Pompeii's Complex Economy

Today we explored the remains from Pompeii and the extremely rich heritage that went along with the city. It was clear to see that a majority of the city was destroyed from the volcanic eruption that happened hundreds of years ago, but it was fascinating to learn how much researchers and archaeologists learned from the remains. The tour guide was able to paint a picture of the economy in all of our heads even though we weren’t entirely sure what we were looking at. 

Pompeii is considered to be a “gold mine” for archaeologists because there is so much about the city that we still don’t know and yet more and more is being discovered every day. For example, most of the roofs were destroyed after the volcanic eruption due to the extremely hot and thick ash that landed on them, but archaeologists were still able to determine what the room or house was used for. One place in particular was “fast food” places because they had very distinct features and many still remained intact. These buildings consisted of a stone or marble bar and have openings for food to be served and were quite frequent within the city limits. Each building had 2 or more layers of stone, brick, or concrete in order to act as a sort of insulation. This type of construction was described as a “soap factory” by archaeologists because it reminded them as a mixture of materials in order to produce the best outcome. 

In order to preserve Pompeii’s history and architecture, extra stability and framing needed to be added to the buildings. Many buildings and roads were not touched so that people could get a true understanding of what Pompeii looked like before the tragedy hit. Going on the tour today, we were able to see parts of Pompeii that are not entirely noticeable to the common eye. We learned about brothels and what actually went on between the prostitutes of the town. The people of the town used symbols to describe who lived in the house instead of a using words. In order to figure out where a prostitute lived, one would look for the male genitals on either the building or ground and it would be pointing in the location of their homes. All in all, Pompeii was completely different from what I expected but I am so glad that I had the opportunity to explore the amazing city.