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Excavations Shed Light on the Everyday Life of Pompeii's Middle Class
Smithsonian Magazine ^ | August 10, 2022 | Ellen Wexler

Posted on 08/11/2022 8:50:30 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

An ornate courtyard found in an otherwise humble home may have reflected the owners' aspirational vision of the future.

Discoveries in Pompeii—from elaborate frescoes to garden shrines—have taught researchers a lot about the city's wealthiest residents. Until recent years, however, the lives of the lower and middle classes have garnered less interest.

But now, archaeologists have excavated several rooms in a middle-class home partially destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 C.E. Frozen in time, the rooms provide a snapshot into the lives of everyday people in the ancient Roman city, according to a statement from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, which announced the find on Saturday...

A nearby storage room, also on the lower level, was perhaps the simplest room in the home. Archaeologists found only an earthen floor; it was also the home's only room without plastered walls...

When archaeologists first found the structure in 2018, they called it the "Larario house," after a shrine in the home dedicated to the household gods, or Lares, per Reuters' Valentina Za. They also unearthed a courtyard filled with ornate decorations, which contrasted the humbler appearance of the newly excavated rooms.

(Excerpt) Read more at smithsonianmag.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: 79ad; ad79; godsgravesglyphs; larariohouse; pompeii; romanempire; vesuvius
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A small accent table found in a Pompeii bedroom Courtesy of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii
A small accent table found in a Pompeii bedroom Courtesy of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii

1 posted on 08/11/2022 8:50:30 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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http://pompeiisites.org/en/comunicati/the-discovery-of-furnishings-from-the-house-of-the-lararium-in-regio-v-a-snapshot-of-middle-class-pompeii/


2 posted on 08/11/2022 8:51:09 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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Pompeii keyword, sorted, from a file here built in May:

3 posted on 08/11/2022 8:54:04 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: StayAt HomeMother; Ernest_at_the_Beach; 1ofmanyfree; 21twelve; 24Karet; 2ndDivisionVet; 31R1O; ...

4 posted on 08/11/2022 8:54:31 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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Three additions subsequent to the May list:

5 posted on 08/11/2022 9:00:11 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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I'd just thought, 'why not add the Roman Empire keyword links?' Seven pages, or rather six-plus, 250 per page, that's one reason. But you know how I get...

6 posted on 08/11/2022 9:02:18 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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"Roman Empire" keyword topics, since April, sorted:

7 posted on 08/11/2022 9:12:51 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

If only they dealt seriously with climate change back then, Pompeii would still be here today...


8 posted on 08/11/2022 9:23:28 AM PDT by wny
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To: SunkenCiv
They also unearthed a courtyard filled with ornate decorations, which contrasted the humbler appearance of the newly excavated rooms.

Their courtyard would have been where they received and entertained guests. So it would have been more decorated.

Two thousand years and people remain people.

9 posted on 08/11/2022 9:27:30 AM PDT by Harmless Teddy Bear (The nation of france was named after a hedgehog... The hedgehog's name was Kevin... Don't ask)
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To: wny

If you want to get out, you’ve got to flee and shout, Pompeii.


10 posted on 08/11/2022 9:35:09 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Harmless Teddy Bear
The larger, finer homes had a sort of office / conference room right off the atrium, where business deals were negotiated and contracted. These were separated (visually, rather than sonically) from adjacent rooms by wood screens, some of which have survived in Herculaneum. Typically the meeting's host held the cards, the visitor was the supplicant.

11 posted on 08/11/2022 9:38:51 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv
I spent one day at Pompeii...it was on a searingly hot and sunny July day. On that day I got the worst sunburn I've ever had.

I'd love to return on a cool...and cloudy...March or November day. Several days in fact.And I'd like to visit Herculaneum as well.

12 posted on 08/11/2022 9:44:23 AM PDT by Gay State Conservative (Covid Is All About Mail In Ballots)
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24 August 79 A.D.
Started like any other day...

“A Day in Pompeii - Full-length animation”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dY_3ggKg0Bc


13 posted on 08/11/2022 9:53:59 AM PDT by 444Flyer (John 3, Revelation 20, Joshua 24:15, 1 Kings 18:16-39, Pick a side...)
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To: SunkenCiv

Pompeii was a wealthy resort town so I imagine the middle class lived pretty well.


14 posted on 08/11/2022 1:34:38 PM PDT by colorado tanker
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To: SunkenCiv

bump


15 posted on 08/11/2022 7:31:58 PM PDT by Albion Wilde ("Liz Cheney, Trump’s personal Javert..."--Michael Anton)
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To: colorado tanker

I was curious about their use of that term, but it makes sense, during the imperial period, there was previously little known upward mobility, and skills weren’t confined to household slaves.


16 posted on 08/11/2022 7:34:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Gay State Conservative

It might be nice to convert one of the excavated homes that has little of interest inside to a B & B.


17 posted on 08/11/2022 7:39:28 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

If I recall, weren’t you planning a trip to Pompeii last year, or the year before? If so, how did it go?


18 posted on 08/12/2022 10:12:59 AM PDT by Albion Wilde ("Liz Cheney, Trump’s personal Javert..."--Michael Anton)
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To: Albion Wilde

I thought my time machine project would have come to fruition by now.


19 posted on 08/12/2022 10:49:07 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Kinda reminds me of my 1950s colonial in Arlington, VA — we’re good, have amenities, are plenty comfortable... just don’t have all the popout crap the neighbors have put in or the larger lots not far from us.

When the Chicoms nuke the Pentagon, which is half-mile from here, we’re all equally dead, with or without stainless steel kitchen or inset lighting over the bar in the mancave.


20 posted on 08/12/2022 12:22:33 PM PDT by nicollo (arbitrary law is not rule of law)
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