Frozen in the ashes by the eruption of Vesuvius in the year 79, the city of Pompeii reveals itself a little more at the start of 2025. Certainly with one of its most prestigious parts, filled with works of art and other sumptuousness: several rooms dedicated to baths, in a private residence, probably the largest ever discovered in the area. While a third of the ancient city still sleeps under volcanic debris, the BBC reveals new finds from a vast archaeological project begun two years ago. “It’s the discovery of the century”rejoices archaeologist Sophie Hay.
These excavations, the most important in a generation, have already uncovered an entire city block. Like the rest of the city, the ash has certainly trapped it, but also preserved it from the ravages of time, as if its inhabitants had just left the place. Archaeologists had already spotted a bakery, a laundry and, standing alongside them, a huge private residence. It appears that this set belonged to one and the same person. Perhaps the wealthy notable Aulus Rustius Verus, an influential politician in Pompeii. The discovery of these private baths in its heart only confirms it: “There are only a few houses that have such a complex, it was reserved for the richest of the rich”explains Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the archaeological park of Pompeii.
A sort of spa, in short, to which certainly only the elite of Pompeii – rich and influential enough to be invited – could enter. To enjoy the premises, visitors first had to go through the cloakroom. They walked on the ground, made of Roman marble, covered with mosaics with geometric patterns and still intact. Perhaps they sat on these stone benches or placed their belongings there, installed against vibrant red walls – a color which seems, centuries later, to have retained all its vigor.
A swimming pool that can accommodate 10 to 20 people
Then their visit began with the hot room. There was a heat worthy of a sauna, maintained thanks to walls with a cavity and a suspended floor allowing hot air to circulate under the floor. Then head to a more humid room. Time for a little more relaxation, applying oil to their skin, then scraped with a strigil – a curved scraper used by the Romans to clean themselves after a steam bath. Once clean, here are the visitors in the frigidarium or “cold room”. The largest, most spectacular of the structure: large frescoes representing athletes adorn its walls, also equipped with imposing columns. In the center, a one meter deep pool so wide that visitors could bathe in groups of ten or even twenty, yet another clue illustrating the social function of this vast room where these rich Pompeians could lounge and chat. During the summers when the heat enveloped this southern city, this swimming pool undoubtedly encouraged “sit with your feet in the water, chat with your friends, maybe with a glass of wine”illustrated by Gabriel Zuchtriegel from the BBC.
Behind the hot room was the boiler room. This room and its very well preserved installations are another testimony to Roman engineering: valves made it possible to regulate the flow of water, which a pipe was used to bring back from the street. Some of it was siphoned into the cold pool; the rest directed to a lead boiler, intended for the hot water room. But let the modernity of this system not deceive. The work of the slaves supposed to operate it must have been very unbearable in this suffocating atmosphere. This is another lesson (or reminder) of life in Pompeii: this building, sumptuous as it was for its owners and guests, does not erase the grueling working and living conditions there. another extreme of Roman society. Two very different worlds and lifestyles, in short, separated by a simple wall.
-This vast and rich structure is the latest find in this private residence, but not the only one. Last year, the team of archaeologists discovered another part of it. Notably a huge banquet room and its black walls, decorated with works of art. As well as a smaller, presumably more private room. The inhabitants certainly came to pray within its pale blue walls.
Two Pompeians found
It was in an adjoining room, very cramped and barely decorated, that the skeletons of two Pompeians were found: a woman aged between 35 and 50 years old and a young man, around ten or twenty years old. He was in a corner holding some keys. She was lying on a bed, curled up, with still shiny gold and silver coins in her hands, as well as jewelry – earrings made of gold and pearls, pendants and semi-precious stones. This woman was perhaps the wife of the owner of the place, or his servant – “we don’t know”admits Sophie Hay, archaeologist on the team, to the BBC. On a marble table sat glassware, bronze jugs and pots. Perhaps brought by the two victims thus barricaded, who hoped to be able to wait out the end of the eruption within these walls? But they could not escape the deadly mixture of ash and gas which swept over the city and saddled their fate, like the thousands of inhabitants of the city who, accustomed to earthquakes, had for many not run away.
Widely interviewed by the BBC, the archaeologists of the site do not lack enthusiasm in describing their discoveries. By looking ahead to their contribution to understanding the society of the time, frozen in ashes. “This is a magical moment for the life of Pompeii, rejoices Anna Onesti, site director. These excavations allow us to share it with the public.”
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