Plans and streetscapes

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Plans and Streetscapes of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Text Chapter 7 "The Cities, their Population and Social Structure"

pp. 81-90 "The Urban Layout"

Describe the main features of the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

Write a paragraph for each town with at least ten points in each paragraph.

Past HSC Question - 2015 on streetscapes

Outline the main features of streetscapes in Herculaneum. In your answer, use Source F and your own knowledge. (4 marks)

Source F: Image of a streetscape, Herculaneum

Past HSC Question - 2008

Using Source 2 and your own knowledge, describe the streetscapes in Herculaneum. (4 marks)

Source 2: A streetscape in Herculaneum

Population of Pompeii: estimates from 6,400 to 20,000. Descoudres (Pompeii Revisited) supports 8,000-10,000 based on the 800 houses excavated.

Population of Herculaneum: 5,000 (estimate based on seating capacity of the theatre).

Identify the following features on your plan of Pompeii:

• 66 hectares in area. Only two-thirds of the site of Pompeii has been excavated.

• Walls – 3.2 km of wall built from tufa. Some sections of the wall at the east of the town had been dismantled

• Watch towers – some towers still remain in the wall, on the north side of Pompeii

• Gates – seven gates provide entry points to Pompeii (Porta Marina, Porta di Stabia, Porta di Nocera, Porta di Sarno, Porta di Nola, Porta Vesuvio, Porta Ercolano). An eight gate, Porta di Capua is referred to in many books, though recent archaeological work suggests that there is no gate there (see Dobbins p.143).

• The streets are laid out on a grid pattern with streets running east-west (decumani) and streets running north-south (cardini). The main north-south street is Via Stabiana. The main east-west street is Via dell'Abbondanza.

• Grooves had been worn into some street by the wheels of carts.

• Water arrived in Pompeii from an aqueduct and was fed into the castellum aquae, which then distributed the water into three main large lead pipes which then ran through the town.

• To reduce the water pressure there were water towers at a few locations.

• There were numerous public street fountains with continuous flowing water. Few houses had their own private water supply.

• The town plan was divided into nine regions by Giuseppe Fiorelli in the 1860s. Each block (insulae) in each region was numbered. Each entrance in each insula was numbered. Every building in Pompeii can be identified with a number, e.g. The House of Pansa is VI.6.1, that is, Region 6, Insula 6, Entrance 1.

• Stepping stones were placed across streets to allow people to cross the street without getting wet or muddy (or worse).

• Cats' eyes (small white stones) were inserted in road surfaces to assist in walking at night.

• The Forum was surrounded by public buildings: temples, government buildings and large commercial buildings.

• Necropolis: outside the Porta Ercolano and outside the Porta Nocera.

• The town of Pompeii covered an area of 66 ha surrounded by defensive walls.

• It is irregularly shaped and built on terrain that slopes from 10 meters up to 40 meters above sea level.

• Over time, four main areas were developed that were heavily influenced by the Greek principles of urban planning:

  • The forum

  • The insulae or blocks fronting the Via Stabiana

  • Region VI

  • The eastern area

• The earlier areas were those developed around the Forum and Via Stabiana insulae

• The grid pattern, developed in other Roman towns, was not precisely applied to Pompeii.

• The Greek influence can be seen in the regular layout of the streets and roads and divided the towns into insulae

• The blocks varied in size from 850 – 5500 m²

• Some contained only one house while others contained a dozen or more.

• Herculaneum followed the classical layout of Greek towns with narrow straight streets that divide the town into insulae.

Features

• Walls

  • The fortifications of Pompeii are its walls that surround and enclose the city with a perimeter of 3.2 kms. The walls have been restored a nd reconstructed on numerous occasions due to the effect of military battles that effected the city. Seven gates open in the walls and many speculate the existence of an eighth “Porta Capua”.

  • Herculaneum had a sea wall, with large vaulted chambers for boats.

  • The oldest circle of wall dates back to the 6th Century BC and was made from blacks of lava and a malleable volcanic stone. By the first half of the 5th century BC a new town had replaced the old one. The new fortification (possibly due to Greek influence) was constructed by a double parallel ring of walls.

