Positano Italy Vlog 2024: 4 Days on the Amalfi Coast with Mom 🍋

When visiting the city of Rome, one cannot help but marvel at the ancient structures such as the Colosseum, the Pantheon and the Arch of Constantine. However, for the most part, what one sees of ancient Rome are just ruins. This is due to the fact that the city of Rome has been continuously inhabited for thousands of years, enduring wars, sackings, pillaging and reconstruction, all of which have radically transformed the city to what we see today. But what if we could travel back to the 1st century AD and experience Rome just as it was, with its ancient houses, buildings, streets and public spaces? Well, that is exactly what we can experience in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii, because after a fatal volcanic eruption, the city remained buried under ash for over 1500 years. At Pompeii, life was abruptly suspended and the site was subsequently unoccupied, providing us a complete cross-section of urban form and social life of the time. Pompeii is situated at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, a volcanic mountain that rises above the Bay of Naples in southern Italy. Apart from the ultimate deficiency of its location, Pompeii was well situated in an It was an ideal site for agriculture and trade. The city was founded in the 7th century BC by an ancient Italic tribe known as the Ascans. A century later, the city was turned into a Greek colony as it was inhabited by Greek immigrants and they were eventually conquered by the Romans in the year 80 BC. Pompeii flourished under Roman rule and methods and many magnificent buildings were constructed during this time. Yeah, I think that when we look at Pompeii today, it's fascinating because we're looking at a multicultural city. This is Darius Aria, an archaeologist, historian and TV host based in Rome. He has extensive experience in excavations of some of Rome's most fascinating sites and he explores ancient Rome through his YouTube channel Darius Aria and at Ancient Rome Live. They've just completed a DNA analysis on a lot of the remains of the Pompeians that have been found in excavations and they're able to determine then, wow, this is a group of people that originate from all over the Mediterranean. So we want to think about these port cities like Pompeii, like Ostia, and we want to think about them as being multicultural and multi-ethnic. Right. Within the city, there was a vast network of roads made mainly of cobblestone with an average width of around four and a half meters. In Pompeii, you can observe how the Romans designed their streets in a one-to-one ratio, meaning that the width of the street is equal to the height of the buildings. These stepping stones were installed on the roads to allow pedestrians to cross the streets without getting their feet wet. Despite the rainwater, sewage, and animal waste that would accumulate there. Also in the streets, you can see the wheel rods that were formed by the repeated passage of carriages along the same routes. In many of the streets and houses of Pompeii, you will see fountains like this. Pompeii was a bustling city with a hot Mediterranean climate and access to clean water was crucial for the health and well-being of its residents. The fountains were connected to a sophisticated water system that drew water from nearby sources and distributed it throughout the city via a network of pipes and aqueducts. But the fountains of Pompeii were not just functional structures, they were also works of art that added to the city's beauty and charm. Many of the fountains were intricately designed with sculpture or mosaics, like this face of Mercury, the messenger god. Pompeii has a very distinct red and white color palette on its buildings. They used these two colors for painting the walls and painting these inscriptions called tituli picti, or painted tiles, commonly used to promote businesses, products, and events. Roman cities were most often laid out on an orthogonal grid system with parallel streets intersected by perpendicular streets. In Roman cities, there are two main roads, one called Cardo, running from north to south, and one called Decumanus, running from east to west. These primary streets often led to a city gate and intersected at the Forum, the most important part of the city. The main entrance would have been over here through a triumphal arch. Anticipating modern practice by almost 2,000 years, the Forum at Pompeii constituted a pedestrian precinct, with gateways preventing vehicular access. So we're here in the Forum of Pompeii. You can see that it's surrounded by columns and it's open to the sky. The Forum was a vast rectangular area surrounded by public buildings. In the space of the Forum, there would have stood shops and stalls with people selling things. And as you enter the Forum, the structure that dominates the space is the Temple of Jupiter. Back there you can see the Temple of Jupiter with the Mount Vesuvius in the background. Jupiter was the supreme god of the Romans. There was also a Temple of Jupiter in the city of Rome on the Capitoline Hill dominating the Forum. And when the Romans conquered Pompeii in around 80 BC, they turned the temple into a Capitoline Triad temple. So we see it divided into worship for Jupiter, Minerva and Juno. Behind the temple, you can see in the distance Mount Vesuvius, which was primarily seen as a source of fertile soil and a place for recreational activities. Pompeians didn't even know it was a volcano until the eruption occurred. In fact, some people even built their homes on the slopes of the mountain because of the beautiful