Pompeii – an Incredible Window into the Culture of Ancient Rome
I spent a mesmerizing day in famous Pompeii, the ancient city destroyed in August of 79 AD when Vesuvius erupted, 
covering Pompeii in as much as six meters of cinders, ash and pumice.
On the way, our tour stopped by the Abbey of Montecassino, the burial site of Saint Benedict. The sight of Vesuvius towering over the bay, with Naples to the north and the Sorrentine peninsula to the south is spellbinding. From the moment I entered the archeological area, I was entranced and transported.
You can walk up and 
down the narrow streets and in and out of buildings, just as Pompeians did. 
The Forum is in the centre of Pompeii, surrounded by important buildings. You can visit the Gladiators’ barracks, amphitheatre, small theatre, public baths, and Lupanar (a brothel. 
Ornate paintings, graffiti, taverns, villas built with rooms around a central atrium, walking stones, baths and theatres have been have been preserved for two millennia. Even bread was sealed in bakery ovens.
Pompeii is a treasure trove of erotic artifacts. “The legend that Pompeii was a lascivious city is true – and not true”, said our guide as we entered Lupanar. The erotic murals (marketing tools essentially) were strategically placed throughout the brothel. The tiny rooms have rudimentary stone beds and no doors, perchance suggesting the advent of the peep show.
I admit that some pieces led to some blushing, others led to some lusting, but most of all, the evocative treasures led to true appreciation of this ancient city’s love of lust, love of love and love of life.
In the ancient Roman world, graffiti was a respected form of writing. Some graffiti frames the edges of frescoes in the finest room of a villa, indicating greetings from friends, who often quoted poems or added their own clever twists. Graffiti often included drawings – a peacock, a boat, a huge phallus.
The graffiti has been translated. Some of it deals with everyday issues. Much of it deals with sex. I laughed, imagining a Roman chiseling a “Like” on someone’s boastful timeline about their sexual prowess:
- Sollemnes, you screw well!
- Floronius, privileged soldier of the 7th legion, was here. The women did not know of his presence. Only six women came to know him, too few for such a stallion.
- Celadus the Thracian gladiator is the delight of all the girls.
- Here I fucked many girls.
- Weep, you girls. My penis has given you up. Now it penetrates men’s behinds. Goodbye, wondrous femininity!
- Theophilus, don’t perform oral sex on girls against the city wall like a dog.
- A copper pot went missing from my shop. Anyone who returns it to me will be given 65 sestertii. 20 more will be given for information leading to the capture of the thief.
- Chie, I hope your hemorrhoids rub together so much that they hurt worse than they ever have before!
Phallic symbols are not the only erotic images in Pompeii. In most homes, frescoes of men and women cavorting in a variety of sexual adventures, positions and combinations adorned the walls.
It is a miraculous gift to visit a place which has so accurately preserved, for over 2,000 years, the lives of ordinary people. If we listen, the silent streets of ancient Pompeii can communicate with us in profound ways. It is a world whose secrets may just hold the key to not only understanding its citizens but ourselves as well. [My silent prayer as we headed back to Rome.]
You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize them by their voices. People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for death in their terror of dying. Many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness for evermore. ~ Pliny the Younger
aceaustin 