Pompeii -- The Glories Buried Underground

Author: Wang Zhensun
Publisher:
Publication Date: 2000-03-01
Features: On August 24, 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius, located in what is now Italy, suddenly erupted violently, burying the nearby city of Pompeii under molten lava. A once vibrant city was instantly frozen, with life ceasing beneath three meters of volcanic ash. Though they perished in an instant, they entered eternal life—through archaeological excavations, the city was reborn. We return to the past and come to know Pompeii from every detail: its people and gods, its desires and joys, its life and death.
With the king's permission, the buried city was looted. At the time, Austria stationed governors in Naples who ruled southern Italy. They sent people to dig wells and tunnels, stealing some statues and transporting them to their castle in Vienna. These people were ruthless, drilling holes in walls adorned with beautiful frescoes. Only one voice dared to oppose this act of looting—the Pope. Unfortunately, the King of the Two Sicilies, later King Charles III of Spain, called upon Rocco Gioacchino de Alcubierre from Spain to resume these excavations. Alcubierre was a land surveyor who also supplied statues and various treasures to the Spanish court.
In 1748, he opened a new excavation site near the streets of Stabiana and Nola, about 200 meters from the Temple of Fortuna Augusta. However, he soon closed this site and focused solely on Herculaneum. It wasn’t until 1754 that he returned to excavating Pompeii. Nine years later, they discovered a sign bearing the name of the city. It turned out that Vesuvia’s true name was Pompeii.
The ruling class: The long-standing prosperity of Campania as an agricultural paradise was derived from the land. The slopes of Mount Vesuvius were dotted with the estates of the ruling class. Among rows of grape and olive trees, grains, vegetables, and fodder grew. Wheat was also cultivated here, yielding two harvests a year, bringing even greater wealth to the owners of vineyards. The owner of the mysterious villa, for instance, had a press and storage rooms, filled with amphorae of wine and olive oil. The agricultural products of the region were rich and diverse. Livestock farming was also thriving. The wealthy Eumachia, whose estate stood in the forum, married a shepherd named Numistius. In his vineyard’s courtyard, they raised sheep and goats, guarded by herding dogs.
The city itself relied on the produce of the suburbs. The vegetable gardens outside Pompeii were famous for onions, herbs, and honey, which remain specialties of the region to this day. The wealth derived from the land was concentrated in the hands of prominent figures, who, once economically dominant, also held political influence. Many council members owned land. My uncle was then commanding the fleet at Misenum. Around 1:00 PM on August 24, my mother told him that a cloud had appeared in the sky, unusually large and bizarre in shape. Having just had a sunbath, taken a cold shower, eaten, and rested, my uncle was working when my mother arrived. He called for his boots and climbed to a high point to overlook the distant landscape. However, the distance was too great to determine which mountain the cloud had erupted from. Later, it was discovered to be Vesuvius. The cloud resembled an Italian pine—its thick trunk stretched high into the sky, with branches spreading at the top. This might have been due to the strong updraft that initially lifted the cloud dissipating, or the cloud slowly sinking and dispersing under its own weight. Part of the cloud was white, while the rest was dirty and spotted, mixed with dust or soil. My uncle found the phenomenon significant enough to warrant a closer look, a sentiment shared by any scholar. He ordered his men to prepare a light warship with two banks of oars and asked if I would like to accompany him. I replied that I would stay behind to read and work on the article he had asked me to write.
On the way out, he received a note from his friend Cassius’s wife, Rectina, who was terrified by the danger and begged him to save her. Her villa was located at the foot of Vesuvius and could only be escaped by sea. Thus, my uncle abandoned his scientific pursuits and instead fulfilled a higher duty. He ordered all the large ships to set sail and joined them himself, also preparing to rescue others. He moved forward bravely, swiftly sailing toward the disaster zone. Unafraid, he observed the changing phenomena along the way and had them recorded.
Similarly, when repairing painted walls, improper mixing or poor-quality materials often occurred. Earlier restoration work used iron brackets, which not only looked unsightly but also rusted and expanded, causing cracks in the surrounding walls. Later, some improvements were made, but they seemed to have little effect. To reattach peeling paint without removing the entire layer, workers would scrape off the (decomposed) and wrinkled edges, then insert an iron wire from below between the coating and the support to remove old mortar and inject fresh plaster. The problem was that the mortar could never be fully cleaned; even if it was, the surface would still crack. As a result, gaps always remained between the old and new plasters, and due to differing compositions, cracks were prone to form. This is how the nearby walls cracked. Could the mortar fill all the gaps? Far from it!
