Joanna has been revisiting the Vesuvius area and seeing amazing new finds

Vesuvius (seen from Capri) is still active and dangerous to those living nearby

I’m starting this blog with an image of Vesuvius as it now is. It dominates the whole region and is still active. It hasn’t erupted since 1944, though in theory it could do so at any time. But millions of people live on and around it, braving the danger.

Since my first visit to Pompeii and Herculaneum, nearly 10 years ago, archaeologists have discovered new finds and there are new museums on both sites. (Possibly fodder for a future blog?)

Peaked Vesuvius pre AD 79 with Bacchus
Public domain via Wikipedia

We know what Vesuvius did to Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79. But they weren’t the only places that suffered from the eruption which blew off the whole of the top of the volcano. As this pre-eruption fresco of Bacchus and the serpent Agathodaemon from Pompeii shows, the mountain probably had a single peak and the area was celebrated for its wines and grain.

For today’s blog, I wanted to show you new finds from other places, specifically Positano and Terzigno. Never heard of them? No, I hadn’t either, but the treasures there are spectacular and definitely worth a visit if you’re in that part of Italy.

This graphic shows how far the ash spread from Vesuvius and how deep it was. Pompeii is in the middle section, with 5-7 metres of ash. Terzigno was a rural suburb of Pompeii and suffered the same. Positano, down on the Amalfi coast, is in the adjoining section, with 2 metres of ash. And of course, in addition to the ash and pumice, there was also the pyroclastic flow which finished off those who survived the initial eruption.

Positano, Roman Archaeological Museum (MAR)

Positano is perched on the Amalfi coast on the Gulf of Sorrento. This image (taken from our bus on the way down) shows Positano’s steep cliffs.

Since this was an archaeological trip, we spent our time in the relatively new Museo Archeologico Romano (MAR), which opened in 2018. It’s actually underneath the Church of Santa Maria Assunta.

Roman villa beneath Santa Maria Assunta

The church sits on top of a Roman villa (now partially excavated) and features some well-preserved frescoes in the 4th Pompeian style. The colours are eye-popping. Judge for yourself.

This image shows the back wall of what was the dining room (triclinium). You can see that part of the wall has moved, probably as a result of earthquake damage. (There was a powerful earthquake in AD 62.) In your mind’s eye, you have to move the bottom of the image across to fit against the top.

If you click to enlarge the image, you will see that those white marks on the blue panels at the top are actually birds, animals and people. There is even a winged horse.

The colours are vibrant, especially the Egyptian blue. My photo probably doesn’t do them justice. They’ve been preserved by being buried and protected from light damage.

This is an image of the side wall. Apologies for the odd angle which does restrict the view a little.

If you enlarge this image, you will again see fantastic detail in the frescoes, including a trompe-l’oeil horse with what looks to me like a serpent’s tail, top left. Could be a seahorse?

Note, too, the portion of an arch, top left, which shows that this frescoed room may once have had a barrel-vaulted ceiling.

Other finds in the Roman villa

The villa must have been owned by someone very wealthy, judging by the quality of the frescoes. It’s been suggested that the villa was bought after the earthquake of AD 62 by an Imperial freedman, Posides Claudi Caesaris, and that he was renovating it when the eruption of AD 79 struck.

This is a plaster fragment, recovered during the excavations. It shows the head of a satyr, with goat horns and a thick white beard. It predates the AD 79 eruption.

However, the prize find from the excavations wasn’t a fresco, but this glazed twin-nozzled oil lamp. It is decorated at the sides with horses’ heads. And, in the centre, you can see the head of Medusa. It came from the Salerno area and dates to the 1st century AD.

Positano excavations : more than Roman

Above the excavated Roman villa is one of the crypts of Santa Maria Assunta which began as a Benedictine foundation. This plan shows how large it is. (The Roman Villa is below the crypt, at point D on the plan.)

You may wonder what those three odd side passages are, leading off the main area and why the top wall appears to be curvy. Well, this is what it looks like in the flesh, so to speak.

There are, altogether, 69 of these seats. And, speaking of “in the flesh”, I have to tell you that the seats were used to desiccate dead monks. The bodies were placed in the seats and left to drain through those holes. Obviously the crypt of Santa Maria Assunta lent itself to mummification of the dead.

There were no signs of mummies when we visited, I’m glad to say.

Terzigno, rural area north of Pompeii

Terzigno is on the eastern flank of Vesuvius, not far from Pompeii. The region contained many farms and villas which were destroyed in the eruption of AD 79. Later eruptions and lava flows buried the area even deeper. Excavations since 1981 have revealed the remains of a number of Roman buildings and the finds are now displayed in the splendid Museum Archeologico Territoreale di Terzigno (MATT) which opened in 2019.

Terzigno, Villa 2

This poster relates to villa 2 which specialised in wine production. The last inhabitants had attempted to shelter in the triclinium during the eruption of AD 79. The bodies of 5 humans and 2 dogs were found there.

One of the bodies belonged to a young woman wearing a considerable amount of precious jewellery. That included snake-shaped gold bracelets with eyes of green glass, and three gold necklaces, one with emeralds and one with golden leaves. Nearby was a purse of coins.

Also in the triclinium was a quantity of silverware, including a mirror with a handle shaped like Hercules’s club, silver tableware and cups with cupids.

The images below show the various finds and they are remarkable.

gold leaf necklace, Terzigno, villa 2

gold and emerald necklaces, villa 2

gold bangles, Terzigno villa 2

silver hoard including coins, Terzigno villa 2

Terzigno, villa 6

Villa 6 was a huge building, larger than a Pompeii city block. It measured 90×40 metres and had been in use, with enlargements, since the 1st century BC. Some of the many rooms were for agricultural production.

This is the lararium, the household shrine, found in the kitchen area of villa 6. The offerings (top right) of a boar’s head, a ham and sausages suggest the owner was a butcher. The niche in the wall would have housed the small figures of the household gods (lares et penates). In the image at the top, you can see the owner sacrificing to his gods. The crested snakes are favourable spirits.

The museum also contains wall frescoes from the triclinium in villa 6 placed so visitors can see them as they would have been. Not everything has been recovered, as you can see, but what is there is stunning.

Terzigno villa 6 wall frescoes from triclinium, right hand corner

left hand corner

fresco of seated matron

The seated matron, right, isn’t complete but if you enlarge the image, you will see that the drapery is beautifully painted. And it strikes me that the purple colour must have been very expensive. Nor is it clear where it came from or how it was made.

There’s more purple in the frescoes shown below. It couldn’t have been made by mixing that scarlet colour with Egyptian blue, could it? Don’t think so.

baby Bacchus seated on goat

Don’t forget Vesuvius

Everything we’ve seen, we owe to Vesuvius, in the sense that, without the eruption of AD 79, none of these marvels would have been preserved. But we have to remember, too, that thousands upon thousands of people died as a result of the eruption. Skeletons have been found, in Terzigno as well as Herculaneum, but they are probably only a very small proportion of those who were lost in the vast area affected by Vesuvius’s power.

This is what Naples and Vesuvius looked like in the 19th century in a famous image by Georgio Sommer. Note that sinister plume of smoke from the volcano.
Definitely not to be underestimated.

19th c. panorama of Naples by Giorgio Sommer
Public domain via Wikipedia

But it was a great trip and I have lots more to share, for those who might be interested in what life was like in the Naples area in the 1st century AD.

Joanna

All images by Joanna Maitland except where otherwise attributed