While trekking Southern Italy during June of 2023, Becky (my wife) and I made a stopped to explore the Ancient ruins of Herculaneum. The Herculaneum ruins are located within Ercolano, Italy. Conveniently, the Herculaneum entrance is only about a 10 minute walk downhill from the Ercolano station, (a stop on the Circumvesuviana Naples-Sorrento line).

“Herculaneum was a small fortified city situated on a plateau of volcanic ash, raised above the sea, and enclosed by two valleys traversed by two torrential water-courses, overlooking the shore of the Gulf of Naples”, described by a 1st century historian named Sorrento.

According to legend, the Greek settlement of Herakleia was founded by its patron deity Hercules. Like Pompeii, the town passed through periods of Oscan and Samnite domination before becoming a Roman colony in 89 B.C..

Herculaneum, which lacked the commercial importance of Pompeii and was about half its size, was a town of some 5,000 residents and a favored seaside resort of wealthy Romans. A few patricians owned the villas facing the Gulf of Naples, but most houses reflect the middle- and working- class status of their inhabitants, for the most part artisans, artists and fishermen.

Image above, Herculaneum was destroyed at 1:00 A.M on Aug. 25th, 79 A.D., not by the burning pyroclastic-ash, (like in Pompeii), but by a monstrous avalanche of volcanic debris which rolled down Somma-Vesuvius in the heavy rains that followed the eruption. The site was accidentally discovered by an Austrian well-digger in 1709 under 20 meter of hard volcanic tuff and/or petrified mud, which, having perfectly sealed the town beneath, effectively preserved the wood and household utensils that would otherwise have been lost over time. Systematic excavations didn’t start until the 1920s, and have so far brought to light only half of the town, which might still yield sensational discoveries. {Carbonized human remains were found in the 1990s}.

Imaged above, Herculanium is laid out in the typical Roman grid pattern, with intersecting streets known as “Decumani” and “Cardi”. All the major sites seemed to line-up along the two central Cardi IV and V, which made for a pleasant loop walk. After leaving the ticket building, Becky and I went through the turnstiles and walked the path below the site to the entrance, (pictured below).

Pictured above, if we looked and noted to our left, seaward, we noted where the shoreline is today. Before the eruption, it was where we were standing , a half a kilometer inland. This gave us a sense of how much volcanic material piled up. The present-day city of Ercolano loomed just above the ruins.

Picture above, as Becky and I crossed the modern bridge into the excavation site, we looked down into the moat-like ditch. On one side, we could see Herculaneum’s sea-front wall. On the other is the wall that we just walked on, a solidified volcanic-tuff layer from the volcano that showed how deeply the town was buried, (pictured below).

After Becky and I crossed the entrance-bridge, we stroll across the Suburban Quarter towards the south-western end of Cardo IV, (pictured below).

Pictured below, we started our trek from the south-western end of Cardo IV, at the House of the Mosaic Atrium, (Casa dell’Atrio o Mosaico), one of the grandest Herculanean villas whose atrium (the inner courtyard which brought light to the surrounding rooms) still preserves its lovely black-and-white mosaic floor.

Pictured below, the pavement of the vestibule, which forms a single mosaic whole with that of the atrium, is of white-black mosaic in squares of interwoven bands with varied motifs. The floor of the atrium is undulated as a result of the subsidence cause by the volcanic material. The marble pool in the center is bordered with a triple black band and a rectangular frame with vegetable motifs.

Becky and I continued up Cardo IV towards the northwest, past the “House of the Mosaic Atrium”. On the right, we soon came upon the “House of the Alcove”, (pictured below).

The front doorway of the “House of the Alcove” (Casa dell’ Alcova) led to the central courtyard, with colonnade on one side, leading to rear with garden courtyard and pseudo-peristyle (with two-sided colonnade, also steps down to central courtyard in previously separate house and corridor with light- well with single sided colonnade). Architecturally unusual, the suite here with apsed and vaulted rooms, give the house its name, (pictured below).

