Herculaneum

The town was founded by the Italic tribe, the Oscans, in the late 7th or early 6th century BC.  Late in the 6th century BC, the Greeks settled in the town and named it for the god Hercules, the town plan was Greek. The town was then conquered by the Samnites, another Italic tribe.  The Romans took over in 89 BC, the town had an excellent drainage system and underground sewer, water was supplied by aqueducts and wells.

An earthquake damaged Herculaneum in 62 AD, which led to a lot of building for the 17 year period prior to the eruption of Vesuvius.  When Vesuvius erupted in August, 79 AD, the population of Herculaneum was estimated at approximately five thousand, it was a highly desirable seaside resort and much less commercial than Pompeii.

During the eruption, ash fell for 18 hours to a depth of 8 inches and then the town was engulfed in a pyroclastic flow which moved rapidly down the mountain.  The flow was a mixture of ash, pumice stones, limestone and volcanic rock, which buried Herculaneum under 65 feet of volcanic debris.  The volcanic deposit created an airtight seal; unlike Pompeii, the deposit also contained charcoal, which carbonized the wood.  In some areas, items are barely harmed, in other areas, completely destroyed.

Early excavations were horrendous and caused a lot of damage, tunnels were dug at random and buildings were ransacked.  Not many human remains were found until 1982, when dozens of skeletons were found in the marina, those who had not fled must have sought shelter in the stone boathouses.

Only 25% of Herculaneum has been excavated, the modern town of Ercolano is sitting on top.  The public architecture is still buried, but some residential architecture is there to explore.

The first thing one notices when entering the ruin is how far Herculaneum sits below the modern city.

The streets are paved with stone and the curbs are very high.

The Samnite House - 2nd Century BC

More terminology is needed here.  The entrance into the house is called the fauces, you will notice the walls are painted with coloured panels, they were trying to mimic Greek marble and this is called first style Roman wall painting.  The Romans were interested in everything Greek and as time went on, they incorporated many Greek housing design elements into their Roman houses.  This house is referred to as a Hellenized domus, it was originally a Samnite house but has been decorated to look Greek.

This is the atrium of the house, the pool in the centre is called the impluvium, the opening overhead is called the compluvium.  Rain water would come in through the compluvium and fill the impluvium with water.  After experiencing a downpour today, we can understand how the impluvium would fill with rain water.  This water was for household use.  We will get into the purpose of the atrium tomorrow.

The atrium in this house is two-story, with a blind gallery on three sides and then open on the final side.  This is a reconstruction that may be accurate, but it looks a bit fake.

This room with the wonderful mosaic floor is the tablinum.  The tablinum is simply the room between the atrium and the hortus or garden.  The Romans designed their architecture with everything on the axis, fauces - atrium - tablinum -hortus, with other rooms off to the sides.

Mosaic floor in the women’s public bath.

Vaulted ceiling in the women’s public bath

Amphorae, used to store and transport liquid and dry ingredients.

Mosaic of Neptune and Amphitrite

Second style Roman wall painting

Mosaic floor in House of the Beautiful Courtyard

College of Augustales, fourth style Roman wall painting, Hercules standing next to Juno and Minerva

House of the Mosaic Atrium, not open due to repairs, notice the undulating floor, caused by the weight of the pyroclastic flow.

House of the Wooden Partition.  Wooden doors separate the atrium from the tablinum, this indicates there was some consideration of privacy when designing this house.  This house has a huge atrium.

Flour Mill

Thermopolium, an outdoor food takeaway

AltAr