The City of Pompeii

The present cultures and societal groups have been influenced by past civilizations to become what they are today, setting up governments, religious organizations and cults, art and culture all included. History repeats itself, not because it is cast in stone but because people study history. If all history books and materials, artifacts and manuscripts from old kingdoms were to be destroyed, the chances of repeating the mistakes of past civilizations would be very minimal. However, the past civilization has also indicated some levels of ingenuity in different fields such as religion, architecture, arts, and governance. These are the traits that wish to be preserved. One such civilization, whose cultural, political, religious and artistic background is a spitting image of the modern way of life, is the fallen City of Pompeii.

History

Pompeii was a great town in the Campania, a region in Italy. The town was entirely buried under volcanic ash when a nearby mountain, Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE. The excavation of this town during the 20th century provided a deep insight as to how ancient Roman civilizations lived. Existing in the Bronze age, Pompeii was located near the mouth a river called Sarno1. The geographical setting of Pompeii offered a great advantage to its people since the it had a favorable climate and volcanic soil rich in nutrients which supported a wide variety of agricultural cops. This highly advantageous area where the residensts of Pompeii enjoqyed these natural benefits had been formed due to volcanic activity of Mt. Vesuvius, a seemingly dormant and quiet mountain at that time.

Cultural significance

The city of Pompeii was excavated in 1748 for the first time and a lot of items were uncovered from the volcanic ash. Graphic artworks, a roman Amphitheatre, vacation villas and also plaster casts. The ancient uncovered ruins have now become a cultural tourist site where tourists pay a small fortune to relive the experience. There are giant statues on some part of the city with broken green angel standing across the street from the main square. The city is littered with artwork of unimaginable proportions such as carefully done sculptures and vases on wall linings. Downhill of the main square, still within the city, is a villa that is filled with red walls2.. This villa was named the Villa of Mysteries (Villa dei Misteri)2 and inside it, there are several frescoes that depict a picture of what ancient roman civilization was like. A particularly interesting fresco is one of a woman being initiated into the cult of Dionysus. This fresco has ignited a lot of discussions about the cultural design of Pompeii.

            The city of Pompeii is also famous for its enticing art. From art, it is possible to deduce that there was freedom of worship in Pompeii. There are artworks ranging from graphic eroticism to pagan symbolism that have been uncovered. 2. The city contained brothels whose walls are filled with explicit artwork. Phallic symbols were common depictions in the city of Pompeii. This goes a long way to speak about the morality of the residents of Pompeii. There was a moral decadence of the highest order. In the 21st Century, the internet has been the source, the highway and the battery that powers moral decay in societies. However, even with this superior technology, the level of morality has not reached the lows of City of Pompeii. Even with so much information about Roman culture deduced from the artistic work of the Pompeiians, much about roman culture has been lost to time and weather elements.

Artistic Influences

There is a lot of evidence to show that the people of Pompeii were endowed richly in art. The ruins of the city of Pompeii depict majestic architecture that was once a city. One such example is the Arch of Caligua3. There are also buildings that were used for commercial, political and social gatherings and purposes such as the Forum, which was built at the center of the city.  The architectural design of each building was inspired by art. Social buildings were designed to impress and provide entertainment for the romans who wanted to enjoy themselves. The Amphitheatre was built solely for the purpose of entertaining the great roman audience in sports like the gladiator matches and wrestling and public executions. They valued their culture and supported it in every way. The modern architects appreciate the art genius of the Pompeii architects by emulating them in building amphitheaters.

Political Significance

There are also buildings uncovered from the ash, from whose architecture, it was deduced that they were used for political purposes such as the Forum, which was built at the center of the city. This shows that the people of Pompeii were, not only a social civilization, but also had governance. They had a political system, which means they had rules to govern them. This was a highly complex society.3

Religion Influence

The ancient civilizations of Rome were very religious. There are very many pieces of evidence that show that Pompeii and it neighboring town of Herculaneum was steeped in Religious activities. The volcanic activity that wiped out an entire civilization also left some clues about their way of life. The people of Pompeii were very religious they built places of worship in their very homes as well in public places.4 Temple buildings and church buildings usually indicate the presence of religious activity in an area. It is therefore safe to say that the discovery of a temple structure in a given region would indicate the residents of that the residents of that region are religious. If this assumption is true, then the numerous temples uncovered in the city of Pompeii and town of Herculaneum show that the people were highly religious. They would go to these places of worship to offer sacrifice to their gods. The oldest temple uncovered in Pompeii was the temple of Minerva, the goddess of Art and Wisdom, equivalent to the goddess of Athena of ancient Greek Mythology.4

Temples dedicated to Venus were also uncovered and determined to be built 1 BCE. Apart from these, the town of Herculaneum had its own temples dedicated to different gods.

REFERENCES

1. Cartwright, M. (2018 March 21). Definition. Ancient History Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.ancient.eu/pompeii/

2. Kaigh, M. (2016 April 1). Pompeii: Art and Culture in a Ruined City. Berkley Center. Retrieved from https://berkleycenter.georgetown.edu/posts/pompeii-art-and-culture-in-a-ruined-city

3. Graham, E. (2016 October 10). Exploring the Art and Architecture of Ancient Pompeii. Culture Trip. Retrieved from https://theculturetrip.com/europe/italy/articles/exploring-the-art-and-architecture-of-ancient-pompeii/

4. Hornblower S. & Spawforth, A. (2003). “Pompeii.” The Oxford Classical Dictionary, 3rd Ed Rev. Oxford University Press, 2003. Pages 1214-1215.