views and the rich soil. On the southern side, there are these three civic halls, administrative structures run by the government, the central one being the Tabularium, the office for public archives and for mail. Next to these is the Comitium, the location of public elections. And in front of it, on the opposite side of the Forum, there's the heart of Pompeii's commercial life, the Basilica. A basilica in ancient Rome served as a public meeting place and a law court, where legal matters and other administrative tasks were settled. Essentially, it was a city hall type building. The plan of Roman basilicas were typically rectangular. Sometimes they had a rounded end called an apse, and sometimes a structure with columns like this one. This area was called a tribunal, and a judge would sit there and hear the cases. Engaged Ionic columns lined the interior of the basilica on either side, and then to accentuate the importance of the tribunal, they supported it with Corinthian columns. Above the side columns, there would have been a clerestory featuring windows that allowed natural light to illuminate the interior of the basilica. So from this you can clearly see how the Roman basilica design influenced the construction of Christian churches in later centuries. And the rectangular shape of a basilica actually echoes the layout of a forum. Both feature a single frontal axis that spans from one end to the other, with a prominent focal point at the far end. In the case of a forum, this might be a grand temple, whereas in a basilica, it would be a statue with a tribunal in the back. This idea of a visual ending point or focal point is a common feature of Roman architecture, and it's evident throughout the city. There are two markets in the forum, the fruit and vegetable market, and the food market known as makellum. The makellum was a large rectangular building with a central courtyard and shops all around it. It featured a circular center that archaeologists initially believed to be a tholos, or round temple. However, further excavation revealed a drainage trench filled with evidence of fish parts, indicating its use for gutting and selling fish. Inside the makellum, there's a well-preserved wall painting featuring still life and food items like bread, reflecting the building's former use as a market. The building of Eumachia, located on the eastern side of the forum, was a large structure named after the wealthy priestess who financed its construction. Its exact purpose remains unknown, but it was probably the most impressive building in the forum, second only to the basilica. Apart from the Temple of Jupiter, which was the most important, there were three more temples in the forum. The Temple of Apollo, located on a small courtyard that isolates it from the forum. The Temple of Vespasian, which was the smallest one, and where only a small altar remains. And the Temple of Public Lattice, household gods who were believed to protect and watch over the family and the home. In the southern part of the city, there are two theaters. The first one is the Large Theater, which dates back to the 2nd century BC. This theater was capable of seating 5,000 spectators, and it was mainly used for plays and spectacles and other performances of that nature. The second theater is known as the Odeon, which is smaller in size, seating 1,500 people. It is likely that the Odeon had a roof to improve acoustics, since it was primarily used for musical performances, singing and speeches. To the south of the Large Theater is a square space surrounded by a colonnade. It used to serve as the gladiator barracks where they could train and rest. But gladiators would not perform here, rather they would perform in the Amphitheater, located in the easternmost part of the city. Although not as large as the Colosseum, this is one of the best preserved amphitheaters of ancient Rome. Most amazing thing about the Amphitheater in Pompeii is it really is the oldest one that we have preserved. We can walk inside the Amphitheater and we can see the inscriptions and we can see a lot of the details, but when we look at it, comparing it to the later amphitheaters like the Colosseum, it's much more rudimentary in its conceptualization. I mean, they're digging down, the earliest amphitheater seems to have been dug down into a pit, so it's not as impressive freestanding as what we get with the later amphitheaters. It's also butting up against the pre-existing wall of Pompeii, so kind of on the fringe of the city, but still within the walls. So it's a very interesting amphitheater to become familiar with because it is so old. And by old, I mean going back to about 70 BC. But it's accommodating 20,000 people, so I mean, it's still big. If you think about the city of Pompeii, nowadays we think of it as a city of about 12,000. It's quite large to accommodate populations from other villages and other towns. There were several public baths in Pompeii, such as the Stabian Baths or the Forum Baths. The entrance to the Stabian Baths from the streets leads to an open space. This is a palaestra and it was used for wrestling and outdoor exercise. And on the eastern side of the palaestra, there is a swimming pool called Natatio. There's a colonnade in the palaestra from which you can access the baths, which are composed of various different rooms. The first of these is the Apodyterium, which functioned as a changing room and has niches on the wall for placing belongings. Next is the Frigidarium, frigus meaning cold in Latin. It had a small pool and a couple of niches in the wall containing statues, all adorned with paintings. It also had a dome with