Mary Beard's Pompeii guide

Mary Beard's Pompeii guide: a trip back to AD 79 Mary Beard, the broadcaster and classicist, offers an expert guide to visiting the Roman ruins of Pompeii. 'Pompeii is the only place in the world where you can begin to understand how the Romans of the first century AD lived' Photo: APBy Mary Beard 11:00AM GMT 07 Feb 2013 17 Comments Pompeii is unforgettable. It is the only place in the world where you can begin to understand, face to face, how the Romans of the first century AD lived: from the brothels and lavatories to the posh dining rooms and lavish bathing establishments (the modern spa, health club and gym rolled into one). I have been studying the place for more than 30 years and the magic works every time. I slip down a deserted side street (and the site is big enough that there still are deserted side streets), and without having to use much imagination I have travelled back 2,000 years – walking along the high pavements, hopping across the road on the stepping stones, peering at the ruts made by generations of Roman carts, or at the election slogans painted on the walls by hopeful Roman candidates for office. Not that Pompeii is a city "frozen in time". The eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the town in AD 79 wasn't quite as devastating as it is sometimes cracked up to be. This wasn't an ordinary little town going about its everyday business as usual – when suddenly, with no warning at all, it was covered in debris from the volcano and preserved as if in aspic. Vesuvius had been rumbling for days, if not weeks. Most of the population, perhaps more than 17,000 out of an original 20,000 or so, managed to escape – taking their prized possessions with them. If Pompeian houses today look under-furnished, that's partly because the owners had loaded their best furniture on a cart and scarpered. Related Articles The ruins without the ruckus 28 Mar 2013 Where I'm going in 2013: Mary Beard 31 Dec 2012 Lost cities of the world 16 Jul 2009 Italy's olive oil trail 20 Apr 2009 Sicily: Italy's ragged edge 14 May 2009 Florence: The fine art of vintage shopping 13 Jun 2009 Sponsored Must-see attractions and events in Londonderry They weren't all so lucky. The old, the ill and the hopelessly optimistic (or stupid) seem to have sat it out – and died. The skeletons of one family have been found, crouched together in a back room of a large house. One of the group was in her late teens and almost nine months pregnant. That presumably explains why they stayed put. Others may simply have decided to get on with their jobs and ignore the warnings. One team of painters was working on some expensive new wall decoration in another large property until the very last minute. They certainly left in a hurry, knocking over their ladder and bucket of cement in the process – to be found by archaeologists almost two millennia later. They may have been very lucky in their escape and got away. More likely they have ended up as some of the dead "bodies" you can still see on the site, crouching in corners, head in hands, or clinging to each other as the debris fell – the shape of their clothing, even their facial expressions as they died, preserved. These are now some of the biggest attractions of the ancient town: vivid, if ghoulish, reminders of the real people who lost their lives in the disastrous eruption. They are not literally "bodies" at all, of course. One ingenious 19th-century excavator had the bright idea of pouring plaster of Paris into the cavities left in the lava around skeletons, where flesh and clothing had decomposed – and, hey presto, the shape of a living human being was miraculously recovered. Modern science has developed these techniques. We have recently discovered that you can pour plaster not only into the cavities left by corpses but into those left by the roots of plants as they decomposed under the volcanic debris. And so whole gardens have been reconstructed with their flowers, fruit trees and cuttings in pots. Microscopic analysis can tell you even more – about the pollen flying around in the air in AD 79 or occasionally, when you find a cesspit, about what went through the digestive tracts of the ancient inhabitants of the town. Eggs, we have learnt, were among the staples of the Pompeian diet – and there were some nasty intestinal parasites around. But the pleasure of Pompeii is that you don't actually need a microscope to make discoveries. You just need your eyes open. The fittings of lost doors and windows are there for all to see if they look hard enough. So too are the stairways in the private houses that led to upper storeys destroyed in the eruption (despite first appearances, the Pompeians did not live in bungalows – but what went on upstairs is hard to say). One of the most curious new discoveries has come from a closer look at those cart ruts that scar the Pompeian streets. Generations of visitors have wondered how two ancient carts could possibly have passed each other in the narrow streets of the town. The answer now seems to be that they didn't. Carefully examining the scrapes of cartwheels in the roadway and against the pavements, one team of archaeologists has worked out the direction of the traffic flow and claims to be able to plot the one-way street system operating in ancient Pompeii.