  • Around the end of the 4th century BC,. The old fortifications were partially replaced by a new one built on approximately the same line as the previous one and made of square blocks of sarno limestone. The main reason for the restructuring of the fortifications was the need to prepare the city against the incursions of the Carthaginans led by Hannibal (218-201 BC) The single ring of walls was replaced by a double ring with a new wall in tuff from Norcea, built on the embankment, while the external ring was increased in height. Between the two rings of wall, a communication patrol trench was created, accessible by means of special ‘sloping steps’ , still partially visible in the section of fortifications near the Porta Ercolano Gate.

  • The last intervention on the walls was undertaken around the period of the Social Wars (late 2nd

  • regular intervals, and covered in fake marble blocks of plaster as in the early style. The quadrangular towers had two access points: one from the base on the inside of the ring of walls and one from above the patrol trench.

• Gates

  • City gates were positioned at the end of the main thoroughfares

  • The most impressive examples of Gates at Pompeii are the Marine Gate and the Herculaneum Gate

• Streets

  • Streets in Pompeii are extremely varied, some built with solid Roman engineering and underlain with water conduits; some dirt paths; some wide enough for two carts to pass; some alleys barely wide enough for pedestrian traffic.

  • There are many different names for the dissimilar types of streets in both Herculaneum and Pompeii. The main highway that leads from Pompeii’s main gate is call the Via dell’Abbandanza.

  • The Via dell’Abbandanza is one of the main Decumani running the length of the town, east to west.

  • The Cardines run north to south, both meet at right angles.

• Roads

  • The Pompeian road network is- in itself- a reflection of the nascent origins and development of the city.

  • Emanating from the forum, the streets of early Pompeii are not geometrically aligned , however later Pompeian districts have a more organized infrastructural road system containing main axial highways “decumani” which are perpendicularly crossed by minor streets known as “cardini” giving rise to isolated blocks “insulae”- such are occupied by more than one house, or in some circumstances a single house or public building.

  • Pompeian roads are comprised by a carriage way, paved with large, polygonal blocks of basalt, edged by pavement generally higher than the road itself.

  • The roads were reinforced by kerbs made of lava, limestone or tuff – some of which preserve the marks of Oscan stonecutters.

  • Another observation that can be made from Pompeian roads is the logically placed holes on the edge of pavements, thought to hold posts which support street stalls or sunblinds, and in some instances are hypothesized to transport animals.

  • In order to facilitate pedestrian crossing and to protect their feet from rainwater and sewage which flow through the carriageway, there are ovoid shaped stepping stones placed between two pavements which were made from the same materials as the road surface, and were generally needed in areas close to entrances of buildings.

• Traffic Situation

  • There are deep grooved marks in the streets of Pompeii due to the heavy volume of traffic that use the streets, both pedestrians and wheeled carts.

  • Herculaneum- the traffic is essentially non-existent.

• Drainage

  • With the exception of the forum- Pompeii has no drainage network, causing the dirty runoff and sewage to run into the streets. Stepping stone across the street helped people keep their feet clean.

  • However, the streets are built on an incline and the water flows out of the city towards open outlets at the foot of the city walls.

  • There are large slabs of larva on the streets allowing pedestrians to cross the road in a civilized manner and not step in sewage or run off from rain.

  • Herculaneum has a more advanced and adequate sewage system.

• Street Wolves

  • The streets of Pompeii are sometimes a dangerous place for the youth.

  • Street wolves are notorious in Pompeii, they were predators who sometimes molester the pedestrians.

  • The youth to wear a purple stripe on their robes to identify those too young for incarceration.

• Lighting at Night

  • The Pompeians used lamps of terracotta, bronze, iron, glass or even gold for lighting the most common type being a container of oil which was lit with fire, with a neck from which the wick emerged for the light, a hike for the fuel and a handle for holding the lamp.

  • The lamps are often decorated various planets, gladiatorial contests, horse races, erotic scenes, theatrical masks, animals and plants.

  • Candle sticks are also a popular form of lighting often bronze with a long neck.

  • Because of the cost of bronze the candle sticks were are an important element of the home, used on mental pieces and in the dining room.

  • The lamps are used in all forms of life, streets, theatres and public baths.

  • Roads have cats eyes embedded (white stones) to gleam at night.