an oculus illuminating the space. Think about this like a little pantheon. After the Frigidarium, there's the Tepidarium, tepidus meaning at room temperature in Latin. Here, statues of men carrying the vault of the space are visible as well as an opening for natural light. The Tepidarium was heated by this brazier. And between each of the statues, there are niches for storing oils and utensils. And finally, you arrive at the Caldarium, calidus meaning hot. This room features a vault with a small oculus and other openings that create a dramatic atmosphere. The Caldarium was heated using a system beneath the floor called hypokost, from Greek ipo, under, and kaustos, to burn. A furnace would heat the air and then push it into a small brick structure that was under the floor of each room, and into the walls which also had a structure of hollow bricks so that the hot air could flow in between. The most interesting aspect of the architecture of these Roman baths is the experience of moving from one room to the next, creating an architectural promenade that emphasizes the journey and the user's experience. Roman baths are one of those quintessential experiences in Roman life. And it was just a great social experience, obviously there's a place to clean up, there's a place to also have a rub down or to work out, so it's kind of like going to a club. It's just much more than just going to the bath. It's social, it's pleasurable, it's engaging. It's one of the essentials within your daily experience. All over Pompeii you can see these shops called termopolia and tabernae. In ancient Rome, both tabernae and termopolia were types of shops commonly located along the streets. A taberna was a general-purpose shop, often operated by a single proprietor or a small group of people. Some tabernae also had living quarters above or behind the shop. On the other hand, a termopolium was a specialized shop that sold hot food and drinks. They were essentially ancient Roman fast food restaurants. Unlike tabernae, termopolia usually had a large counter with several pots and pans for cooking, and they were often decorated with brightly colored frescoes or mosaics. So I'm walking in the heart of the city, one of the main streets that intersects with the forum of the city, and you can see how all along the way it's surrounded by all these tabernae, all these shops, all these public buildings, and you can see how well preserved are the streets. In Latin, the language of the Romans, the word for house is domus. That's where we get words like domestic or domicile. And so to refer to this type of house that would be in a city, we say domus romana. The domus romana was mostly reserved for the upper middle class and the upper class. The most important people would live closest to the forum, so having a house like this was a symbol of one's social status in the city. The domus romana, like most of the Roman buildings, is frontally oriented, that is, it faces towards the street, and it has a long axis that runs through the entire building. So the entrance is almost always located in the middle, flanked by the two shops, which could be either a taberna or a thermopolium. Upon entering through the main door, called ostium, you would be received by an ostiarius, the doorman, who was generally a slave, and by a guardian dog. That's why there's a mosaic in the entrance floor of many of the houses with a picture of a dog and the inscription cauecanem, beware the dog. You would walk through a narrow vestibule called fauces, and then you would get to the atrium, a central hall where the paterfamilias, the owner of the house, would receive people as he'd be important in society, being the man of an upper class family. The atrium would be a center of circulation that would be connected to the rest of the spaces of the house. Right in the center, the atrium would typically have an impluvium, which is a pool designed to collect rainwater. As you can see, there's an opening in the roof of the center of the atrium, so that light can get in, and water can pour into the impluvium. And it was not just functional, but also aesthetic, as a mirror of water that would visually expand the space. The atrium is the most public part of the house, and so this is a room where you want to impress your guests. In the atrium, there was a small shrine called lararium, dedicated to the lares, the gods of the household. You have a domestic shrine in your home, and in that shrine, then you'll have figurines, you'll have idols, you'll have representations of your domestic gods, the gods that have looked over your family for generations, but also remembering the spirits of your deceased ancestors. You can see many small rooms surrounding the atrium. These are called cubicula, coming from the Latin verb cubare, meaning to lie down. The cubicula were small bedrooms meant only for sleeping, and there are so many of them in the house, because most of them were designated for slaves, although every member of the family had their own cubiculum. Past the atrium, continuing on the axis of the house, there's this space called tablinum, which was essentially the office of the house, where the master of the home would work and conduct his business. The tablinum would be right in the middle of the public area of the house and the private As you can see, the axis of the house moves from public spaces to private spaces. So past the tablinum, you would encounter the peristilum. In Greek, peri means around, and stilos means column. So peristilum is a courtyard surrounded by columns. This courtyard would typically be open and have a hortus, or garden, in the center. And