® A publication of the American Philological Association Vol. 4 • Issue 2 • Fall 2005 WHAT’S NEW AT POMPEII Book Review: AREIOS POTER kai he tou AND HERCULANEUM? philosophou lithos RESEARCH, EXCAVATION, EXHIBITIONS, by Diane L. Johnson AND BOOKS Andrew Wilson, trans. AREIOS POTER kai by Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow he tou philosophou lithos. The ancient Greek edition of J. K. Rowling’s Harry he volcanic eruption of Mount Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. Blooms- Vesuvius (see Fig. 1) in A.D. 79 T bury Publishing (http://www.bloomsbury. affected the psyche of the Romans for a long time after the event, com), 2004. Pp. 250. Hardcover $21.95. and the memory of the explosion with ISBN 1-58234-826-x. its large loss of life was perpetuated by a variety of imperial and later Roman fter the much-anticipated release of writers. Martial, Valerius Flaccus, Silius Italicus, Tacitus, Pliny the Younger Athe sixth book in the Harry Potter (whose two famous letters to Tacitus series this past summer and the release of have helped us understand the pyroclas- the fourth film, Harry Potter and the Goblet tics – the nature of the volcanic rock of Fire, in November, few people these ejections of the eruption), Suetonius, days are unacquainted with the Harry Pot- Cassius Dio, Marcus Aurelius, Florus, ter phenomenon. Readers who are both and later Christian writers like Tertul- lian all mentioned the calamity of Vesu- Hellenists and Harry Potter enthusiasts will, Fig. 1. View of Mount Vesuvius from vius in various contexts in their works. of course, need no encouragement to Naples harbor, August 2005. Photo Statius (ca. A.D. 45-96), who was undertake Andrew Wilson’s delightful credit: Ann Olga Koloski-Ostrow. born in Naples, for example, tells us in translation of J. K. Rowling’s first book. In his eulogy for his deceased father (Silvae what happened after A.D. 79 to the this review, I am addressing those who 5.3.205-08) that his father had planned “cities and peoples buried below” the have not yet discovered any reason why to write an epic poem about the erup- land in and around the areas affected by they should read the Harry Potter novels at tion of Vesuvius before he died. Statius the eruption of Vesuvius. The region’s also demonstrates the emotional con- topography, notably the coastline and all, whether in English, Greek, or any one nection he had to Vesuvius: the course of the River Sarno, was dras- of the more than fifty world languages into tically altered by the eruption. The which the books have now been translated. Will future generations believe, when buried cities remained somewhat alive Among this group I once numbered myself, once more crops and these deserted in the collective memory of the and I found any number of excuses for not places thrive again, that cities and Romans, but at some point, it seems peoples are buried below and that reading such fiction marketed to the young. that local knowledge of the precise loca- ancestral lands have disappeared, hav- I managed to hold out although I am sur- ing shared in the same fate? Not yet tion of both Pompeii and Herculaneum, does the mountaintop cease to threat- continued on page 2 continued on page 4 en death. (Silvae 4.4. 80-85) “Almi Parentes” ..................................................5 “Classics and Contemporary Statius’ expression of disbelief about Fiction” Panel at the APA Meeting “TELL THEM WE ARE RISING”: in Montreal.....................................................11 the desolation of the landscape of Cam- AFRICAN AMERICANS AND pania after this natural disaster and his THE CLASSICS .......................................................6 Audio Review: “A Recital of Ancient Greek Poetry” ...........................14 realization that Vesuvius had not yet Book Review: “The October stopped threatening the neighboring Horse”......................................................................7 To A Professor of Latin ........................16 territories (a fact that modern volca- Ask A Classicist.................................................8 Greek And Roman Antiquities nologists have been studying for years at The Montreal Museum of ............18 ORAL LATIN: “LOQUIMUR QUO Fine Arts now) have a ring of contemporaneity to Inside MELIUS LEGAMUS” – WE SPEAK TO them. READ BETTER ........................................................8 Guidelines for contributors........20 Statius’ comment leads us to ponder WHAT’S NEW AT POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM? continued from page 1 the two most famous cities affected, dis- Menander in the Antiquarium at Bosco- appeared. The name Cività (City) was reale. The exhibit includes glassware, used for the whole zone beneath which furnishings, pottery, bronzes, marbles, ancient Pompeii was actually buried and much more. Panels describe who until the 1740’s when formal excava- the inhabitants were, what they ate, tions began. what they read, what graffiti they scrib- A number of exciting discoveries bled, and generally how they