I imagine that were I living in Pompeii in 79CE, I would think that the gods themselves were coming to get me. During the festival of Vulcan (history does have a sense of irony, it seems), I suddenly see the nearby mountain explode, and then a few seconds later I hear the same thing, it must have been as though the earth itself was being rent asunder. Those thoughts would not have lasted long, as the super-heated rock and ash approaced at breakneck speed down the mountain towards me. My lizard brain would have taken over and I might have tried to run, or I might have simply tried to hide in my house. Either way, I would have wasted my effort.
Pompeii with Mt Vesuvius in background
It would have been unthinkable to go to Rome, to be so close to the scene of this wonderful, yet entirely macabre spectacle, and not visit. So we did. The last full day of our European vacation was taken up by a rail trip to Pompeii, via Naples.
What has been uncovered since the 18th century re-discovery of Pompeii is a sight to behold. It's an almost perfect snapshot of life in the Roman Empire in the 1st Century. Something that cannot be conveyed properly anywhere else in the world. The palaces and the hovels, the markets and shops, are all immaculately preserved. The flagstones that are used to pave the streets, the original frescoes that decorated many of the buildings, it's all there for people who are two thousand years removed from the occurrence to witness.
Preserved statues
Remains of the Amphitheatre
The fact that it was all over so quickly that people were encased in ash while they were cowering from destruction is vaguely disquieting. To see the plaster casts made from the cavities in the ash, some of which clearly show the faces of the people brings a humanity to the site that most ruins cannot attain. It brings it down to our level, shows us that the people here were no different to ourselves. They were just trying to get on with their lives, and with almost no warning their lives were extinguished. It makes you feel quite insignificant. Humanity can build and rebuild, and nature will find a way to return us to our natural state.
The ruins in Rome were fantastic. Literally and figuratively. In the middle of a bustling city, to find a giant hole filled with the remains of a great civilization is something that's hard to parse. Granted, the remains of Pompeii are in the middle of a somewhat less than bustling town, but being in their own designated area somehow gives you a better sense of place, and a greater ability to comprehend what the original was like.
The site is also huge. Having wandered around the site for the best part of three hours, there were still dozens of streets that we had not walked down, and hundreds of buildings that we did not get time to see properly. We were on a tight timetable however, and certain things just had to be sacrificed.
At the station, waiting for the train that would arrive the most after it appointed time as any in the entire holiday, we found salvation in the form of an American. It was nice, after near enough a month of only each other to chat to, to find someone else who was glad to find some English speakers. This salvation lasted only until we returned to Naples, and jumped on the train to return to Rome. Then we were back by ourselves, condemned to a journey of not knowing what the next station would be, and being utterly powerless to change that.
Still, the holiday would have felt incomplete without making the trip, to one of the most famous moments in ancient history.
Standing in one of the many destroyed streets
Labels: holiday
