A recent visitor writes as follows:

There are now boulevards around Pompeii, and a road is being made for the carts which convey the rubbish in the direction of the Amphitheatre. From the top of those boulevards the visitor has a view of the whole city, and can form a tolerably correct idea of the interior of the houses uncovered. Excavations are now going on in two eminences near the Temple of Isis, and the house called Abbondonza. Our inspection was chiefly confined to the former site, where, in a house situated in a narrow street recently opened, we saw several bodies, or rather forms of bodies, which now attract universal attention. The unfortunate inhabitants of this house fell, not on the bare ground, but on heaps of pumice stones, and were covered to a great depth by torrents of ashes and scoria, under which they have lain for nearly 2,000 years.

One day, inside a house, amid fallen roofs and ashes, the outline of a human body was perceived, and M. Fiorelli, the chief of the works for excavation, soon ascertained that there was a hollow under the surface. He accordingly made a small hole through its covering, and filled it up with liquid plaster of Paris, as if it were a mould. The result was that he obtained a complete plaster statue of a Roman lady of the first century of the Christian era. Close by were found the remains of a man, another woman, and a girl, with 91 pieces of silver money; four earrings and a finger-ring, all gold; two iron keys, and evident remains of a linen bag or purse. The whole of those bodies have been carefully molded in plaster. The first body discovered was a woman lying on her right side, with her limbs contracted, as if she had died in convulsions. The form of the head-dress and the hair are quite distinct. On the bone of the little finger were two silver rings, and with this body were the remains of the purse above mentioned with the money and keys. The girl was found in an adjoining room, and the plaster mould taken of the cavity clearly shows the tissue of her dress. By her side lay an elderly woman, who had an iron ring on her little finger. The last personage I shall describe was a tall, well-made man, lying full length. The plaster distinctly shows his form, the folds of his garment, his torn sandals, his beard and hair. I contemplated these human forms with an interest which defies expression. It is evidence that all these unfortunates had made great efforts to escape destruction. The man appears to have perished in a vain attempt to rescue the terrified women, who thought they could be nowhere so safe as in their own home, and hoped that the fiery tempest would soon cease. From the money and the keys found with the body of the first woman, she was probably the mistress of the house and the mother of the girl. The slender bones of her arms and legs and the richness of her head-dress seem to indicate a woman of noble race.

From the manner in which her hands were clenched she evidently died in great pain. The girl does not appear to have suffered much. From the appearance of the plaster mould it would seem that she fell from terror, as she was running with her skirts pulled over her head. The other woman, from the largeness of her ear, which is well shown by the plaster, and the iron ring on her finger, evidently belonged to a lower class, and was probably a servant of the family. The man appears to have been struck by lightning, for his straightened limbs show no signs of a death struggle.

It is impossible to imagine a more affecting scene than the one suggested by these silent figures; nor have I ever heard of a drama so heartrending as the story of this family of the last days of Pompeii.  

 

For more information about the plaster casts of Pompeii, read Bodies from the Ash: Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii

Amazon.com Widgets