it would have the rest of the private spaces of the house surrounding it. There would be more cubicula on the sides, and in the back corners of the house, the culina, the kitchen, and the triclinium. The triclinium was basically the dining room. Ancient Romans used to dine not sitting at a table with chairs like we do today, but reclining in these three beds, and hence the name of triclinium. The three beds would be arranged in a U-shape, with a table placed in the center for serving food. The room was typically adorned with wall paintings with themes related to food. The Pompeian houses are mostly one story in height, but stairs and traces up upper floors exist. This diagram of the Roman atrium house is fairly idealized, though. As you can see, the perimeter wrapper is almost as idealized as the center. But this is not always the case. Here's another example where the atrium and the peristilum are fairly clear in their geometric form. But the perimeter goes crazy, because these are urban buildings, they're nested together. You never really experience the perimeter because it's abutting another building with a crazy perimeter, and the courtyard and the atrium really become a strong way that irregularities at the perimeter get held together. The center is so clear and knowable that any kind of perimeter idiosyncrasies collect around the center and can become knowable. So if we look at a series of these atrium houses from Pompeii, we can observe how a courtyard is a strong organizational device that begins to make not only formal relationships, but also social and functional relationships across the space. And so there can be many variations in the distribution of the spaces of the Domus Romana. For example, there are houses that have two peristiles, there are houses that are much bigger and with many more rooms, but all of them are still organized around the peristilum and all of them have the straight axis threading through from the street to the peristilum. This house in Pompeii is considered to be one of the largest and most impressive houses in the city, covering an area of over 3,000 square meters. It's called the House of the Faun, named after the small bronze statue of a faun dancing in the implurium. This house has two peristiles, making it a very luxurious residence. Additionally, it has a main atrium and a guest atrium, indicating that the people who lived here were of high status. But even here you can discern the main axis, and in the case of the House of the Faun, there are actually two axes that can clearly be distinguished. One of the most remarkable features of the House of the Faun is a huge mosaic depicting Alexander the Great in battle, which occupies the entire floor of the tablinum. This mosaic is a Roman copy of an original Greek painting that has been lost. The figure on horseback is Alexander the Great himself. Pompeii was primarily an affluent city, so most of the domestic buildings were atrium houses like these. However, most inhabitants in ancient Rome resided in apartments, which were typically clustered together in buildings known as insulae, meaning islands, due to their frequent occupation of an entire city block. They were built of concrete faced with brick, and we don't see any decorations in these buildings as they were mainly functional. There was nothing luxurious about them. Insulae could span up to five floors and often included shops on their ground level, much like modern day apartment buildings. Almost every building in Pompeii has interior wall paintings, from private residences to public spaces such as baths and markets. Moreover, the wall paintings in Pompeii offer valuable insights into the everyday life and cultural values of ancient Roman society. All kinds of things are depicted in wall paintings. Available to you, still lifes, animals, bucolic scenes, landscapes. Then ultimately, the higher value spaces will be painted by a painter who's an expert on framing scenes of mythology, religious scenes. And there's so many minute details that are always surprising you, and that's also part of the expertise of the artisans. They have a lot of opportunity to be creative and to diversify what is otherwise something pretty standard, such as the colonnades and the garlands that are framing the entire scene. In Pompeii, we see a development of wall paintings, which reflect the evolving artistic tastes and techniques of the ancient Romans. There are four styles that developed over time. The first style of painting, popular in the 2nd century BC, is the most simple. It is characterized by painting imitations of marble slabs on the walls, which create an illusion of a more expensive and luxurious material. The aim of this style was to give the walls the impression of being built from solid blocks of colored stone, often red and black imitating materials that would have been brought from Greece. The second style emerged in the 1st century BC, and it's characterized by the use of perspective and illusionistic techniques to create the impression of a three-dimensional space on the flat surface of the wall. It often features large panoramic vistas of landscapes or cityscapes, with architectural elements such as columns and cornices appearing to recede into the distance. Filippo Brunelleschi, the Italian Renaissance architect, is often regarded for discovering linear perspective, but as you can see in these frescoes and also in Vitruvius' writings, the ancient Romans were already familiar with this technique. It's also common in the second style to have a natural landscape instead of architectural elements, that is supposed to make you feel like