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Herculaneum (Ercolano) Review

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Herculaneum (Ercolano)

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A visit to the archaeological site of Herculaneum neatly counterbalances the hustle of its larger neighbor, Pompeii. And although close to the heart of the busy town of Ercolano -- indeed, in places right under it -- the ancient site seems worlds apart, and you have the sensation of being catapulted back into the past, for here there is ample supply of ancient allure and splendor (unlike Pompeii, whose site is much more ruined). Like Pompeii, Herculaneum was buried by Vesuvius's eruption in AD 79. Unlike Pompeii, it was submerged in a mass of volcanic mud that sealed and preserved wood and other materials (whereas at Pompeii, most organic matter rotted away over time). Much smaller than its famous neighbor, the settlement of Herculaneum was wealthier and more select, and a greater portion of what was found has been left in place. Several villas have inlaid marble floors that evoke the same admiration as the mosaics in Naples's Museo Archeologico. Elsewhere it's possible to gauge how the less privileged lived: more remains of the upper stories than in Pompeii, so you can view the original stairs to the cramped, poorly lighted rooms that gave onto the central courtyard. Here there's more of a sense of a living community than Pompeii is able to convey. Like all the other sites in the Vesuvian area, Herculaneum is served efficiently by the Circumvesuviana railway, which provides fast, frequent, and economical connections; from Naples's Stazione Centrale or the Stazione Vesuviana on Corso Gartibaldi, take the Circumvesuviana train to the Ercolano stop (five per hour, 20 minutes east, EUR 1.70). The ruins are a five-minute walk down Via IV Novembre toward the Bay of Naples. Archaeology buffs will want to bring a flashlight to better see into the dark corners of the excavated houses.

Lying more than 60 feet below the town of Ercolano, the Scavi di Ercolano (Excavations of Herculaneum) now stand among acres of greenhouses that make this area one of Europe's chief flower-growing areas. It was named, like several other Greek colonies around the Mediterranean, after its legendary founder Heracles (Hercules), but details surrounding the date of its foundation by its Greek settlers have yet to be revealed. Certainly the grid plan of the town's layout suggests affinities with nearby Neapolis (now Naples), so it could have been an offshoot of its neighbor on the Bay of Naples. Like many Greek sites in southern Italy, in about the 4th century BC it fell under Samnite influence. It finally became a municipium (municipality) under Roman dominion in 89 BC. At the time of its destruction in AD 79, it had about 5,000 inhabitants (as compared to Pompeii's 20,000), many of whom were fishermen, craftsmen, and artists, while a lucky few patricians owned villas overlooking the sea. In contrast to Pompeii, most of the damage here was done by volcanic mud. This semiliquid mass seeped into the crevices and niches of every building, covering household objects and enveloping textiles and wood -- sealing all in a compact, airtight tomb.

Casual excavation -- and haphazard looting -- began at the beginning of the 18th century under the prince of Elbeuf, who purchased the land after a farmer had made several chance finds of marble relics. The excavation technique at the time consisted of digging vertical shafts and horizontal galleries, and whenever possible, gunpowder was used to speed up the work -- techniques that make those of the much-maligned Heinrich Schliemann, discoverer of Troy, sound positively scrupulous. It was precisely through this network of underground tunnels that 18th-century visitors from northern Europe on their Grand Tour -- such as Horace Walpole and Thomas Gray -- were to experience the buried city. Systematic digs were not initiated until the 1920s, by which time many of the sugarplums buried within the cake had already been plucked or damaged. Today less than half of Herculaneum has been excavated; with present-day Ercolano and the unlovely Resina quarter (famous among bargain hunters as the area's largest secondhand-clothing market) perched on top of the site, progress is understandably limited.

Although Herculaneum had only one-fourth the population of Pompeii and has been only partially excavated, what has been found is generally in a better state of preservation. In some cases you can even see the original wooden beams, staircases, and furniture. Lending a touch of verdant life, some of the peristyle gardens have been replanted. Today much excitement is focused on one excavation adjacent to the main site, the Villa dei Papiri, built by Julius Caesar's father-in-law. The building takes its name from the 1,800 carbonized papyrus scrolls dug up here in the 18th century, leading scholars to believe it may have been a study center or library. Now Italian archaeologists and geologists have uncovered part of the villa itself and hope to unearth more of the library -- given the right funds and political support. The villa is open to the public for viewing on Saturday or Sunday mornings only -- make reservations at www.arethusa.net. Commentary is included in the site audio guide.

For all visits to the site, walk through the archway at the very bottom of Via IV Novembre and continue down the slope to the ticket office. Here you should also pick up a free booklet and map to the site, and then make your way to the southern end toward the large modern structure of the Antiquarium (built in the 1980s, though yet to be opened). This is a good point at which to view the grid system of roads, with the three cardines (avenues, from northeast to southwest) being intersected by two decumani (roads) from left to right. The blocks, as in Pompeii, are referred to as insulae, each containing four or five main villas and sometimes a row of shops. In general, and unsurprisingly, the best mosaics, wall paintings, and any organic remains such as wooden furniture are found in those parts that were excavated in the 20th century. The 19th-century open-air excavators -- though systematic -- took few precautions to preserve the upper stories (just note the ruinous state of Insula II, in the southwest corner) and, in addition, the artwork has been exposed to the air for an extra century.

