79 AD

What is it about ancient Rome that still fascinates and entertains over 2,000 years later? Spending an afternoon at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art exhibit: Pompeii and the Roman Villa is an experience not to be missed. Fascination with “the last days of Pompeii” is legendary, from poems to books, from rock bands to operas, films, documentaries, television shows, stage shows and even fire works displays have been based on the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79AD. Even John Hollerbach of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory who is working on treadport (a walking  simulation effect for virtual reality) chose pre-eruption Pompeii as a subject for his test applications.  There is a tragic romance about the 2,000 who died that day, 1,930 years ago. Ten percent of the population of Pompeii perished in three meters of ash and from 1748 when their remains were first discovered to this day the fascination with them has continued.

Even the discriptions of the homes found there are stories in themselves. The houses uncovered were named by the archiologists for their occupants: the house of the scientist, house of the gem engraver, house of the artisan, house of the tragic poet and house of the golden bracelets (where the body of a woman wearing heavy gold bracelets was found), for their decoration: house of the black wall, house of the little fountain, house of the citharist, house of the gilded cupids, house of the fawn, house of the colored capitals, house of Orpheus, house of marine venus, house of the wounded Adonis and house of the citharist and many more.  These homes were decorated in the height of fashion for their day. One house had a bathroom floor of silver, another a swimming pool 195 feet in length. Interior gardens were taken for granted. In the Villa dei Papiri alone, 1,800 papyrus scrolls and 100 statues were found. Love, myth and theatre were common themes for decoration and art, sexuality and culinary talent flourished and were catered to.

The populace of Pompeii were a varied lot: slaves, aristocrats, wealthy merchants, soldiers, politicians, gladiators, pirates, prostitutes and artisans. It is estimated that about 20,000 people lived there and although there have been over three dozen eruptions of Vesuvius since 79 AD, including one in 1631 that killed over 4,000 residents, it is the catastrophy of 79AD that captures the imagination. Pliny the Younger, an eye witness to the tragedy was the first to write about it in a letter.   His Uncle, Pliny the Elder was one of the victims. It is estimated that the column of ash was 20 miles high and the eruption lasted over 19 hours.

Tales of orgies, corruption and greed have been used for centuries to rationalize the destruction of the city dedicated to Aphrodite. The story of Pompeii invokes thought of life and afterlife, public life and private life, virtue and corruption, the elite and the slave. The extremes of the city and its abrupt end fascinate. There is even a syndrome named after it, Pompeii syndrome where "people on the verge of extinction ignore all signs of coming doom".

If you can't get to the exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art take a virtual vacation to Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii (40”45’04 N x 14”29’25 E) or if you are feeling really adventurous travel to the tallest known volcano in the solar system. Wonder, drama, tragedy, riches, sex, beauty, danger, Mt. Vesuvius and Pompeii have captured the imagination for almost 2,000 years.