Pompeii, the history of the city from foundation to death

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The ancient city of Pompeii: from the Oscans to Hannibal

Already the ancients expressed different opinions about the origin of the name Pompeii. Some led him to the triumphal procession (pompe) of Hercules after the victory over Geryon. Others - to the Osk word for "five" (pumpe). According to the latest version, Pompeii was formed as a result of the unification of five communities.

According to one who wrote in the 1st century A. D. e. geographer Strabo, the city was founded by the Oski. Later, they were conquered by the Etruscans, who, in turn, fell under the onslaught of the Greeks, who later transferred the city to the Samnites, a people related to the Oscans. This happened in the 5th century BC. e. Archeology records the decline of urban life in this century. Perhaps Pompeii was abandoned for a while.

In the 4th century BC. e. Pompeii became part of the Samnite Federation. The city served as a port for the Samnite cities located higher up the Sarno River. At the same time, a series of wars took place between the Roman Republic and the Samnites. In 310 BC. e. Roman troops landed near Pompeii. They devastated the lands of Nuceria, neighboring Pompeii, but did not rejoice in the loot for long. The inhabitants of the rural area of the city attacked the legionnaires returning with the booty, took everything away and drove them onto ships.

Nevertheless, the Romans defeated and conquered the Samnites and their allies. From now on, Pompeii, along with other Campanian cities, became part of the Roman-Italic Confederation. The city retained self-government. Pompeii had to ally with Rome, as well as provide auxiliary troops.

During the Samnite era, Pompeii was ruled by the city council. The supreme power belonged to the official meddissa tuvtiksa, which is translated as "city governor". Particular attention was paid to construction. The main issues related to it were in charge of the council, and control and payment for the work were in the jurisdiction of the quaistur (or quaestor) - an official in charge of the treasury.

The annexation to Rome gave impetus to the development of the city. Its population increased, new public buildings appeared - temples, theaters, baths. Luxurious mansions appeared, including the famous "House of the Faun", on the wall of which there is a fresco depicting the battle of the Macedonians and Persians at Issus.

Another stimulus for the development of Pompeii was the war between Rome and Hannibal. After crossing the Alps and defeating Roman troops, the Carthaginian general invaded Campania. Capua, the strongest city in the region, went over to his side. Nuceria remained loyal to Rome and was destroyed by Hannibal for this. During the war, the Romans took Capua and punished the unfaithful ally.

Pompeii itself was not taken by the Carthaginians and became a refuge for refugees from other Campanian cities. This explains the growth of urban construction at the end of the 3rd century BC. e.

The elite of the Campanian city received their share of the wealth from the expansion of Rome into the Mediterranean in the 2nd century BC. e. Preserved evidence of contacts of Pompeian merchants with the eastern markets. In particular, with the island of Delos. Oriental spices began to get into Pompeii itself.

Allied War: Pompeii vs. Sulla

In 91 BC. e. a number of Italian communities (including Pompeii) rose up against Rome. This conflict went down in history as the Allied War. The rebels sought an equal status with the Romans in the state.

During the war, in 89 BC. BC, Pompeii was besieged by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In a series of battles near the city of Sulla, he defeated the Campanian commander Kluentius, who was trying to lift the siege. The city surrendered soon after the defeat and death of Kluentius.

At the end of three years of war, the Romans, although they defeated the rebels, gave them the rights of citizenship. Pompeii was not destroyed by the victor's troops. Moreover, 10 years later, Sulla founded a colony of his veterans in the city. Pompeii received the status of a Roman colony, and the former Oscan magistrates were replaced by new Roman ones. Office work was transferred to Latin

City of Roman times: Pompeii under the Empire

During the era of the empire, Pompeii was a modest provincial city. The famous garum sauce and wine were produced here. In part, the inhabitants of the colony tried to copy the buildings of Rome itself. There was a forum in the city where the temples of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva stood. In the wall niches of one of the buildings there were statues of the founders of Rome - Aeneas and Romulus. Under them were engraved inscriptions describing their deeds. The same inscriptions were on the Roman forum.

Italic cities were associated with Rome and the imperial house. In particular, Marcellus, the nephew and one of the possible heirs of Augustus, held the semi-official position of the patron (patron saint) of Pompeii.

In 59 A. D. e. Pompeii became infamous for the massacre within the city walls. It was during gladiatorial battles, but the battle began between the townspeople of Pompeii and Nuceria. The inhabitants of the cities began to bully each other, took up stones, and then swords and daggers. The Pompeians won the scuffle.

Information about the carnage reached the emperor Nero, who instructed the Senate to investigate. As a result, the Pompeii were banned from holding gladiator games for 10 years, and their organizer Liviney Regulus went into exile.

Pompeii was located 240 km from Rome. Residents of the capital could reach the Campanian city within a week. Therefore, many noble and wealthy Romans built their villas in the vicinity of Pompeii. In particular, in the era of the republic, such a villa was acquired by Cicero.