Across the street was, “The House with the Bronze Herm” (Casa dell’ erma bronzo). “This is one of the oldest houses in Herculaneum and has an elongated shape. The house got its name from a bronze Herma found in the tablinum, (a room that served as the office of the owner of the house), a place for personal meetings and storage of important documents. The Herma is a four-sided pillar with a sculpted head of a god, politician, or thinker. However, in this case, historians believe that the Herma is a portrait of the owner of the house, (pictured below).

Pictured below, the Tuscan-style atrium had a Central alluvium or home pool for collecting rainwater. The walls of the atrium were decorated with frescoes with large red and black panels framed in light red, and the floor was covered with mosaics in the opus Signum style.

Further up the street of Cardo IV, was the “House of the Wooden Screen” (Casa Del Tramezzo Di Legno). This two floor house was noteworthy for its almost intact facade and inside, a wooden partition with hinges and lamp brackets, that closes the tablinum (tiny office) off the atrium.

Pictured above, crossing the entrance vestibule, paved in cocciopesto ornamented with rows of mosaic tesserae we entered the perfectly preserved atrium. This is paved in cocciopesto, with rows of mosaic tesserae, and decorated with fantastic architectural motifs on a black and red ground. In the center is the marble pool of the impluvium, set up to replace an older one, in cocciopesto decorated with mosaic motifs. In front of the pool is an elegant table in fine limestone, with feet in the form of griffin’s paws and a top decorated at the sides with lion’s heads, on which crowns and offerings were place on day of celebration.

Pictured above, within the basin was a small column, which, probably, originally held a statue. On the left side, facing onto the atrium are two cubicula, one of which still conserves the carbonized bed and a sitting room, (pictured below).

As Becky and I reached the corner of Decumanus Interior, we stopped to take a picture of the “House of the Painted Papyrus” (Casa del papiro depinto) from the street corner. This was a modest dwelling, which again conserved the dimension of the residential lot of the original Oscan urban layout. It is named after a fresco, not lost, which showed a papyrus scroll with the Greek name, Eutychos and two ink stands, one complete with pen.

Becky and I continued to explore up Cardo IV. On the immediate right, we came across the “Samnite House” (Casa Sannitica). It was built in the 2nd century BC. This is one of the oldest residences in the city.

Pictured above, the great portal of the ‘Samnite House, with Corinthian-Italic capitals in tuff, led into the vestibule, decorated with a well-preserved wall decoration painted in different colors to imitate marble blocks, surmounted by a stucco cornice and a frieze, (in poor condition), featuring a fine landscape.

Pictured above, in the ‘Samnite House’, we entered the spacious and well-preserved atrium, paved in cocciopesto with rows of tesserae of white mosaic. In the center was the marble pool of the impluvium into which the rainwater was channeled through terracotta waterspouts in the form of dog’s heads.

Pictured above, the lower section of the walls was redecorated with the elegant fantastic architectural motifs on a black ground, while above they still bear the imitation loggia of Ionic half-columns connected by low lattice-work panels, made of white stucco.

Pictured above, from the entrance side, we come on the left to a spacious rectangular room, possibly a triclinium, with a pavement in cocciopesto featuring in the center a panel bordered by a meander-style band. The walls, on a red-ochre ground, are decorated with fantastic architectures. On the right from the entrance, we come to a cubiculum illuminated by a window, with a fine wall decoration on blue ground. One of the central panels is preserved, showing Europa and the bull, (pictured below).

Across the street of Cardo IV, from the Samnite House, Becky and I found the ‘Baths of the Forum Women’s Section’. Pictured below, in front of the changing-room is a large square area, paved and faced with cocciopesto, equipped with benches made of masonry.

Pictured above, through an arched doorway, with a circular porthole above for illumination, we entered the elegant changing-room (apodyterium).

Pictured above, the apodyterium, perfectly preserved, featured a masonry bench that ran around edge of the room, covered with a thick layer of cocciopesto and, above the stalls for holding the clothes. At the top of the wall is a stucco cornice.