• Fountains

  • The public water fountains- nymphea- flow day and night for the consumption of the public, however some do have taps to regulate the flow.

  • Public water fountains are conveniently located at many street corners – meeting the needs of the population.

  • The fountains have been strategically placed about 70 meters apart so that the citizens can always count on a supply of water near their homes.

  • There are roughly 40 fountains in Pompeii and they vary little in form. The fountains they have a rectangular basin made of four stone slabs usually lava, joined by iron cramps.

  • Water is transported by a lead pipe and gushes out of a decorative spout.

  • The town’s water supply is brought from the springs of the Acquaro River by the Serinum aqueduct and the water is then distributed from the castellum aquae (water tower) situated at the highest point in the town near the Vesuvian Gate.

  • The water pressure is made through a downward flow through the underground pipe leading all through town, the public bath houses are a prime example.

  • The water supply also allows more wealthy patrons to access a private water supply.

Road with wheel grooves Stepping stones

Cats' Eyes Street fountain

Castellum Aquae - water tower Via Stabiana and water tower

Some of the uses of land in Pompeii:

• Temples – Forum Temples (Apollo, Jupiter, Fortuna Augusta). Also: Isis (near the theatres) and Venus (near Porta Marina)

• Two Theatres: Large Theatre and Small Theatre (Odeon)

• Amphitheatre – In southwest corner – the oldest extant Roman amphitheatre

• Palaestra – Large Palaestra next to amphitheatre, smaller palaestra at Stabian Baths.

• Baths – Forum Baths, Stabian Baths, Central Baths, Suburban Baths (outside Porta Marina)

• Houses, shops, workshops, brothel

• Cultivated area

• Villas: Mysteries and Diomedes: suburban villas outside the walls of Pompeii.

Water supply.

• At the time of Augustus, the imperial aqueduct at Misenum had a branch built to supply Pompeii (Sernium aqueduct)

• Water from this channel flowed into a main tank or water tower (castellum aquae) near the vesuvian gate.

• From the castellum, it was siphoned off into 3 main pipes that fed different areas of the city. Vitruvius discusses this process in his “On Architecture” stating that “in the reservoir are three pipes of equal sizes, and so connected that when the water overflows at the extremities, it is discharged into the middle one”

• The sloping terrain aided the water pressure that dispersed the water into various tanks all over Pompeii.

• Fourteen of these secondary tanks have been uncovered.

• Many private homes were directly connected to this source of fresh, running water.

• One of the three pipes supplied the forty two public fountains (nymphaea) found all over Pompeii.

• We have evidence of three fountains at Herculaneum.

• They were usually located at crossroads- obviously the supply of water was more important than traffic movement, because, in some places, the fountains obstructed the roadway.

• It is likely that most people in Pompeii lived within easy walking distance of a fountain.

• These public fountains provided a continuous supply of fresh water as there was an overflow system.

• The excess water ran down the streets and helped wash away the rubbish.

• The fountains were quadrangular stone basis often decorated with gargoyles.

• Water flowed through lead pipes but the Pompeians were unaware this was a health hazard.

• Another feature was the installation of castellum plumbeum, a lead pillar that acted as a pressure tap and ensured equal water pressure throughout the town.

• Smaller houses still made use of cisterns

• At least 91 but probably more were connected by pipes to the main water supply

• In these houses, ornamental fountains, pools and other features became common

• Some houses even had private baths in the Augustinian period, such as the House of the Meander, the house of Paquius Proculus and the house of the Vestals.

Sanitation

• The disposal of waste matter and rubbish constitutes a major problem for all societies whether ancient or modern.

• Like most Roman towns, Pompeii had public latrines

• To dispose of the waste matter from these, the Romans devised a system that involved water running continuously through a drainage channel that moved the waste matter along.

• A large public latrine with seating for twenty has been found in the north-west corner of the Forum at Pompeii

• There was a small anteroom and then the main toilet area containing seats.

• Roman toilets were communal with no private cubicles

• People sat side by side on benches above the flowing channel.

• There was no toilet paper, only a sponge and a stick

• Public latrines were also located at the baths and the palaestra

• Some private homes in Pompeii and Herculaneum, such as the House of the Painted Capitals, had latrines.

• These were often located near the kitchen area and were flushed by hand or connected to the house’s water supply from the aqueduct.

