Pompeii Pre-eruption

It’s been nearly 2,000 years since the ancient Roman city of Pompeii was destroyed, buried in a thick carpet of ash after the eruption of the nearby Mt Vesuvius. Killing 16,000 people. Mt Vesuvius is the largest volcano in the Italian peninsular, and was located near one of the most major trading centres in the Roman Empire. Pompeii is most known for this eruption in 79 AD, but what a lot of people don’t think about is what Pompeii was like pre-eruption.

Pompeii was founded in the 700’s BC. It was also famous for it’s sophisticated and efficient aqueducts. In early first century AD, Pompeii constructed an aqueduct system to bring fresh, clean water from 40 kilometres away that ran through three large lead pipes which lay under the pavement. Bathing in Pompeii was a public activity, and the public baths were used as important social meeting places. In fact, they were so important that Pompeii boasted three major bathing spots, a forth was being built, but still incomplete by the 79 AD eruption. Woman and men had separate areas, although if there were no seperate facilities women bathed in the morning and men in the afternoon. In addition there were also facilities for hot, cold and warm bathing.

In some ways Pompeian houses were very different to those we live in today. All the lounge rooms faced inward, and instead of having a front yard or even a gate, the front door opened…