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Pompeii
From the remarkable pen of Peter Connolly comes a comprehensive look at the ancient city of Pompeii. He begins with the scientific facts: How was Pompeii destroyed? How did Mount Vesuvius become an active volcano? What happened during the eruption? How long did Pompeii lay buried and how was it finally rediscovered? What was Pompeii's history before the disaster?
Then, Peter Connolly does what he does better than anyone--he rebuilds the past in words and pictures, allowing us to imagine what it was like to live in old Pompeii. Like an archaeological detective, he sifts through the ruins and artifacts to reconstruct one area of the town in minute detail. With maps and cross-sections, photographs, drawings, and engrossing, fact-filled text, Connolly takes us into the very homes of its citizens--into the kitchens, atriums, bedrooms and out into the gardens. We learn what the furniture looked like, how the homes were lighted and heated, what kind of jewelry was popular, and what the gladiators wore. We view the varied styles of architecture and decoration, attend a grand dinner party, visit local shops, go to the theater, to a public bath, and to the gladiators' arena. We gain an understanding of this ancient civilization, and begin to see how much was lost when the city fell prey to the tons of lava and ashes that fell on it during the devastating disaster.
Then, Peter Connolly does what he does better than anyone--he rebuilds the past in words and pictures, allowing us to imagine what it was like to live in old Pompeii. Like an archaeological detective, he sifts through the ruins and artifacts to reconstruct one area of the town in minute detail. With maps and cross-sections, photographs, drawings, and engrossing, fact-filled text, Connolly takes us into the very homes of its citizens--into the kitchens, atriums, bedrooms and out into the gardens. We learn what the furniture looked like, how the homes were lighted and heated, what kind of jewelry was popular, and what the gladiators wore. We view the varied styles of architecture and decoration, attend a grand dinner party, visit local shops, go to the theater, to a public bath, and to the gladiators' arena. We gain an understanding of this ancient civilization, and begin to see how much was lost when the city fell prey to the tons of lava and ashes that fell on it during the devastating disaster.
80 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1979
6 people are currently reading
98 people want to read
About the author
Peter Connolly
95 books43 followersPeter Connolly was a renowned British scholar of the ancient world, Greek and Roman military equipment historian, re-constructional archaeologist and illustrator. A research Fellow at Oxford in England. He was a regular contributor to such periodicals as the Journal of Roman Military Equipment and Roman Frontier Studies.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
September 2, 2020
The most striking part of a visit to Pompeii is its scale. Especially when you visit on a hot day, with your nine-year-old son. The ancient city had a population of 10-15,000 people when it was destroyed with little warning in a surprise eruption of nearby Mount Vesuvius. Even in ancient times, this was no more than a mid-sized city. But even so, it takes quite a long time to walk from one end to the other, and there is a lot to see and take in.
After we came home, I thought it would be fun to read a little more about Pompeii with my son. I read that Connolly's book had a lot of illustrations, so I borrowed a copy from the library. I never got around to reading it with my son, but I read it with great interest myself.
Pompeii is a great archeological find, not because it was a particularly significant city or because of any important historical event which took place there. It is unique because of what it tells us about ordinary life in a 1st century Roman city. In the city of Rome itself, you will find great monuments. The Pantheon is an intact and awe-inspiring Roman temple, complete with a concrete dome. But in all of Rome, only a single example of a Roman apartment dwelling and attached shop remains. Over centuries buildings were demolished and their materials reused, tools and statues were melted down and repurposed.
Not so in Pompeii, the sudden and catastrophic burial of the city in pumice preserved everything that didn't burn up or rot away. In the nearby town of Herculaneum, hot mud encased and preserved even organic material. As people fled in the city's final hours, pots were left on the stove, tools stayed in the workshops, and furniture remained were it lay. We can infer the full plan of the city, including the use of each building from what was found in the ancient ash.
Connolly's book is not about the death of Pompeii. It is about the city's life. Connolly spends only a few pages describing the eruption, quoting Pliny the Younger's letters to Tacitus. The rest of the book focuses on different aspects of life in the city. What did a typical residence in Pompeii look like? How did the city get water? What did they eat, and how did they eat it? Where did people sleep and relax, and what did the furniture look like? The book briefly discusses many questions like these about everyday life at the time the city was preserved.