Pictured above, the ceiling of the apodyterium is vaulted, and features grooves (strigilature) designed to channel the percolating vapor.

Pictured above, the apodyterium featured an elegant pavement of white mosaic bordered by a double black band, in the center of which is the figure of a front-facing sailing Triton, with an oar resting on his right shoulder and a wriggling fish in his left hand. Arranged around him are a Cupid with whip, an octopus, a cuttlefish and four dolphins. On the left of the apodyterium, was an arched doorway that led into the tepidarium, a rectangular room similar to the first, with stalls around the walls, (pictured below).

Pictured below, the floor was in white-ground mosaic, with a labyrinth motif picked out in black. At the center of each of the squares were phallic symbols with a bell hanging from them.

From the tepidarium, through another arched door, we entered the calidarium, another rectangular room with a vaulted and fluted ceiling, illuminated by a window on the south side. Beneath this, partially built into the wall, is the larger masonry base that was used for rapid ablutions with cold water. Picture below, on the opposite wall is the well-reserved rectangular marble pool of the hot baths.

Just south-west of the Woman’s Section of the Forum Baths, Becky and I found a door and pathway that led us to the Men’s Section of the Forum Baths, (pictured below). This almost took us to Cardo III.

Pictured below, we approached the palestra from the east of the Baths of the Forum. The palestra was provided with an adjacent room on the east, possibly destined to the practice of oiling and for massages. At the corner of the palestra, through an arched doorway, we entered the apodyterium (entrance-changing-room), of the men’s section of the Baths.

Pictured below, the Men’s-Section apodyterium was a spacious rectangular vaulted room, with a pavement of colored stones sunken into a bed of lime (known as opus scutulatum). Around the edges were seats made of masonry and stalls in which the garments could be left and , on the end wall, a niche with a fountain in cipollino marble and a basin, originally paved with marble slabs , (mostly gone). Like in the Women’s Section, there were parallel grooves (strigilature) in the ceiling, which served to avoid the formation of drips and the dispersion of heat. Additionally, the center of the wall shared with the tepidarium next door, a conduit porthole through which the hot air was channeled outside.

On the left, was a door into the frigidarium, a circular room with four apsed recesses, {I didn’t get a photo that worked out}. However, on the opposite side, Becky and I passed through an arched doorway to enter the spacious tepidarium of the Men’s Section. The area of passage featured suspensurae, the pilasters supporting the raised floor beneath which the hot air circulated, were clearly visible in cross section as the result of the collapse of areas of the mosaic pavement above. Pictured below, in the center of the white mosaic pavement, bordered by a black band, was a panel showing a sailing Triton with his head facing front, holding the helm in his left hand and a dish bearing fruit and a palm in the right, surrounded by four leaping dolphins.

Beck and I visited the Men’s Section calidarium, but we again didn’t get a good picture of it. We then retraced our steps back to Cardo IV, where we turned left up towards Decumano Massimo. However, to the right we came across the Bottega Di Generi Alimentari, (food-shop), [Pictured below].

Pictured above, terracotta containers called amphorae are found in the Food-shop connected to the ‘House of Neptune and Anfitrite’. Alongside the wine amphorae, (used to hold the celebrated wine of the Vesuvius and Sorrento areas), there was an amphora for dried fruit and also a Cretan wine amphora which contained a sort of sweet white wine, (a type of Malvasia), the only type drunk in ancient times by women.

Pictured below, this food-shop was connected by a door to the ‘House of Neptune & Anfitrite’. The cooking hob, the partition, the split-level gallery and the shelves for the amphorae was carbonized wood, are all very well preserved.

Obviously, our next stop was to explore was the ‘House of Neptune and Anfritrite’ next door. Despite the elegance of the house, it was of a fairly limited size and proved to be without peristyle and garden. At the back of the atrium is a small tablinum, paved with polychrome marble tiles, with a fine decoration only partially preserved. Cubiculas faced onto the side of the atrium. However, from the rear we enter a large mosaic paved oecus, with a vaulted ceiling and a rich architectural wall decoration.