At this stage you may want to pick up an audio guide to the site (EUR 6.50 for one, EUR 10 for a pair; ID required), which gives helpful house-by-house information. Ignore the pedestrian bridge leading straight into the northern sector (use that for the exit instead) and enter the site via an underground passage behind the audio-guide kiosk, which cuts down through 60 feet of volcanic deposits and emerges by the southern (lower) end of the site. The path then crosses a marshy area, which was the original sea level and the site of a small port. This means that thanks to various eruptions (especially AD 79 and AD 1631), the topography of the land has changed beyond all recognition. It's now hard to believe that Herculaneum lay "inter duos fluvios infra Vesuvium" (between two rivers below Vesuvius).

The most gruesome find to be made in modern times at Herculaneum was in the fornici (storehouses) located in the warehouses to the left as you cross small footbridge. Here, about 300 skeletons were excavated, all "frozen" in place as they slept their troubled sleep after the first day of volcanic destruction when a surge cloud swept the town (their brain pans were stained red as their heads exploded from the heat). As they cannot normally be viewed in situ, for sheer poignancy the Garden of the Fugitives in Pompeii is more effective, for there you get to see the casts of bodies in situ at the bottom of the garden.

Walk up to the town past the Terme Suburbane, closed for restoration at press time. In the courtyard outside the building is an altar erected by the town benefactor, Marcus Nonius Balbus, and the base for his marble statue, long since removed to the Museo Archeologico in Naples. Much of the volcanic mud here has been left in situ, so you get a good idea not only of a Roman baths complex, but also of the problems that confronted the archaeologists when excavating it.[. Il Quartiere Suburbano

In antiquity, the Casa dei Cervi was one of the first houses that visitors to the town would have passed as they entered the city from the seaward side. As in most top-notch town residences, however, the entranceway is plain and leads into a long narrow corridor called the fauces, or vestibulum, which then opens onto an atrium. The showpiece in this particular house is the garden area, surrounded by a cryptoportico and terminating in a partially reconstructed gazebo. Of course, prior to the eruption, the house would have had a fine view over the Bay of Naples.[. Insula IV

As you walk around Herculaneum, you'll notice the narrow entrances of the houses and the wider entrances for shops, inns, and other buildings where large numbers of people required access. A case in point is at the corner of Cardo V and the Decumanus Inferior, where you'll see two access points and counters with large amphoras for keeping dishes warm. This was one of the town's Thermopolia, the fast-food outlets of the ancient world. Next door, for relaxed, discreet dining where, judging from the warren of private chambers within, more than just food and drink was on offer, there was the Taberna di Priapo, complete with its waiting room at the back right.[. Insula IV

Of course, no town would have been complete without its sports facilities, and Herculaneum was no exception. Just opposite the thermopolium on Cardo V is the entrance to the large Palaestra where a variety of ball games and wrestling matches were staged. Here, when you look at the peristyle columns and realize that only 3 of a total of more than 20 have been excavated, you appreciate how much of the ancient town still lies buried under solidified volcanic mud.[. Insula Orientalis II

On Cardo IV parallel to Cardo V, close to the Forum Baths, is the Casa del Nettuno ed Anfitrite. It takes its name from the mosaic that still sports its bright blue coloring and adorns the wall of the small secluded nymphaeum, or shrine with fountains, at the back of the house. According to legend, in the time-honored fashion of the Olympians, Neptune (or Poseidon) saw Amphitrite dancing with the Nereids on the island of Naxos, carried her off, and married her. The adjacent wall, in similar mosaic style though less well preserved, has a hunting scene with a stag being pursued by a dog. Annexed to the same house is a remarkably preserved wineshop, where amphorae still rest on carbonized wooden shelves.[. Insula V

Stories of Roman licentiousness are belied by the Terme del Foro, where there were separate sections for men and women. Here you see most of the architectural ingredients of thermae (baths). But besides the mandatory trio in the men's section (a round frigidarium, a cool swimming pool; a tepidarium, a semi-heated pool; and a calidarium, or heated pool), there's also an apodyterium, or changing room, with partitioned shelves for depositing togas and a low podium to use as seating space while in line to use the facilities. For more attractive mosaics -- particularly a spectacular rendition of Neptune -- go around into the women's baths (with seemingly no frigidarium). The heating system in the tepidarium was also different (no hot air piped through or under, only braziers). Note the steam vents ingeniously built into the bath's benches and the small overhead cubbies in which bathers stored their togas.[. Insula VI

An outstanding example of carbonized remains is in the Casa del Tramezzo di Legno, as it has been prosaically labeled by archaeologists. Following renovation work in the mid-1st century AD, the house was designed to have a frontage on three sides of Insula III and included a number of storerooms, shops, and second-floor habitations. This suggests that the owner was a wealthy mercator, a member of the up-and-coming merchant class that was starting to edge the patricians out of their privileged positions. The airy atrium has a lovely garden. Look closely at the impluvium (a channel to collect rainwater), and you'll see the original flooring below, which was later replaced with marble, perhaps after a change of owners. Next to the impluvium is an elegant marble table, or cartibulum, while behind is the tablinum, partially screened off by a bronze-studded wooden partition (the central part of which is missing) that would also have had hooks for hanging lucernae (lamps).[. Insula III, 11-12

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