The real beauty of the book, though, is in its illustrations. In wonderful, full page color illustrations, Connolly expertly curates drawings of objects found in archaeological digs in the area, and mixes them with recreations of what rooms and buildings might have looked like in use. We see both drawings of cooking ware found in Pompeii, and a slave at a stove cooking. We see a dining room as it currently can be seen in the ruins, and also a group of Roman citizens being served dinner by a slave. We see a grain mill in the ruins of a bakery, see the same mill in cross section to explain how it worked, and then as it might have looked being turned by a donkey, with a baker in the background putting bread dough in the oven. These drawings bring the city to life, and have aged much better than photographs would have, seeing as the book was published first in 1979.
Seeing as the book was published 40 years ago, it should not be surprising that scholarship on Pompeii has moved on a bit with new finds. I have read elsewhere that it was previously believed that the city was still partly in ruins from the earthquake in the year 62 when it was buried in 79. Most experts today believe that damage from the earthquake had been completely repaired by the time of Pompeii's ultimate demise. Connolly incorrectly writes that many of the buildings he discusses were still in ruins or in disuse from the time of the earthquake. Since I am not an expert, I suspect that other factual errors in detail in the text as well.
There is also a strange modesty in the book, which I suppose allowed it to be used in schools at the time. Phalli make several appearances in the illustrations -- they would be difficult to avoid in Pompeii -- but they are never mentioned in the text. In an illustration of a bed from a fresco, a man lying on the bed has a disembodied leg next to his chest. The full fresco includes the rest of the prostitute straddling his body. In discussing an advertisement listing names of employees outside of a bar, Connolly mentions that the women working would provide their hospitality for a price. This innuendo for sex work is unnecessary.
But none of that seriously dates the book. In focusing on everyday lives, Connolly's book is a predecessor to Mary Beard's excellent SPQR. In beautiful technical drawings which bring the Roman world to life, Connolly follows David Macaulay's wonderful City. What differentiates Connolly's book is the close link between the actual finds at the site of Pompeii and his illustrations of the very same objects and locations as they might have looked in the city's final years. I highly recommend the book to anyone who plans on visiting, has visited, or just wants to imagine daily life in Italy during the Roman empire.
After we came home, I thought it would be fun to read a little more about Pompeii with my son. I read that Connolly's book had a lot of illustrations, so I borrowed a copy from the library. I never got around to reading it with my son, but I read it with great interest myself.
Pompeii is a great archeological find, not because it was a particularly significant city or because of any important historical event which took place there. It is unique because of what it tells us about ordinary life in a 1st century Roman city. In the city of Rome itself, you will find great monuments. The Pantheon is an intact and awe-inspiring Roman temple, complete with a concrete dome. But in all of Rome, only a single example of a Roman apartment dwelling and attached shop remains. Over centuries buildings were demolished and their materials reused, tools and statues were melted down and repurposed.
Not so in Pompeii, the sudden and catastrophic burial of the city in pumice preserved everything that didn't burn up or rot away. In the nearby town of Herculaneum, hot mud encased and preserved even organic material. As people fled in the city's final hours, pots were left on the stove, tools stayed in the workshops, and furniture remained were it lay. We can infer the full plan of the city, including the use of each building from what was found in the ancient ash.
Connolly's book is not about the death of Pompeii. It is about the city's life. Connolly spends only a few pages describing the eruption, quoting Pliny the Younger's letters to Tacitus. The rest of the book focuses on different aspects of life in the city. What did a typical residence in Pompeii look like? How did the city get water? What did they eat, and how did they eat it? Where did people sleep and relax, and what did the furniture look like? The book briefly discusses many questions like these about everyday life at the time the city was preserved.