Pictured above, opening onto the oecus was an elegant mosaic triclinium-nymphaeum, embellished by a fountain in the center. The side wall shows, at the sides, painted garden scenes and in the center an elegant wall mosaic on a blue ground, framed with sea shells, portraying a tabernacle in which we could see the standing figures of Neptune and Amphitrite, in axis with the entrance door, which gives its name to the house.

Pictured above, in the rear wall was the nymphaeum itself, with an arched central niche housing of a statue base, and 2 rectangular niches at the sides. It is decorated in mosaic with polychrome vegetable motifs on a ground of Egyptian blue, and festoons with peacocks and deer pursued by hounds. Above, functioning as acroteria, are three marble theatrical masks. In the center was the head of a maenad, while the 2 side masks showed old men. Also discovered here was a mask of Pan, now displayed high up on the wall.

Once Becky and I reached the top of Cardo IV, we turned left onto Decumano Massimo to checkout the ‘College of the Augustales’ at the northern corner of Herculaneum. This is the only building of the Forum which had been entirely excavated. It was a rectangular hall with panels of opus reticolatum in tuff enclosed by brickwork, and a pavement in cocciopesto. The terrace ceiling, covered by a thick layer of cocciopesto, was supported by four large columns.

Pictured above, the relationship of the building with Augustales (a privileged civic order, which was occupied with the imperial cult, made up largely of rich freedmen), was confirmed by an inscription on a slab of marble, now attached to the wall, consecrating to Augustus when he was still alive.

A chapel was carved out of the center of the rear wall, raised by 2 steps and paved with marble. The base of the walls was covered with a dado of large marble slabs, surmounted by a sumptuous architectural decoration packed with images alluding to the imperial munificence, (chariots, palm branches, competition prize cups and theatrical masks). Pictured above, on the right of the chapel, showed the contest between Hercules and Acheloos for the hand of Deianira (who was shown in the background). {From the broken horn of Acheloos, the horn of plenty was created, bestowed open-handedly by the Roman Emperors.}

Pictured above, the panel on the left of the chapel, portrayed an allusion to Hercules entering Olympus (with a clear reference to the deification of the Emperors after death): Hercules is shown seated, with Minerva and Juno or Hebe; in the background is a rainbow, the symbol of Jupiter.

Since the ‘College of the Augustales’ was on the corner, Becky and I strolled down Cardo III for a little ways, to take a brief look at the “House with Two Atriums. Pictured above, one of the atrium areas, with a pavement and impluvium pool faced with cocciopesto, was divided by four tall brick pillars. The walls beared scanty remains of the pictorial decoration made up of large red panels in the central section and a frieze on a white ground featuring architectural motifs.

Pictured above, to the right of the atrium mentioned above, was a kitchen with an L-shaped cooking surface and a hole in the corner which served as a latrine.

Becky and I decided to retrace our steps back to the ‘College of Augustales’ and the unexcavated piazza of the ‘Forum’. (Picture above, the entrance to the Forum-piazza from the Decumanus Maximus was marked by a large four-sided archway, the faces of which were decorated with a lightly articulated marble decoration, and the sides, as a saving, simply plaster.

The soffits of the arch at the entrance of Decumanus Maximus, and the interior of the vault were decorated with precious relief stuccoes with plastic caissons. Becky and I admired a panel showing a young satyr reclining with a shepherd’s crook, (pictured above).

Pictured above, in the area of the Forum there was also a macellum (a food market), of the Augustan Age. This large thermopolium had masonry counters covered with marble and large terracotta dolia, a large rectangular trench face with cocciopesto for the storage of comestibles, and along the rear wall the remains of the staircase leading to the upper story.