 How to make the best of your visit A visit to Pompeii hardly ever lets you down. But to have a really successful time there are two essentials apart from wide-open eyes: sensible shoes (the bumpy roads and pavements are hard on the ankles) and a water bottle (a small one is fine: there are lots of ancient street fountains where you can refill). It is also a good idea to do a bit of planning. If you put yourself at the mercy of one of the guides who tout for business at the entrance, you will miss out on the fun of wandering as you please. It's far better to work out an agenda in advance and find your way around with a map. There are two basic rules here. First, don't get too interested too early. Most people arrive by the little Circumvesuviana railway from Naples or Sorrento, and go in by the main entrance at the Porta Marina (the sea gate). From here you quickly come to the Forum, or the main piazza of the ancient town. It's impressive enough in its way, and many new visitors spend ages there trying to work out what every building was. Don't. There are even more impressive things to come – brilliantly preserved bath buildings, a working-condition brothel and an amphitheatre, for example. Second, take any opportunity offered. A lot of the best private houses of the town are locked for much of the time. But custodians do open them occasionally. If you spot an open door – go through it. All kinds of surprises might lie inside: little mosaic fountains, reconstructed gardens, the carefully crafted marble couches on which upmarket Romans dined. Six essential sights 1. The House of the Tragic Poet (it has nothing actually to do with a tragic poet, but most houses got nicknames in the 19th century). This is among the best-preserved private houses and features the famous "Beware of the Dog" mosaic at its entrance – and it was the one that Edward Bulwer-Lytton chose as the home of his hero Glaucus, in his engaging 1830s romp The Last Days of Pompeii. 2. The Temple of Isis Bulwer-Lytton's villain in The Last Days was a priest of the Egyptian goddess Isis, and her temple is one of the most vividly preserved in the whole town. It was visited by the young Mozart in 1769, and gave him ideas for The Magic Flute. 3. The brothel This is now the most-visited building on the site (more visited than in antiquity, no doubt) – and you may well have to queue to get in. It consists of five poky cubicles, with some explicit erotic paintings and a lot of graffiti from satisfied customers. 4. The Stabian Baths These give you the best idea of what Roman bathing was like. There are richly decorated vaulted rooms for a good steam (the men's section considerably richer than the women's) – plus a swimming pool and exercise yard. 5. The Villa of the Mysteries Just outside the city walls, this villa-cum-farm includes the most famous Pompeian wall-painting. A mysterious scene wrapping around the four walls of a large reception room, featuring flagellation, phalluses, a bride (?) and the god Dionysus. 6. The amphitheatre One for the energetic (it's about as far from the entrance as it could possibly be), but worth the effort; 150 years older than the Colosseum, it's the earliest amphitheatre to survive anywhere in the world. Mary Beard is Professor of Classics at Cambridge University. From Naples (or from Sorrento where many visitors are based), the easiest way to get to the site is on the slow but steady Circumvesuviana railway line. Restaurants in Pompei were adequate rather than exciting, but "Molto bene mangiare" could be had at every one. Take it easy, take it slowly and look in every corner for the citie's former life. I wandered into a shop out towards the Villa of the Mysteries and wondered what had been on display there. Suddenly I noticed a little wall painting of eggs laid on yellow straw. Magical. After your visits to Pompeii and Herculaneum you MUST make time for the MAV museum,a modern building on the left about halfway back from the shoreline at Herculaneum towards the train station.Todays technology meets yesterdays Romans...you can even wipe the condensation off a window into the baths and see it fog up again. Absolutely superb..the kids will be hooked...as was this one aged 55 ! There are plenty of older theatres in the world -- but Pompeii's is the oldest AMPHItheatre (with seats all around the oval/circle of the arena). The amphitheatre is a must if you can get past all the other amazing attractions. If you visit Pompeii, I highly recommend visiting the nearby Herculaneum remains as well (but not on the same day - too much to take in). Located at the modern sprawl of Hercolano, it's much smaller than Pompeii (Hercolano is built over most of it), but the remains are fabulously interesting - especially the Deer House (I think that's how it's known) and the bath house, which has the perfect imprint on the wall from a huge marble bath full of ash and volcanic debris which was flung against it - presumably when the pyroclastic flow hit the town. The bath must have been incredibly heavy, but it was picked up as though made of feathers. The Temple of Isis was very exciting. And there were some strange occurances while we were in Pompeii which added to excitement. Upon emerging from The House of the Tragic Actor we found ourselves surrounded by no less than 10 stray dogs, which most fortunately were very friendly. That made even me temporarily superstitious (Some days before while walking at midnight on Roman Forum we were escorted by the band of cats). And the main street in Pompeii greeted us with at least 3 dust devils in a neat row, the biggest that I ever saw. The art there is splendid. Each street and house, temple and public space speak volumes there.   We were so lucky a few years ago when we made our own way there from Sorrento on the cheap local trains. We didn't know but it was one of those days when museums and sites like Pompeii are open for free. We paid a tiny amount for some self-guide devices you listen to and off we went. It was a full day and very hot (take water) - but also very quiet, but we saw so much mentioned here with ease. There is a caf� on the site but we didn't come across it until right at the end when we were flagging. You do need a map and to orient yourself and of course many people will take an organised route which does pack in detail. The brothel is small and seedy but brings a sense of what real lives were like. The gardens of the grander houses are stunning in concept - and some of the recovered items like the statue which gives the House of the Faun its name are really beautiful. I think it is a kind of time capsule anyone who has the chance should set aside at least a day to visit. It is a big site � in a two-hour guided tour I guess we saw about 20 per cent and even then missed some major areas, so do plan ahead if you want to get off the usual routes. * The heat in summer is killing. Get there early in the day and do take that bottle of water. I didn't. Staggered into the gift shop by the exit and downed a litre bottle almost in one!