGNO DEL LITTORIO IN THE NAME OF FASCES
ROMA ROME
MADRE DI CIVILTÀ MOTHER OF CIVILISATION
CON LA MILLENARIA COLONNA WITH THIS COLUMN MILLENARY
TESTIMONE DI ETERNA GRANDEZZA WITNESS FOR ETERNAL GREATNESS
TRIBUTA ONORE IMPERITURO GRANTS IMPERISHABLE HONOUR
ROMA ROME
MADRE DI CIVILTÀ MOTHER OF CIVILISATION
CON LA MILLENARIA COLONNA WITH THIS COLUMN MILLENARY
TESTIMONE DI ETERNA GRANDEZZA WITNESS FOR ETERNAL GREATNESS
TRIBUTA ONORE IMPERITURO GRANTS IMPERISHABLE HONOUR
ALLA MEMORIA DEGLI EROI DI BIACCO-TAI TO THE MEMORY OF THE HEROES OF BYAKKOTAI
ANNO MCMXXVIII - VI ERA FASCISTA YEAR MCMXXVIII - VI FASCIST ERA
Sacred to Augustus. Aulus Lucius Proculus and Aulus Lucius Julianus, sons of Aulus of the voting tribe Menenia, at their own expense.