• The waste matter drained away to cesspits beneath the roadway or to the sewage system

• Private toilets were usually only for one or two people, however some houses in Herculaneum catered for up to six users.

• Pompeians took pleasure out of toilet humour as epigraphic evidence of graffiti describes the latrines as “Martha’s banqueting room”

• At the time of Augustus, the imperial aqueduct at Misenum had a branch built to supply Pompeii (Sernium aqueduct)

• Water from this channel flowed into a main tank or water tower (castellum aquae) near the vesuvian gate.

• From the castellum, it was siphoned off into 3 main pipes that fed different areas of the city. Vitruvius discusses this process in his “On Architecture” stating that “in the reservoir are three pipes of equal sizes, and so connected that when the water overflows at the extremities, it is discharged into the middle one”

• The sloping terrain aided the water pressure that dispersed the water into various tanks all over Pompeii.

• Fourteen of these secondary tanks have been uncovered.

• Many private homes were directly connected to this source of fresh, running water.

• One of the three pipes supplied the forty two public fountains (nymphaea) found all over Pompeii.

• We have evidence of three fountains at Herculaneum.

• They were usually located at crossroads- obviously the supply of water was more important than traffic movement, because, in some places, the fountains obstructed the roadway.

• It is likely that most people in Pompeii lived within easy walking distance of a fountain.

• These public fountains provided a continuous supply of fresh water as there was an overflow system.

• The excess water ran down the streets and helped wash away the rubbish.

• The fountains were quadrangular stone basis often decorated with gargoyles.

• Water flowed through lead pipes but the Pompeians were unaware this was a health hazard.

• Another feature was the installation of castellum plumbeum, a lead pillar that acted as a pressure tap and ensured equal water pressure throughout the town.

• Smaller houses still made use of cisterns

• At least 91 but probably more were connected by pipes to the main water supply

• In these houses, ornamental fountains, pools and other features became common

• Some houses even had private baths in the Augustinian period, such as the House of the Meander, the house of Paquius Proculus and the house of the Vestals.

Sanitation

• Pompeii was noisy busy city. The population was required to keep the streets clean. A notice at Herculaneum states slaves will be beaten if caught dumping rubbish and citizens will be fined. Aediles were in charge of street cleaniliness.

• Like most Roman towns, Pompeii had public latrines

• To dispose of the waste matter from these, the Romans devised a system that involved water running continuously through a drainage channel that moved the waste matter along and out side the city.

• A large public latrine with seating for twenty has been found in the north-west corner of the Forum at Pompeii

• Roman toilets were communal with no private cubicles

• People sat side by side on benches above the flowing channel.

• There was no toilet paper, only a sponge and a stick

• Public latrines were also located at the baths and the palaestra

• Rich homes had latrines usually located near the kitchen.

• These were often located near the kitchen area and were flushed by hand or connected to the house’s water supply from the aqueduct.

• The waste matter drained away to cesspits beneath the roadway or to the sewage system

• Pompeians took pleasure out of toilet humour as epigraphic evidence of graffiti describes the latrines as “Martha’s banqueting room”

• Most people bathed at the public bathhouses.

Plan of Pompeii showing the Region and Insula numbers

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• Smaller area than Pompeii - possibly 12 hectares.

• Insulae (incl. Insula Orientalis): Insulae are numbered. Only insulae III, IV, V, and VI have been fully excavated.

• Streets: decumani, cardini. The north/south streets are Cardo III, IV and V; the east/west streets are Decumanus Maximus and Decumanus Inferior.

• Underground drainage system.

• Situated on a cliff overlooking the sea. Boatsheds have been found on the ancient beach.

• Baths: Suburban Baths in south-east corner of excavated area. Forum Baths in Insula VI.

• Open excavation area and underground excavation area. Difficult to get a full understanding of the layout of the town because it has not all been uncovered.

• Street fountains.

• Mixture of residential and commercial uses.

• Forum

• Theatre (not shown on plan)

• Villa of the Papyri (not shown on plan)

Herculaneum.

Use the below link to fill in the plan of Herculaneum

https://12ancient.weebly.com/uploads/8/1/8/4/8184194/plans_and_streetscapes_information.pdf