The real beauty of the book, though, is in its illustrations. In wonderful, full page color illustrations, Connolly expertly curates drawings of objects found in archaeological digs in the area, and mixes them with recreations of what rooms and buildings might have looked like in use. We see both drawings of cooking ware found in Pompeii, and a slave at a stove cooking. We see a dining room as it currently can be seen in the ruins, and also a group of Roman citizens being served dinner by a slave. We see a grain mill in the ruins of a bakery, see the same mill in cross section to explain how it worked, and then as it might have looked being turned by a donkey, with a baker in the background putting bread dough in the oven. These drawings bring the city to life, and have aged much better than photographs would have, seeing as the book was published first in 1979.
Seeing as the book was published 40 years ago, it should not be surprising that scholarship on Pompeii has moved on a bit with new finds. I have read elsewhere that it was previously believed that the city was still partly in ruins from the earthquake in the year 62 when it was buried in 79. Most experts today believe that damage from the earthquake had been completely repaired by the time of Pompeii's ultimate demise. Connolly incorrectly writes that many of the buildings he discusses were still in ruins or in disuse from the time of the earthquake. Since I am not an expert, I suspect that other factual errors in detail in the text as well.
There is also a strange modesty in the book, which I suppose allowed it to be used in schools at the time. Phalli make several appearances in the illustrations -- they would be difficult to avoid in Pompeii -- but they are never mentioned in the text. In an illustration of a bed from a fresco, a man lying on the bed has a disembodied leg next to his chest. The full fresco includes the rest of the prostitute straddling his body. In discussing an advertisement listing names of employees outside of a bar, Connolly mentions that the women working would provide their hospitality for a price. This innuendo for sex work is unnecessary.
But none of that seriously dates the book. In focusing on everyday lives, Connolly's book is a predecessor to Mary Beard's excellent SPQR. In beautiful technical drawings which bring the Roman world to life, Connolly follows David Macaulay's wonderful City. What differentiates Connolly's book is the close link between the actual finds at the site of Pompeii and his illustrations of the very same objects and locations as they might have looked in the city's final years. I highly recommend the book to anyone who plans on visiting, has visited, or just wants to imagine daily life in Italy during the Roman empire.
January 10, 2020
Since I am heading to Italy in the Spring, and we will be touring Pompeii, I wanted to learn a bit about this ancient town.
This book was informative and interesting, however I would have liked more information on the disaster, the excavation, and why it is still so popular as a tourist attraction.
This book was informative and interesting, however I would have liked more information on the disaster, the excavation, and why it is still so popular as a tourist attraction.
July 27, 2017
I am not a big nonfiction reader, but I LOVED this book. I had been to Pompeii
and read this afterwards. It turned out that I had (accidentally) seen many of the
things he talks about in the book. I loved it so much, I am going to buy a copy
of it!
and read this afterwards. It turned out that I had (accidentally) seen many of the
things he talks about in the book. I loved it so much, I am going to buy a copy
of it!
October 25, 2019
Interesting, but not engaging.
August 9, 2023
Great book for illustration references but also very nice introduction to the lifestyle of Pompeii and Roman civilization by extension.
May 18, 2020
Lots of info, but in an approachable presentation!
August 11, 2016
Many of the late Peter Connolly's books sit on my bookshelves, including the superlative Greece and Rome at War. I didn't know that he'd written a text about Pompeii until I found myself researching for a short story about the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE. The quality of Connolly's work is such that I bought this book without even thinking.
I wasn't disappointed. Although the cover is oddly an image of a house in Herculaneum, rather than Pompeii, the book is a sheer delight from start to finish. The descriptions of the eruption, the town, its inhabitants and their houses and possessions are very good, but it's the diagrams and drawings that bring Pompeii to life.
Thoroughly recommended. Five solid stars out of five.
I wasn't disappointed. Although the cover is oddly an image of a house in Herculaneum, rather than Pompeii, the book is a sheer delight from start to finish. The descriptions of the eruption, the town, its inhabitants and their houses and possessions are very good, but it's the diagrams and drawings that bring Pompeii to life.
Thoroughly recommended. Five solid stars out of five.
September 14, 2013
Nobody should pass up this book, with its accurate illustrations and succinct explanation, as a children's book. I have never learned so much about the Romans and how they lived from another book.
June 15, 2014
GOOD BOOK!!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews