[bright string music]
- Rick Steves: Under the Pax Romana,
the Romans ruled an empire stretching from the Nile
all the way to Britain, and it was laced together
with an extraordinary network of roads.
Travelers today can find remains of the empire
throughout most of Europe,
and everywhere, you'll find the same features.
The same grid-planned streets,
the aqueducts,
Colosseum-inspired arenas,
baths,
public toilets,
temples,
monuments,
and on pedestals far and wide, a statue of the Emperor.
Pompeii was a typical Roman city in southern Italy,
with all those typical features,
from forums and temples to public baths and brothels.
But with the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D.,
life in Pompeii was stopped in its tracks.
Tragic, I know, but for archaeologists,
Pompeii was a shake and bake windfall.
The excavated art and architecture
of this once busy town
offers an intimate look at the richness of ancient Roman life.
The main square or forum was Pompeii's commercial,
religious, and political center.
The curia housed the government.
It was built of no-nonsense brick and mortar,
originally faced with a veneer of gleaming marble.
The basilica, or law court, was nearby.
The basilica floor plan,
a rectangular space divided into a central nave
and side aisles by two rows of columns,
was ideal for a meeting hall.
Remains of homes at Pompeii give a glimpse
into how the wealthy lived and enjoyed their art.
The House of Vettii, the home of a rich merchant,
shows the typical layout of a mansion.
Its colonnaded inner courtyard,
a formal garden with water flowing to give freshness,
was ringed by colorfully frescoed rooms.
Dining rooms were often richly decorated.
Here, little cupids go about everyday life in Pompeii,
harvesting crops,
taking your knocks on a chariot,
and enjoying the local wine.
Water was abundant in this well-plumbed city.
Fountains provided a social center at intersections,
and a steady stream of water
flushed the chariot-rutted streets clean.
So, why the stones in the street here?
- Guide: Well, there was always water
flowing along the roads and washing the roads.
So that's why the sidewalk go over
and the stepping stones.
- Rick: So the pedestrians walk across, not get wet.
- Guide: Yes, could cross road, avoiding wet feet.
- Rick: Very smart.
Pompeii's artifacts show off
the ancient city's love of art and the good life.
These bronze statues, like so much of the art from Pompeii,
are first-century B.C. Roman copies
of fourth-century B.C. Greek originals.
Resting Hermes, with his tired little heel wings,
is taking a break.
But it's clear he'll be flying off again soon.
This wine-loving woodland god or satyr,
singing and snapping his fingers to the beat,
is clearly living for the moment,
true to the Epicurean "seize the day" philosophy
many Romans embraced and celebrated.
Pompeii's many finely-crafted mosaics
reflect the sophistication and wealth
of the city and its people.
Culture, including music and theater,
thrived at Pompeii.
This mosaic takes us backstage just before curtain time.
Actors get dressed, instruments tuned,
and the masks of comedy and tragedy are ready to go.
This detailed and realistic mosaic
shows street musicians boisterously entertaining
those not quite up to a night at the theater.
Venus, the goddess of love, was a Pompeii favorite.
Statues are intimate and impressively realistic.
The much-copied Three Graces
celebrated elegance, beauty, and a love of life,
a reminder of how fleeting life is and was
on the fateful day nearly 2,000 years ago
when that volcano blew.