The Day of the Dead November 1, 2015

Photos by H. Darr Beiser

A day at the Forum

     What does one do to celebrate the day of the dead? One goes to Pompeii, the biggest and best preserved celebration of death anywhere. Pompeii was once a thriving seaport in the Roman empire.  And then … "the tragedy," as our tour guide Antonio always referred to it.  The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD which covered the entire city and its 20,000 residents in volcanic ash. The bad news is the Romans wanted nothing to do with this accursed area for centuries. Well, much later maybe it was all right for a few Italian farmers to graze on. But when the farmers ran out of water and started to dig in 1599 they found, much to their horror, an entire city frozen in time. Bummer. They had to move. But when the archeologists started excavation in 1748 ... Oh happy day.

     I was a Latin major. Today I was as happy as an archeologist in the 1700s. If you’ve read your Caesar, Cicero and Pliny, or anything about the Roman Empire, you know there are basic components of any city. You’ve got your entryway arch, your forum, your public bathhouse, your fancy villa with a big garden, your theater and your sports arena. If you go to Pompeii you no longer have to imagine this, you will see it. Pretty much in tact, because the volcanic ash turned out to be an amazing preservative.  The original terra cotta tiles, the stone paved avenues and streets for chariots, the marble dusted stucco, the elaborate mosaics, paintings, shops, dressing rooms for actors and gladiator entrance tunnels.

Antonio schools us in marble-dusted stucco

     And the lupanare. Antonio gave us some Latin lessons and I was an eager participant. Lupus?—“wolf” I said eagerly. But lupa? Feminine ending. I didn’t know so much about the she-wolf. It seems that the ladies of the evening in Pompeii were strategically located off the main street to greet arriving visitors. But when it was dark it was hard to see them. Unless they stood in the street with a torch and howled like a she-wolf.  Yes.  Etymology of whorehouse and lupanare.

The theatah

     An astonishing thing to learn was how much of life today is derived from the Roman civilization. Our design of theaters today is very similar to the amphitheater at Pompeii. We’ve upgraded to seats instead of marble slabs. But we are still sitting in an arc around the stage, there are aisles and dressing rooms and a standing-room-only section. The odeum, a smaller stage just for musicians and had perfect acoustics. The arena stadium tunnel bore an uncanny resemblance to the one at the SuperDome where I once got to see Brett Favre emerge to play the Super Bowl. 

Early political poster

Plaster casts of Pompeiians

     But wait, you say, people died. Yes, they did.  And because of the volcanic ash they were preserved in plaster casts at the very moment of their deaths. There is a moving display at the pyramid memorial in the middle of the arena. People crouching, people face down, people covering their faces, a husband and wife, a mother and child. It is beyond comprehension.

     Pompeii is an easy trip from Naples, Take the Circumvesuviana train and for only 2.50 euros and 30 to 40 minutes you will be taken back millennia. Hire Antonio Somma, a guide recommended by Rick Steves. His fabulous two-hour private tour is 110 E and he won’t let you tip him more than 10. Really, he hands money back. In return we are all going to rave about him on Trip Advisor. But these will be honest reviews. Walk out the other side and have lunch in “new” Pompeii.  Anywhere will do. This is Italy after all. Just sit down and have a little antepasto some penne arrabiatta. There is no admission charge for Pompeii on the first Sunday of the month which we happened to hit. But you get big crowds. Not just the tour buses and the cruise ships, but also the locals. So, boy did we need Antonio, boldly cutting us through the crowds in his easy to spot red jacket. It was 70 degrees and sunny. I don’t know how to tell you to get that, but you can have the rest.  Pronto.