Pompeii: Not just a city rediscovered
So I went for the Pompeii exhibit at the field museum today, hoping to relive memories of my trip to Naples. I suppose the exhibits were quite thoughtfully arranged, and on the whole they managed to give us viewers a sense of what life was like before the fateful eruption in AD79. But having spent three entire days wandering around the ruins myself, the exhibits did not give me what I was looking for. I was not transported back to Pompeii. Yes, yes, I know they are totally different worlds: walking down the still beautifully paved cobblestones with the arresting sight of Mt. Vesuvius in the background, vs peering intently into a glass display showcasing the intricate jewellery that miraciously survived the centuries unscathed. But a girl can dream yah?
Hmm, if you were interested in finding out more about Pompeii, I’d not suggest visiting the museum. For one thing, it’s way too crowded. My enjoyment was diminished in part by the throngs of people I had to politely push through in order to look at the displays or read the signs. What I can recommend though, is Robert Harris’ Pompeii:
In this fine historical by British novelist Harris, an upstanding Roman engineer rushes to repair an aqueduct in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, which, in A.D. 79, is getting ready to blow its top. Young Marcus Attilius Primus becomes the aquarius of the great Aqua Augusta when its former chief engineer disappears after 20 years on the job. When water flow to the coastal town of Misenum is interrupted, Attilius convinces the admiral of the Roman fleet-the scholar Pliny the Elder-to give him a fast ship to Pompeii, where he finds the source of the problem in a burst sluiceway. Lively writing, convincing but economical period details and plenty of intrigue keep the pace quick, as Attilius meets Corelia, the defiant daughter of a vile real estate speculator, who supplies him with documents implicating her father and Attilius’s predecessor in a water embezzlement scheme. Attilius has bigger worries, though: a climb up Vesuvius reveals that an eruption is imminent. Before he can warn anyone, he’s ambushed by the double-crossing foreman of his team, Corvax, and a furious chase ensues. As the volcano spews hot ash, Attilius fights his way back to Pompeii in an attempt to rescue Corelia. Attilius, while possessed of certain modern attitudes and a respect for empirical observation, is no anachronism. He even sends Corelia back to her cruel father at one point, advising her to accept her fate as a woman. Harris’s volcanology is well researched, and the plot, while decidedly secondary to the expertly rendered historic spectacle, keeps this impressive novel moving along toward its exciting finale. – From Publisher’s Weekly
Anyway, I thought I’d share some pictures of my trip to Naples with the Rome study abroad program:
The forum in Pompeii - the heart of the city
Grounds of the gladiators
This old man gave me a tour of the bath houses of Paestum
After I’d toured the Pompeii exhibit, I poked my head into the Pacific Islands and Tibet exhibits. There, I suddenly recalled what Peter told me the other night: religion gives people a reason to live, gives them meaning in life, so they can go to heaven after that. Not in quite those words exactly, but his reasoning is there.
Well, as a staunch atheist (please do not attempt to start a religious debate with me now; we’d only be running fruitlessly about in circles, so let’s just agree to disagree), I was quite perplexed. Why live to die? I live because I want to explore the world out there - and looking at all the different cultures on displays, the different lands and places, the different time periods, only reaffirms my beliefs. I live to live, to see, to feel. Is that not meaning enough?
