Friday 27 November

10 AM PST
1 PM EST
6 PM GMT
7 PM CET

With Dr. Eireann Marshall

There have been a number of new discoveries in Pompeii and Herculaneum and, more importantly, there have been many new techniques developed which have shed light on the people who lived and died in the Vesuvian cities. Studies of skeletons allow us to know intimate details of the lives of the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, from the number of children borne by women, to the living conditions of slaves and the kinds of diseases people suffered in antiquity.  In addition, studies of the sewage in Herculaneum have been instrumental of giving us an idea of Roman diets, of the worms they suffered with and the means by which they cleaned themselves.

At the same time, new evidence has been unearthed, including a graffito found in a recently excavated house, which calls in to question the date of the eruption, while work done on the skulls of the Herculaneum victims provides chilling new clues about the ways in which the citizens of Herculaneum met their deaths. In this Spotlight Lecture, we will be exploring the new finds in Pompeii’s Regio V, including the gladiator fresco, the new victims found, as well as new thoughts about the lives of the people who lived in the Bay of Naples.