lived. since the 1980’s indicate that there was Pompeii has seen a renaissance of a resumption of life immediately after highly focused research and excavation the eruption around the area of the projects in the last ten years. A short buried town and continued regeneration sampling follows of the many ongoing in the area. In fact, a whole new field of projects that are helping to provide a Pompeian studies has been established new understanding of many aspects of to understand those survivors who Fig. 2. Skeletons in the boat storage at Pompeiian life: John Dobbins studies stayed on and tried to rebuild their Herculaneum, August 2005. Photo credit: the forum (urban center) at Pompeii lives. In modern Pompeii, for example, Catherine K. Baker. (http://pompeii.virginia.edu/page-1.html); excavations on the Via Lepanto that Kevin Cole has been refining the build- began in the late 1980’s have revealed approaches, and new expectations have ing history of the northwest corner of in the jumble of structures found there emerged. It is time to pause and ask: the Pompeian forum; Steven Ellis has a definite resumption of life immediate- what is new at Pompeii and Hercula- begun work on explorations of the area ly after the eruption of A.D. 79. Within neum? What are the exciting discoveries around the Stabian Gate at the southern the last ten years, Italian archaeologists that archaeologists have been making in end of the city near the entertainment have also found a necropolis to the recent excavations? What kinds of stud- and theater district (http://www.stanford. southeast of Pompeii with finds dating ies have developed out of ongoing work edu/group/pompeii/index.htm); Eric between the fourth and fifth centuries at these sites? Poehler has been studying wheel ruts A.D. Archaeologists, volcanologists, and curb marks to better understand geologists, and anthropologists have Pompeii Pompeian traffic patterns; Betty Jo been hard at work carefully reconstruct- Mayeske, Robert C. Curtis, Robert ing a detailed sequence of events during Better control by the authorities of the Lindley Vann, and Benedict J. Lowe are the eruption and its effect on the Bay of illicit activities of organized crime on making a non-invasive study of the Naples. The Discovery Channel’s the Bay of Naples (the number of rob- structures that are associated with the “Pompeii: The Last Day” (2004) is a beries of antiquities, for example, has storage, distribution, preparation, serv- testament to this research (see greatly decreased) along with the intelli- ing, and consumption of food and drink http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/ gent management of the site of Pompeii at Pompeii (http://www.Pompeii-Food- pompeii/pompeii.html). by Superintendent Pietro Giovanni and-Drink.org); and Eckhard and Ela Nowadays, Pompeii and Hercula- Guzzo over the last ten years or so have Tiemanns are raising funds to restore neum are such household names to us greatly improved the “archaeological cli- the noble suburban Villa Imperiale (go that we tend to take them for granted. It mate” and educational value of the site to www.pompeiisites.org, click on is well known that Pompeii and Hercu- of Pompeii. In 1997, Pompeii was “Eventi” in the upper menu bar, and laneum were each destroyed in a very declared a UNESCO World Heritage follow the link to “Il Progetto VIMP”). different manner (more pumice and ash site, and now the Italian government A closer look at another large project, at Pompeii, up to twenty-five meters of allows Pompeii to keep the money from the Anglo-American Project successive pyroclastic surges at Hercula- its ticket sales for site conservation. The (http://www.brad.ac.uk/acad/archsci/ neum). Each city, therefore, offers Superintendency of Pompeii has an field_proj/anampomp), can demonstrate archaeological evidence of a distinct excellent Web site (http://www. the new kind of detailed information we character. At Herculaneum, we can pompeiisites.org); visitors can take a vir- are now gaining from the excavations recover more upper floors of structures, tual tour of the ruins of Pompeii and and how this information is truly setting wooden beams, doors and collapsible access interactively (by name or trends for the future of Pompeian gates, wooden furnishings, shrines, address) about fifty locations at Pompeii archaeology. The Anglo-American Pro- screens, beds, and even a cradle with from a panoramic perspective. ject in Pompeii, begun in 1994 by Rick evidence of a blanket still in it, not to At the actual site of Pompeii, more Jones and Damian Robinson, aimed to mention papyrus scrolls and wooden houses (of the roughly 400 houses that record and excavate the history of an tablets. The human remains are pre- are excavated) are accessible to the pub- entire city block, insula 1 of Region VI served differently as well. To anthropol- lic today than were open ten years ago, (see Fig. 3). I have visited various parts ogists, the bones of Herculaneum (see and more care is given to conservation of this large excavation site almost every Fig.