you're outside. The color palette of the second style is more varied than the first, often featuring blues, greens and yellows. The third style, which emerged in the 1st century AD, is very different. It is characterized by a more refined and delicate approach to decoration. We also see architectural elements here, but they often feature intricate, delicate designs, such as arabesques, foliage and small figures in monochrome set against a solid background. Unlike the second style, the color palette of the third style tends to be more muted, featuring muted tones and shades of grey. There's a kind of minimalism in a way with all these lines, as it's not attempting to hide the wall, but rather enhance its appearance. And the fourth style also emerged in the 1st century AD, just a few decades before the And it's characterized by a complex and eclectic approach to decoration, often combining elements of the previous three styles in the same painting. It typically features a mix of architectural elements in a three-dimensional perspective, mythological scenes and abstract patterns arranged in a chaotic and seemingly random fashion. The color palette of the fourth style is usually quite bright and varied, featuring a range of colors from muted tones to bold reds, greens and blues. This guy called Pliny the Younger, nephew of the famous Roman writer Pliny the Elder, was present near Pompeii when Mount Vesuvius erupted. And thanks to him, we have a first-hand account of what happened that day. It was August 24th of the year 79, and at around 1pm, hora septima, Mount Vesuvius erupted violently. He writes in his letters that a cloud of unusual size and shape appeared in the sky. Its form resembled a pine tree that spread out in a number of branches. At times it looked white, and at times dirty and spotted. Ashes started to fall, and the closer they got, the hotter and denser they became. Pumice stones, blackened and scorched and broken by fire, were falling. Broad sheets of flame were lighting up many parts of Vesuvius. Frequent and extensive earthquakes shook the buildings, which seemed to move from side to side as if they were being pushed or pulled. Geologists refer to this type of eruption that Pliny described as Plinian. Unlike shield volcanoes such as those found in Hawaii that produce lava flows and create new rock, Mount Vesuvius erupts ash, gas and rock rather than lava. This unique type of eruption is the reason why Pompeii was preserved. Had the Vesuvius been a volcano like those in Hawaii, the city would have been incinerated. However, due to the more ashy, rocky and gas-like eruption, the city was blanketed and covered by ash, ultimately suffocating it. The eruption lasted two days, and by the end of the second day, the landscape at Pompeii had been changed forever. The river and the port, which were right next to the city walls, were gone. Now Pompeii is kilometers away from the sea. Mount Vesuvius, once seen as just a mountain by Pompeians, was now a crater, and the city of Pompeii had been entirely buried. Within a few years, no one could remember where the city had once stood. It was only until the 1700s that Pompeii got rediscovered. When the city was buried, many of its inhabitants were caught in the ash and pumice that fell from the sky and suffocated to death. Over time, their bodies decayed, leaving hollow spaces in the layers of ash and debris. During the excavation of Pompeii, archaeologists discovered these hollow spaces and carefully poured liquid plaster into the voids left by the decayed bodies. So these bodies that you see when you visit Pompeii are not actual bodies, they are plaster replicas of the people who died in the eruption. The result is a series of strikingly realistic statues that capture the last moments of the Pompeians' lives. I mean, this was a huge economic disaster. So you have loss of life, you have loss of property, you have loss of livelihood. And that was a big factor that was remarked upon. So it was a disaster, but I mean, because also it wasn't just the eruption. What came with the eruption? A tsunami happened, it was documented. So it's just unbelievable catastrophe that we know about. Through its streets, buildings and public spaces, we can still sense the vibrant community that once thrived within its walls. If you want to understand ancient Rome, its architecture, its history, the sprawl of the Roman Empire, you've got to go to Rome. But you also have to go to the Vesuvian cities, you have to go to Herculaneum, you must go to Pompeii. Not just because they're famous, but because the level of preservation, you can get immersed in the world of the Romans. But also you have an opportunity to explore a multicultural city, such was the case in many cities throughout the Mediterranean, and Pompeii is no exception. So you're not just getting an example of a Roman city, you're getting an example of a city that was multicultural, going back to its beginnings as an Austen city, as a Samnite city, as a Roman colony, and then the city of the Roman Empire. Ancient Rome may be gone, but its lessons and inspiration endure in Pompeii. It's up to us to carry on its legacy and create cities and spaces that reflect the best of what humanity can achieve. As you may know, the making of this episode took several months of hard work, so make sure you give it a thumbs up and subscribe to my channel. Also if you're interested in learning more about ancient Rome, make sure you go check out Darice's channel. I will be collaborating with him in the next few weeks, so stay tuned for that. Thank you for watching, and I'll see you very soon in the next one. Goodbye.