Pictured above, an entrance next to the Thermopolium near the Forum, brought us to the atrium of the ‘House of the Black Salon’ (Casa del salone nero). Through the entrance vestibule, we entered the atrium with a central marble pool and limestone puteal, paved in cocciopesto with inserts of rows of mosaic tesserae. Facing onto the atrium to the right were two cubicula and a kitchen. At the back of the atrium was the large tablinum, paved in cocciopesto with inserts of marble pieces with a corridor alongside. To the left are another cubiculum and a living-room, giving access to a more spacious rectangular room, opening towards the peristyle, (pictured below).

Pictured above, we passed through the peristyle, surrounded by a portico of stuccoed brick pillars with Doric capitals, paved with mosaic of black tesserae bordered by a double white band. In front of the tablinum, the portico was interrupted by 2 pilasters with half-columns so as to allow a free-view of the central garden, where there was a well-head and the marble pedestal of a fountain with basin. Running around the colonnade was a channel faced with cocciopesto.

Leading off the south side of the peristyle were two rooms, each with a rectangular window to the side of the entrance, and paved in white mosaic bordered by black bands. Pictured above, the first was a cubiculum, connected at the back to a small courtyard complete with an arched lararium niche. This room featured a red dado, and a central section on white ground divided into panels portraying architectural scenes.

Pictured above, in the frieze are small stylised gilded tabernacles, enhanced with vegetable motifs. The arched ceiling featured elegant borders, alternated with panels showing sphinxes facing lyres. In the center, was a medallion framed with drapery, and a winged sea-griffin with a long coiled-tail.

As Becky and I left the Forum area, we retraced our steps to the corner between the Decumanus Maximus and Cardo IV. Pictured above, we found a small shop that had a number interesting items in it. On the left is a damascened bronze stature of Bacchus with a panther under his foot, and on the right was an elegant candelabrum with a marble base. We continued our stroll down Decumanus Maximus, and found another Thermopolium, (pictured below).

Pictured above, this ‘Thermopolium’ had a very well preserved U-shaped counter faced with pieces of marble, with the characteristic encased terracotta dolia, and behind another 5 large terracotta jars set into the earth. In a corner is the head of a well and a staircase, with the first steps in masonry, which led to the upper floor. It appearred to be connected to the ‘House of Bicentenary’. Obviously, we had to explore.

The entrance portal, between two shops, led us through the vestibule to the Tuscanic atrium, paved in black mosaic with rows of large white tesserae. Pictured above, a mosaic frame with a black interlaced border on a white ground surrounded the central pool of the impluvium, faced with slabs of marble, which featured in the center a fluted column which supported a marble fountain basin. At the sides of the atrium were 3 cubicula and 2 symmetrical living-rooms. At the rear of the atrium was the elegant tablinum, with a white mosaic pavement bordered by black bands and a rectangular central carpet made of marble tiles. Pictured below, the wall decoration with a black dado and a re-ochre ground, divided vertically by delicate vegetable bands, was well preserved.

Pictured above, in the central panels of the tablinum were 2 paintings: one showed Pasiphae, the wife of Minos, pointing out to the sculptor Daedalus the splendid cow of which he was to sculpt a copy-of and to allow her to mate with the bull, and thus give birth to the Minatour.

Pictured above, the left-hand panel in the tablinum showed the love of Venus and Mars with a return of Cupids. In the side panels were medallions with busts of Satyrs and Bacchantes.

In the very back of the ‘House of Bicentenario’, we found the small peristyle, (pictured above), enclosing a garden in which rose-bushes were discovered. Set around this are 2 spacious oeci and the kitchen with latrine.

At the corner between the Decumanus Maximus and Cardo V is a public fountain, decorated with he head of Neptune framed by 2 dophins. Alongside was a brick pillar with a recess still bearing part of a lead pipe, a castellum aquae, which enabled the regulation of the pressure, flow and distribution of the water from the Augustan aqueduct of Serino. Becky and I continued exploring down Cardo V, (pictured below).