In 1979, while repairing a wall in the Pygmees estate, the plan was to restore a height of 1.5 meters. In some places, the mortar was 22 centimeters thick, while in others, it was only 4 centimeters. The mortar was sometimes discontinuous. Additionally, the gaps between walls were left untreated. As a result, the restoration work had to be redone shortly after. Workers once again cut away the edges of this layer. This process was repeated time and time again, until the original appearance was completely lost. Some repairs were particularly challenging due to the shoddy construction of Pompeiian builders in the 1st century. An analysis conducted in Paris revealed that even if the original paint was of good quality, what lay beneath it was not necessarily the same. The lime content in the mortar may have been insufficient, initially a cost-saving measure, but now it was prone to crumbling and even being carried away by the wind. In humid areas, it absorbed moisture, damaging the wall’s paintings. It was precisely the difference in lime content between the walls and the surface that caused so much peeling.
…Fertile soil is also an enemy of the site. Why, if they knew the risks, did people still value land around Vesuvius? Because it was one of the most fertile regions in the world. Thanks to Vesuvius, the thick topsoil here, several meters deep, was rich in rapidly absorbable mineral salts. In the early 1st century, during Emperor Augustus’ reign, the Greek geographer Strabo noted in his writings that in some parts of Campania, wheat could be grown twice a year, followed by a crop of millet, sometimes even a second vegetable crop. To this day, local farmers’ orchards still yield multiple harvests of seasonal vegetables and fruits. However, this fertile soil in Pompeii (now slightly less so) became a curse. G. Aymonin, a staff member at the National Museum of Natural History in France, identified 31 parasitic plant species in the site area, so numerous they could fill an entire botanical atlas. Weeds and wild carrots entangled each other, formidable fennel, horrifying figs, vines, and raspberries. These plants easily invaded barren land. In open areas where visitors tread, however, the spread of weeds was suppressed. In closed areas like gardens, courtyards with interior colonnades, and courtyards, plants quickly took root, climbing walls and causing them to deteriorate. In areas where damage was most severe or near unexcavated regions, plant growth was particularly aggressive. Plants also eroded the concrete surfaces and their decorations, even damaging mosaics. As soon as even a small tile peeled off, plants would take root there. Some plant roots and stems could even cause roads and walls to crack. Visitors, unaware of these issues, only saw five or six well-preserved houses, unaware of the damage elsewhere.
A recent Pompeii exhibition toured Europe. It included a map showing the preserved original flooring in excavated areas, though such areas were becoming increasingly rare. When first excavated, all floors were paved, some with elaborate mosaics, while the least impressive at least had a layer of plaster. Thousands of square meters of such flooring have been destroyed and continue to deteriorate. Without roofs, plaster layers suffered damage or detachment, and walls were also compromised. Raspberries, fennel, and broom took root on wall tops, forming thick, dense piles that eventually caused walls to collapse. Climbing ivy, ivy, and raspberries attached themselves to walls, their roots penetrating the structure. These plant roots rapidly multiplied, becoming thicker and stronger, digging deeper into the walls. Some cracks opened the door for moisture to seep in. Ivy also made its presence known, clinging to walls and causing plaster to detach. It clung so firmly that when you tried to pull it off, the entire layer of plaster came down with it.
A disaster of unprecedented proportions in archaeology
To prevent these hazards, a small team of patient and cautious cleaners, as well as a group of restoration experts, were needed.
…Today, in unopened areas of Pompeii, one can find walls overgrown with plants, columns split, and mosaic fragments collapsing piece by piece. The spread of plants, combined with moisture corrosion and careless human destruction, poses a threat to the site no less severe than past earthquakes. A previously excavated house is now nearly inaccessible due to plant growth. Near unexcavated areas, some ancient courtyards have become dense thickets. Plants silently erode these structures, causing them to crack and crumble slowly. This slow, gradual disaster will eventually leave the buildings on this ground completely ruined. In the restoration and preservation of ancient sites, Pompeii has become a tragic example—an unparalleled disaster in the history of archaeology. Science et Avenir