Herculaneum: Italy's Buried Treasure

This fascinating look into a volcano created time capsule of life in the Roman Empire provided this reviewer a strange kind of therapy. Because the event happened so fast everything in the Roman Town of Herculaneum was left exactly as it was when the earth quake followed by the fast moving flood of thick pyroclastic waves swept over and buried the entire town and many of it's inhabitants. Buried deep under a volcanic matrix and ash the locations of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and other small towns were forgotten, new towns and villages were built atop the ruins and every hundred years or so Vesuvius erupted again burying Herculaneum deeper as well as some of the new communities built above them. The last eruption occurred in 1944 before the volcano once more assumed a mask of harmlessness. It's apparent that after both Pompeii and Herculaneum are totally excavated and studied that they will again be buried in yet another eruption of the nearby mountain. In Herculaneum, the town has been slowly, painstakingly freed from the rock-hard casings entombing it using picks, drills and finally soft brushes. But it was built between two streams flowing from the volcano and will once more be the low point in the path of the next pyroclastic and/or lava flows. Since the Italian Government doesn't have the funds to properly protect and excavate most of Herculaneum that is still encased under 65 to 100 feet of volcanic rock, it may be best that it isn't even uncovered and instead is saved another few thousand years for future, and wiser archeologists to uncover and marvel at. The town really is amazing. Ironically, the pyroclastic flow, unlike lava, didn't destroy everything it touched. Food, fruits, ropes, fish nets, wooden furniture, cloth, even a private library of 1800 papyrus scrolls of books and plays survived. In the 1980's skeletons were found on what was originally the community's beach, but is now 500 yards inland. Sea level is now 13 feet higher than the beach of 2,000 years ago (I wonder how that squares with Global Warming theories?) and the skeletons of unsuccessful fleeing residents of Herculaneum were accidentally discovered when a drainage system was being built. Since Roman's practiced cremation, these dozens of complete skeletons have provided archeologists with their first look at the health of the average Roman during the Roman Empire. One of the skeletons was that of a soldier complete with his armor, sword and his carpenter tools attached to his belt. Roman Legionnaires were also required to be skilled craftsman as well as soldiers. Roman men averaged 5'7" and women of the time averaged 5' 1 and 1/2" in height and are two obvious examples of the kind of information the skeletons provided today's experts. Teeth were in excellent shape probably because of the lack of sugar in the average Roman diet (they preferred honey). Lead poisoning was not a major problem as many experts have postulated. Herculaneum is a treasure trove of history.

Very few people know of the other Napolitan city that was destroy in 69AD by the eruption of Vesuvius and because of this there are few good books that have been written on Herculaneum. Deiss' book on Herculaneum is probably the cream of the crop and an essential one to any scholar or amateur classicist/archaeologist who is interested in the other little seaside city. Deiss provides a good overview of the difference between the destruction of Herculaneum and the destruction of Pompeii which had a great effect on the excavation of the cities. He also chronicles the discovery of Herculaneum which occurred before Pompeii and the birth of modern archaeology through that discovery. Deiss also gives a good overview of the town and what is know about it, the objects that were found there and how different buildings were used. Essential to anyone interested in Pompeii, Herculaneum or ancient Roman culture.

I greatly enjoyed this book. It carries you along deep into the personal lives of ancient Romans, nearly two millennia gone. Deiss constantly links the architecture to the minutiae of finds and to individual lives and actions. This is a wonderful way to do popular archaeology. It is worth taking along on a trip to visit Herculaneum, although slightly oversize for a pocket. It is not a street by street guidebook but rather is constructed by themes that make sense of the whole as well as the individual lives, and deaths, recovered deep in the ruins.Herculaneum (and its neighbor Pompeii) are archaeological godsends, the rarest of time capsules showing the complete range of life at one particular instant in the Ancient world. The spectacular history, deep burial and rediscovery of Herculaneum is excitingly covered in the first five chapters, including eyewitness accounts of the fatal eruption of Vesuvius as lunches were being prepared on August 24, A.D. 79. In the next six chapters Deiss systematically tours you through Roman housing there, from top to bottom of the social hierarchy (including the astounding copy of a Roman villa Paul Getty built for himself in Malibu CA). Five more chapters take you through the public spaces and functions of the town revealed in tunnels and exposures. The book concludes with a summary of the skeletons and plans for site conservation and exploration. Yes, a few pages deal with earthy topics, just as the Romans frankly did. (I think the Getty Museum has since put out a separate book for parents of American kiddies.)Excellent b/w photographs are found throughout. An absolutely vital aerial photograph and map is provided on p. 34 which you will want to bookmark. It's really too bad they are so tiny that a magnifying glass is needed to read the labels in order to locate the houses when their plans and ruins are discussed individually later in the text. Some locations are never identified. Larger foldout versions would be a real help in the next edition (excavations began in 1709 and new things are constantly found).

I bought this book to find out about soap factories supposedly found on Pompeii and Herculaneum but this book discounts the theory of several other places. There's a lot of history about the dig but you get much more information about what was actually found in the digs with pictures of the artifacts in the museums. The pictures are clear and the book reads very well. Lots of discussion about the various shops. Doesn't leave anything out. Does discuss the eros side a little. Not a good book for teachers of young students because of various images but overall an excellent secondary source of info with pictures from a primary source.