Pompeii

This module examines the destruction and excavation history of Pompeii and the associated sites ? Herculaneum, Stabiae and the Villa at Oplontis - destroyed in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The ancient accounts of the eruption and its aftermath will be reviewed as will the earlier history of Pompeii, leading up to its destruction. Using archaeological evidence, its primary focus will be to explore the significance of the evidence from these sites for the reconstruction of the lives of ordinary people in the Roman world. It will involve an examination of the key features associated with Pompeii?s status as a municipium. The evidence for the working lives of people will be explored as will the city?s public facilities for hygiene, leisure, entertainment and religious worship. The private lives of Roman citizens in the early imperial period will be explored through a case-study of the Roman house (domus). The module will consider the role that the discovery of the Vesuvian sites had in popularizing the taste for classical art and culture in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It will also explore some of the challenges facing Pompeii today as a world heritage site and a major tourist attraction, which is inextricably linked to the site?s ongoing fascination over the popular imagination.