Everyday life: housing, leisure activities, food and dining, clothing, health, baths, water supply, sanitation 

Reliefs, inscriptions, mosaics, and wall paintings provide information about the blood sports performed in the amphitheatre. These included boxing, gladiatorial combat, and wild beast shows, where gladiators slaughtered animals or animals were provoked into fighting each other.

The grand theatre accommodated around 5,000 spectators and hosted entertainment such as miming, acting, clowning, juggling, and musical performances. It was equipped with a sporting complex, athletic school, and an open-air arena.

The smaller theatre, or Odeon, functioned more like a concert hall and was used for concerts, lectures, and poetry readings. As the first building discovered in Herculaneum, the Odeon was quickly stripped of its fine statues and masonry. Entry to the theatre was free, but tokens were required. The theatre was elegantly decorated with rare coloured marbles and columns.

The palaestra, a gymnasium and exercise ground originating from Greek athletic tradition, was highly valued by Romans. Men and youths practised sports such as running, discus, wrestling, and swimming. Men’s public baths incorporated small palaestra, but both Pompeii and Herculaneum had large purpose-built palaestra. Wealthy citizens, such as Proconsul Balbus, often sponsored athletic games including foot races, discus, and javelin throwing.

The numerous taverns and bars in Pompeii indicate that drinking was a popular pastime, especially among men. People also gambled on gladiatorial combat and cockfighting.

Typical Roman baths included a changing room (apodyterium), a hot bath (caldarium), a warm steam room (tepidarium), and a cold bath (frigidarium). Bathing was a communal activity for both sexes, although men and women bathed separately. Public baths were social hubs where friends met to bathe, chat, have massages, exercise, and play dice games. Some bathers brought their own toiletries.

Herculaneum had two bath complexes: the Forum Baths, part of the palaestra and likely municipal, and the Suburban Baths overlooking the sea, probably a gift from Proconsul Balbus. The baths in Herculaneum were luxurious, featuring extensive marble decoration.

Pompeian families entertained friends and relatives with dinner parties, enjoyed their gardens, and went on picnics. Wealthier families hired private performers for music and poetry recitals at home. Adults and children played board games and dice games.

Houses in Pompeii typically had a triclinium—a separate dining room with three couches arranged around a three-sided table. Diners reclined while eating, and food was served on small tables by slaves. Ready-cooked food was also available from food shops called thermopolia, characterised by L-shaped counters with large storage vessels sunk into them, containing hot or cold food.

Wall paintings in Pompeii depict banqueting scenes showing seated or reclining figures eating and drinking. Remarkable organic food remains have been found in Herculaneum.

A collection of first-century AD recipes attributed to Apicius (though edited over time) illustrates the wide variety of dishes available. The people of Pompeii and Herculaneum had access to a broad range of fresh produce.

Both Pompeii and Herculaneum had effective water supply systems. In Pompeii, fresh water was carried by an aqueduct to the town’s water tank and then pumped via lead pipes to three main outlets: public baths, private homes, and town fountains.

Herculaneum had a similar system, with water piped to secondary towers, fountains, baths, and private houses.

Sanitation in Herculaneum may have been superior to that in Pompeii. Because of an excellent drainage system connected to underground sewers, Herculaneum’s streets lacked the stepping stones found in Pompeii.

Each household likely contained surgical instruments, as evidenced by finds in the House of the Surgeon and 27 other sites around Pompeii.