In the system of government under the Romans, the highest officials in Pompeii were two elected rulers - duumvirs. They were responsible for the treasury, convened and presided over the city council. Once every 5 years, the duumvirs updated the lists of the council - they brought in new people, deleted the dead and those who lost the right to membership for crimes. They also made lists of citizens of the city.

To become a duumvir, a careerist from Pompeii had to go through the position of aedile - a person who was responsible for organizing city life, for example, supplying bread, maintaining streets and baths, and staging shows.

Council members occupied their seats for life. They received reports from officials, exercised supreme supervision over city affairs.

Judicial power was divided between the duumvirs and Rome. The first considered civil cases with a small amount of claim, the second got criminal cases and more complex civil ones.

The rich freedman did not have the right to occupy positions and get into the council, but he could achieve this for his son. The inscription preserved the curious case of a certain Celsus, who became a decurion (councilor) at the age of 6 for restoring the temple of Isis, which was damaged by the earthquake.

In Pompeii and other Roman cities, the positions of duumvir and quinquennal opened the doors to the urban elite, but demanded from the seeker of wealth. Duumvir Pompey contributed 10 thousand sesterces when he took office.

While in office, the citizen of Pompeii held festivities at his own expense. For example, Aulus Clodius Flaccus was duumvir three times. During his first master's degree, he organized games in honor of Apollo at the forum, which included bullfighting, musical competitions and a performance by the artist Pilada. For the second time, in addition to games on the forum, he organized the baiting of animals and gladiator fights in the amphitheater. The third time was the most modest - the performance of artists and musicians. Another quinquennal in his inscription emphasized that he conducted gladiatorial battles without spending public funds.

The population of Pompeii was about 12 thousand people, about 24 thousand more inhabitants were in the rural area. Half of them were slaves, most of the other were women and children. Thus, the electorate during the elections was about 2,500 residents of the city and 5,000 people in the rural district.

Passions simmered around the election of officials, comparable to the election of consuls in republican Rome. The walls of the city have kept records calling to vote for one or another of the citizens. The inscriptions were painted over and new ones were written over them. The campaign could be addressed to a specific citizen. A resident of the city could knock out an inscription on the wall of his house to show his position. Interestingly, most of the campaigning concerned the position of aedile.

Professional associations also campaigned for candidates. For example, carpenters, cabbies, bakers or jewelers. Members of the Youth Union, which included people from noble families, proposed their candidates to the townspeople.

Sometimes, in favor of candidates, they composed poetry or in prose emphasized their professional and moral qualities. And sometimes they called upon a respected citizen to vote for a candidate something like this: "Choose Sabine as aedile, and he will choose you."

There were original entries in support of the candidates, which probably should have discredited them. These are words of encouragement written in the name of pickpockets, runaway slaves, drunkards, or bums.

Elections in Pompeii resembled a similar process in other cities in the Roman world. The civil community was divided into curiae, each of which chose its own candidate. The procedure took place in March, and in July the magistrates took up their duties.

Eruption of Vesuvius: the death of the city

About 80 years before the eruption, Vesuvius was visited by the geographer Strabo. The scientist wrote that almost to the very top, the volcano is covered with flowering fields. Only the ash peak itself reminded that this place once spewed out fire.

Vulcan announced his awakening in 63 AD. e. earthquake. It destroyed several cities in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples. Some of them have not been restored in 16 years.

A certificate of the catastrophe was left by her contemporary Pliny the Younger, who then lived in the seaside Misena (about 30 km from Pompeii). The base of the Roman fleet was located there, and one of the ships was commanded by Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder.

On August 24, people saw a cloud rising above the volcano. Pliny the Elder led his ship towards Pompeii. His nephew wrote that scientists were driven by a desire to save people from the city and scientific curiosity. Pliny the Elder ordered to record all the changes that took place in the cloud.

An earthquake started at night, and the next day people did not see the sun. At first it was dusk, then darkness fell, and ash began to fall from the sky. When he scattered, it turned out that there were no neighboring cities, and the Sarno valley was covered with ash. First, the city was covered with pieces of pumice, then - ash.

Most of the residents fled on the first day. Those who decided to stay and sit out the disaster in their homes, and those who decided too late to flee, perished. Their feet got stuck in a pumice stone, and then they were finished off by a rain of ash and water. Some of the Pompeians fled to the harbor, but the ships were either not there, or they were already incapacitated by ash and stones.

When the eruption ended, the surviving Pompeians set off for the city. But they could not get into their homes - Pompeii was covered with ash. To save at least something, people broke through roofs, went down to their homes to pick up money and valuables that could be useful to them during resettlement.

The Emperor Titus sent a Senate Commission to Campania. They had to assess the damage and organize the rebuilding of cities. The property of the perished townspeople, who had no heirs, was to go to the restoration of Pompeii. But nothing was done. The survivors scattered to other places.