Nowhere else in the world can you get the expansive feeling of stepping back in time like in Pompeii. Although archaeologists have only excavated a small portion of the area, today visitors can enjoy abundant views inside the ancient Roman city. Here are my picks for the top ten places to see in Pompeii.
The Forum: Walk from the ticket entrance through the Puerta del Mar and you will arrive at the Forum. Mount Vesuvius is in the distance. In AD 79 this active volcano spewed pumice into the sky and created the frozen city we see today. The Forum is surrounded by public buildings, including the Temple of Jupiter, the Temple of Apollo, a warehouse with ceramic and plaster molds, as well as a market where woolen weaving guilds sold their wares. The Temple of Apollo is the oldest in Pompeii and dates from the 6th century BC. C. The largest building in the Forum, the Eumachia Building, was sponsored by a wealthy priestess of Venus.
The Brothel: Situated on Brothel Lane, the brothel has a small hallway with several bedrooms to the left and right. Inside these bedrooms there are large slabs. This was the largest brothel in the city, run by a woman (known as a leonina), but prostitutes in Pompeii were everywhere. Prices ranged from two to eight sesterces (a serving of wine cost one sestertius) and the proceeds usually went to the leonine. The frescoes show many different sexual positions and it is believed that perhaps a man would point to one of the images before entering a bedroom, so that the prostitute would know what type of service she would enjoy during the night.
Via dell’Abbondanza: the liveliest street in Pompeii, the name was invented by archaeologists along with all other street names in the city. Actually, we don’t know what the Romans called these roads. Follow this street to see the dolia (terracotta pots) in shops selling all kinds of food. Pompeii was most famous for its garum, or fish sauce.
The following “must see” houses are located along this road. (But remember, there’s more to discover along your walk): The House of Chaste Lovers is named after a fresco depicting two couples reclining and dining. The front of this building was a bakery and the mules lived in the house. They drove the millstone to grind the wheat. A mule carcass was found in situ, showing how the owners ran in a hurry during the eruption, leaving their animals behind. House of the Painters had a cadre of professional painters who were painting lavish frescoes in this house when Mount Vesuvius erupted. They jumped off and left without their brushes and paints. From this, we can glimpse how the painters created their frescoes. Vetutius Placidus’s Thermopolium was a restaurant and the owner’s house was in the back. You can walk inside to see a Rapture of Europa fresco on the garden’s triclinium. (A triclinium was where the Romans ate, probably reclining on long cloaks.)
The Amphitheater: At the other end of Pompeii, the oldest stone amphitheater in the ancient world could hold up to 20,000 spectators. Adjacent to it was the gladiator training space, surrounded by porches, and a pool at its center. Gladiators were often slaves or convicted criminals. A lanista or a troop leader controlled when the gladiators performed. He also sought out new recruits and acquired animals from distant parts of the empire. Behind the Amphitheatre, the Via dei Sepolcri was lined with tombs. Marble statues of families can still be seen on their graves along with Latin inscriptions. The tomb of the priestess Eumachia is the largest.
Garden of the Fugitives: Next to these vineyards lie a large number of plaster casts in a large display case. Giuseppe Fiorelli, director of the Pompeii excavations at the end of the 19th century, invented the plaster method. He poured liquid plaster into a cavity left in the ash bed by the gradual decomposition of the victim’s body. As the plaster solidified, it reproduced the shape of the body.
The Great Theater and the Small Theater: Pompeii was a theatrical city. Many houses were decorated with images from the setting. Pantomime was a major attraction in Pompeii and busts of Caius Norbanus Sorex, a mime actor, can be seen throughout the city. These two theaters are gigantic and still impress visitors today.
Temple of Isis: The number of gods and goddesses in the ancient world probably exceeded the living human population of Pompeii. The debates that the Romans would have with each other about religion would revolve around whether and when and why they actually took human form, but in general there were no tenets of belief. Instead, religious worship focused on the sacrifice of communal animals. The temple of Isis here was built at the end of the 2nd century BC. C. and two other Egyptian deities were honored within the niches.
The Forum Baths: Where there is Roman culture, there are some Roman baths. Here, the Pompeians exercised, steamed, swam, played or enjoyed barber services. Baths were also a social leveler, only the wealthiest had their own private baths at home. The baths had a changing room (apodyterium), a room for a cold bath (frigidarium), a warm bath (tepidarium) and a hot bath (caladium). Just across the street from the Forum Baths exit, be sure to see House of the Tragic Poet which has an impressive mosaic of a barking dog with the words Cave Canum – “Beware of Dog”.
Casa del Fauno: The largest of all the villas and the most famous, this wealthy dwelling had airy rooms and some indication of interior baths, bathrooms, and kitchen areas. Visitors can see an exact copy of a dancing faun from the 2nd century BC. C. in bronze. Most impressive is the mosaic, which uses between 1.5 and 5 million tiny stones or tesserae, depicting a battle between Alexander the Great and the Persian King Darius. This house is also the oldest, built at the end of the 2nd century BC.
Villa of the Mysteries: Frescoes with intense red colors represent Dionysian or Orphic initiation rites in the Villa of the Mysteries. Interestingly, recent research at La Sapienza University in Rome has revealed that many of the reds we see in Pompeii were once yellow and turned dark red as a result of exposure to hot gases during the eruption.