Herculaneum & Pompeii

Napoli
5AM and a string of lights appear on the horizon. It is not yet dawn but it is Napoli. We have another private driver today to take us to Herculaneum and Pompeii. We will try to see the National Archeological Museum on our return.
Our driver, Vito, met us at the port with a new Volkswagen minivan. It was roomier than the Mercedes we were in yesterday. It could accommodate 7, maybe even 8, passengers. We headed to Herculaneum at 8AM arriving there in about ½ hour. We purchased “combo” tickets that are good for both Herculaneum and Pompeii, and are good for 3 days. It was only a savings of 2 Euro but it is a deal if you are there for more than a day.
Herculaneum is a relatively compact site laid out in a classic grid. There are three main East-West roads and lots of smaller North-South alleys. Each structure is numbered and some have specific designations, which are covered in the guidebook. You are given a little book and a map upon entering. Herculaneum, unlike Pompeii, was not crushed under tons of volcanic ash. Indeed many of the roofs are still intact and even the wooden supports are still functioning. Very little organic matter survived Pompeii. Much of what was found at Herculaneum and Pompeii now resides in the National Archeological Museum in Naples. There remain some paintings, furnishings and mosaics but anything of great importance or delicacy was moved to the museum. Many of the houses [this was a seaside resort for the wealthy] still have lavishly painted walls, ornate mosaic floors, marble columns and water features. There are plenty of fountains, “fast food” outlets, baths and public spaces but it was a small community of maybe 2000 inhabitants. The roads are not scarred with wagon or chariot tracts like at Pompeii. It seems more a leisurely community of walkers. Archeologists believe that those who died in Herculaneum were fleeing the pyroclastic [sic?] cloud and gases that overtook them as they fled to the sea. There are new digs [specifically the House of Papyrus] that are producing extraordinary artifacts, which are going on display at the National Museum.
Pompeii is the other side of the coin. It was a very large city. The North-South [main] roads are over a mile long. The population at the time of the eruption was about 18,000. The cataclysm was spread over 3 days in late August. At the onset, most of the inhabitants fled the city successfully. On the second day, many returned thinking that the worst was over. Those 5000 or so were the victims of the tons of ash that buried the city when the top blew off the mountain. What remains of Pompeii are the stone and brick structures, the roads, the temples and the Forum. The scale dwarfs Herculaneum. One is constantly dazzled by the size, beauty and importance of the city as it is revealed. It was a bustling metropolis attached to a nearby port [now some 2 miles away with new structures built on the effluvia from the volcano]. The presence of brothels and roadside food venders testifies to the transience of the population. Sailors, merchants and tradesmen stopped off temporarily in Pompeii and fed the international and cosmopolitan sophistication that was its reputation. The wealthy built enormous homes there. The municipal authorities built grander public buildings and infrastructure. There was a new temple dedicated to Venus being built at the time of the eruption. It was a prosperous destination cut short in an instant and it lay buried for centuries with only legends keeping its existence alive.
The photos will show many interiors at both locations but the real treasures are in the National Museum, a great pink building in the center of Naples. As we entered we encountered some of the most aggressive guides yet. One woman told us that if we didn’t hire her we would get lost, find no instruction inside, nothing would be labeled and we would have a terrible time. She was so wrong. The Museum is vast and filled with antiquities as well as some contemporary exhibits and some late Renaissance and later paintings. The sculptures are the most remarkable ranging from the giant Farnese Hercules [one of my favorites] to even larger gods, goddesses, emperors, and groups. The fertility goddess discovered at Ephesus is also present. And then, of course, there is the “secret collection,” so secret that you have to read a sign saying so as you enter. Phalluses protrude from every corner, erotic “menu” paintings from the brothels of Pompeii line the galleries Priapuses [sic?], satyrs and to put it simply, walking, flying and performing penises occupy the glass cases in each gallery. What a refreshing society it must have been 2000 years ago in Italy when nudity and sexuality was celebrated rather than demonized.
After a full 6 hours we were exhausted and asked to return to the ship. We still had 2 hours left on our contract but the 260 Euros was already well spent. Vito also told us that if we returned, we should contact him, as he would be able to offer us a deal on the same type of tour. He was offering to do it outside of his company. This is apparently a common practice.
We took in the evening show, had a lovely dinner and crashed.