Special Episode - Pompeii - with Professor Ray Laurence

    Press/Media: Public Engagement Activities

    Description

    Pompeii is a very famous site, but there are a lot of misconceptions about what this place was actually like before the eruption. Ray Laurence explains why life in Pompeii was tough and how the built environment reflects the fact that this was a very average town. It had been around for centuries before the eruption in 79 CE and shares the influences of various people who lived in the region, including the Etruscans, the Oscans, the Samnites, and finally, the Romans.

    The layout of Pompeii evolved over time and areas like the Forum were used in different ways throughout its existence. We can learn more about how people experienced the urban environment by piecing together a variety of evidence including wheel ruts, the width of streets, graffiti patterns, literature, and the building remains. While Pompeii may not have been especially fancy, it was a bustling town and people spent a lot of time in the streets, conducting business, conversing, stopping at shrines, fetching water, or grabbing some takeaway.

    Subject

    We tend to see Pompeii from the perspective of adults as children leave less evidence – whether this is literary, archaeological or even human remains. Scholars such as Katherine Huntley and Ray Laurence urge us not to discount their experiences as they make up a sizeable proportion of the town. Once we start thinking about the urban layout from their perspective, it is surprising what we can discover.

    Period19 Aug 2021

    Media contributions

    1

    Media contributions

    • TitleSpecial Episode - Pompeii - with Professor Ray Laurence
      Degree of recognitionInternational
      Media name/outletPartial Historians
      Media typeWeb
      Duration/Length/Size55 minutes
      Country/TerritoryAustralia
      Date19/08/21
      DescriptionPompeii is a very famous site, but there are a lot of misconceptions about what this place was actually like before the eruption. Ray Laurence explains why life in Pompeii was tough and how the built environment reflects the fact that this was a very average town. It had been around for centuries before the eruption in 79 CE and shares the influences of various people who lived in the region, including the Etruscans, the Oscans, the Samnites, and finally, the Romans.

      The layout of Pompeii evolved over time and areas like the Forum were used in different ways throughout its existence. We can learn more about how people experienced the urban environment by piecing together a variety of evidence including wheel ruts, the width of streets, graffiti patterns, literature, and the building remains. While Pompeii may not have been especially fancy, it was a bustling town and people spent a lot of time in the streets, conducting business, conversing, stopping at shrines, fetching water, or grabbing some takeaway.
      Producer/AuthorPeta Greenfield and Fiona Radford
      URLhttps://partialhistorians.com/2021/08/19/special-episode-pompeii-with-professor-ray-laurence/
      PersonsRay Laurence, Fiona Radford, Peta Greenfield