Pictured above and below, Becky and I strolled down the upper Cardo V and viewed a numbered of structures: A Grainery & Millsite, Backery, Hotel, thermopolium, Tavern and a House with a Garden.

When we reached Decumano Inferiore, we turned right to explore the “House with the Grand Portal’. Pictured below, the stuccoes tuff capitals of the doorway are older than anything around. They showed two winged female genies bearing torches.

At the ‘House of the Grand Portal’, we entered a vast rectangular vestibule, which was probably roofed in, that opened towards the west into a type of ala, and overlooked by the various residential quarters. It got light from a courtyard, which also functioned as impluvium for the collection of the rainwater into the cistern beneath. Facing the entrance was the large triclinium, with two cubicula on the right.

Pictured above, the rear wall of the triclinium survived, painted with a central panel showing the old Silenus seated with two satyrs, observing Bacchus and Ariadne at the foot of a column with with a statue of Priapus.

The wall decoration was almost entirely conserved: it featured a red dado and a central section on a yellow ground divided by architectural tabernacles. Pictured above, running along the top was a fine freize with curtains above garden scenes containing birds and cupids intent on gathering flowers.

Back outside, Becky and I continued downhill (east) along the Decumanus Interior to the intersection, then straight ahead for a block into the vestibule of the ‘Palaestra’ (sports complex). The vestibule gave access to a large area (60 x 78m) porticoed on three sides (while on the north side was a cryptoporticus, illuminated by large windows, with annexed rooms), set in the shade of plane trees.

The center of western side, highlighted by an angle of the Corinthian portico, opened into the large apsed-hall, almost 10m high, with a rectangular vestibule in front, (pictured above). This was paved with tiles of marble and featured a lavish architectural decoration. At the back of the hall was a large niche, which probably held a colossal statue, in front of which is large marble table. This was probably used for the prize-presentations of the gymnastic events.

We first saw a row of “marble” columns, which were actually made of rounded bricks covered with a thick layer of plaster, shaped to look like carved marble.

Continuing deeper into the complex, Becky and I found the hole in the hillside to walk through, (a triangular-shaped entrance), to enter the unexcavated swimming-pool area.

Pictured above, the Hydra of Lerna, a sculpted bronze fountain that featured the seven-headed monster defeated by Hercules as one of his 12 labors. This cavernous space was quite dark.

Becky and I retraced our path back through the sports complex & vestibule of the ‘Palaestra’ to Cardo V. We then turned left and headed down towards the sea-front and through the lower part of Cardo V Superiore. Pictured above, immediately on the right was the ‘Large Thermopolium’. A L-shaped counter, enclosing eight large terracotta jars for the food and drinks, and covered with slabs of marble, was still very preserved. At the ends were small shelves to hold the drinking vessels. At the back was a small room, where people ate.

Becky and I strolled through the lower part of Cardo V, when we entered the ‘House of the Deer’ (Casa dei Cervi) on the right. This two-story building was the grandest of all Herculaneum’s mansions, with remarkable frescoes and what must once have been a superb garden kissed by sea breezes. The house was the finest example of the successful transformation of the traditional atrium house into a monumental edifice, influenced by the architecture of the grand seaside villas, built as it is on an axis designed to give the best possible exposure towards the superb panorama over the Gulf of Naples.

The covered atrium for the ‘House of the Deer’, was very small. to the right a long corridor led directly to the kitchen, (pictured above). The the left, instead, we entered a large cryptoporticus with windows, paved with shite mosaic decorated with a black band and rows of polychrome marble chips. The walls had elegant frescoe-decorations with pictures of a sea-scape and baskets containing fruit, dates, figs and walnuts, (pictured below).

The cryptoporticus enclosed a garden, where the items discovered included 2 circular marble tables and a elegant vase, (pictured below in a room on the south-side of the house).

We also found in the garden, several strange, (according to our current standards), sculptures showing a stag being attacked by hounds, (from which the house was named after), a drunken Hercules and a satyr with a wine-skin, from which the water of a fountain gushed forth.

