Herculaneum

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Herculaneum

Herculaneum (in modern Italian formerly Resina, but since 1969 Ercolano) was an ancient Roman town, located in the territory of the current commune of Ercolano, in the Italian region of Campania.

It is most famous for having been destroyed, along with Pompeii, in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius beginning on August 24, AD 79, which buried them in superheated pyroclastic material that has solidified into volcanic tufa.

Name

Herculaneum lies at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. Mount Vesuvius was a sacred spot to the god Hercules and because it is at the foot of Mount Vesuvius it was named after Hercules (not to mention that Hercules was the legendary founder of the town).

Myth

Hercules had come back from killing the monster Geryon and had stopped in Rome. He went to the godess Fauna to ask for a drink but she wouldn't give him one for it was sacred water which was only for women. In anger Hercules made a temple honoring himself and ordered it so that woman couldn't participate in its ceremonies and festivities. During that time a son of Vulcan named Cacus stole some of Hercules' cattle. Hercules looked every where for them but he couldn't find them. He gave up and continued to travel to Greece when he heard his cows. He followed the sounds and was led to Cacus. He flushed the thief out of his cave and then killed him by throwing boulders at him. On the location where he killed Cacus, Hercules was supposed to have built Herculaneum.

Excavation

Excavation began at modern Ercolano in 1738. The elaborate publication of Le Antichità di Ercolano ("The Antiquities of Herculaneum") under the patronage of the King of the Two Sicilies had an effect on incipient European Neoclassicism out of all proportion to its limited circulation; in the later 18th century, motifs from Herculaneum began to appear on stylish furnishings from decorative wall-paintings and tripod tables to perfume burners and teacups.

Skeletal remains

The pyroclastic flow instantly killed all residents who had not escaped before it struck. In contrast to Pompeii, the bodies of those killed at Herculaneum are not preserved in casts; however, hundreds of skeletons have been discovered, mostly on what was once the ancient beach. Herculaneum was a smaller town with a wealthier population than Pompeii at the time of its destruction.

The first major discovery of 1st century AD Roman skeletal materials took place in Herculaneum. Because the Romans generally practised cremation into the 3rd century, very little skeletal material remains for study. Excavation during the 1990s in the port area of Herculaneum turned up the skeletons of more than 200 individuals of varied age, sex, and class. The skeletons were preserved on the seafront, where people had fled in an attempt to escape the volcanic disaster, including the 'ring lady' who gives her name to the house where she was found.

Specific buildings

To expand this section, translate it:Ercolano#Scavi archeologici di Ercolano.

College of the Augustales

Temple of the augustales or priests of the imperial cult

Villa of the Papyri

The most famous of the luxurious villas at Herculaneum is the "Villa of the Papyri" now identified as the magnificent seafront retreat for Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus, Julius Caesar's father-in-law. It stretches down towards the sea in four terraces. Piso, a literate man who patronized poets and philosophers, built there a fine library, the only one to survive intact from antiquity. Scrolls from the villa are stored at the National Library, Naples. The scrolls are badly carbonized, but a large number have been unrolled, with varying degrees of success. Computer-enhanced multi-spectral imaging, in the infra-red range, helps make the ink legible. There is now a real prospect that it will be possible to read the unopened scrolls using X-rays.^* The same techniques could be applied to the scrolls waiting to be discovered in the as-yet unexcavated part of the villa, removing the need for potentially damaging the unrolled scrolls.

The House of Neptune and Amphitrite

The 'house of Neptune and Amphitrite' is an elegant two-storey house. Image:Ercolano2 Copyright2003KaihsuTai.jpg|The house is noted for this outstanding summer triclinium with a nymphaeum decorated with coloured mosaics Image:hercualneummosaic2.jpg|Neptune and Amphitrite, one of the nymphaeum mosaics, which gives the house its name

Documentaries

an hour-long drama produced for the BBC entitled The Last Day portrays several characters (with historically attested names, but fictional life-stories) living in Pompeii, Herculaneum and around the Bay of Naples, and their last hours, including a fuller and his wife, two gladiators, and Pliny the Elder. It also portrays the facts of the eruption.
Pompeii Live, Channel 5, 28th June 2006, 8pm, live archaeological dig at Pompeii and Herculaneum

External links

Roman sites of Campania | Archaeological sites in Italy | Destroyed cities | World Heritage Sites in Italy | Eruption of Vesuvius, AD79

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