Pictured below, towards the sea from the ‘House of the Deer’ is a loggia, and a pergola supported by four pilasters overlooking the panoramic terrace, displayed beneath which is one of the marble tables found in the garden.

Pictured below, at the two ends of the pergola were two daytime cubicula, one of which preserved the remains of a beautiful pavement of spectacular marble slabs.

Across the street (Cardo V) from the ‘House of the Deer’, we visited the ‘House with the Relief of Telephus’ (Casa del Rilievo di Telefo). Through a rectangular vestibule, Becky & I entered the monumental atrium, surrounded on three sides by columns stuccoed in red.

Pictured above, the atrium of the ‘House with the Relief of Telephus’, featured a simple wall decoration on a red ground. The pool of the impluvium was transformed into a flower bed. To one side is a marble puteal.

Pictured above, hanging between the columns are the casts of several oscilla, marble disks decorated with Satyrs and Maenads dancing, a sea-monster, and heads of Pan.

Also displayed on the wall is the plaster-cast of the Relief of Telephus, pictured above, showing Achilles questioning the oracle and the curing of the wound on the part of Telephus.

Leaving the ‘House with the Relief of Telephus’, Becky and I continued downhill, on the left, along the steep paved street towards the sea, passing under a long barrel arch in opus caementicum, until we come to the recess of the town gate and onto the ‘Terrace of Marco Nonio Balbo’ and Suburban Baths, (closed at the time we were there), {pictured above and below}.

Pictured above, the funeral monument was completed by 2 beautiful sleeping in infants, holding torches head downwards. Behind the altar, on another marble base, was the heroic statue of M. Nonius Balbus in armor, set up by his freedman M. Nonius Volusianus.

Pictured above, the “Sacred Temple of Venus” was an enclosure with 2 temples, constructed on a terrace symmetrical with that of the palaestra of the Suburban Baths, built up against the escarpment of the town walls, overlooking the ancient coastline. Becky and I entered a rectangular area, with pilastered portico on the north side. In the rubble of earth from the portico and the courtyard, a large number of architectural terra-cottas were found. The older temple had a podium on the back wall that was accessible from a staircase that was faced with antico marble. Set upon the podium were the beautiful archaic marble-reliefs showing us the divinities which were venerated: Minerva, Vulcan, Neptune and Mercury. Here we could clearly see the impressive depth (21m) of the successive volcanic layers deposited by the eruption of 79AD.

Starting from 1980, in 9 of the 12 ‘Fornici’, (the arcaded structures supporting the sacred enclosure of Venus and the Palaestra of the Suburban Baths), the skeletons of approximately 300 individuals were found, overwhelmed and killed instantaneously as a result of thermal shock, by the first surge which hit the town.

300 individuals were a significant sample of the population (1/12th) enabling precise scientific analyses to be made for the first time.

From the analysis of the Herculaneum skeletons, it emerges that there were more men than woman. The first surge was that which killed the Herculaneans found in the ‘Fornici’. Very recent studies have estimated the heat of the surge as 500⁰C on the basis of the horrifying effects observed on the skeletons of the victims, such as the explosion of the cranium as a result of the instant volatilisation of the cerebral tissue.

Additionally, within the skeletons found in the ‘Fornici’, there was a predominance of young people, with about 30% being children and less than 10% old people. It was a human group of below-medium stature, (1.6-1.5m). The tragedy of Herculaneum, took place in the span of time between one and eight o’clock in the morning of Aug. 25th, and interval of time considerably longer than that employed by the supposed “vast flow of boiling mud and fire” which, (rushing through the streets of Herculaneum), covered everything in a flash so that no trace of the city remained.

What was striking about the skeletons found in the ‘Fornici’ of Herculaneum, is the distinct gender separation in employment and the presence of child labor. Almost 3/4 of the individuals proved to have suffered from arthrosis, appearing at an early age. Half of the population showed signs of having performed heavy labor.

Almost exclusively the male-skeletons used their front teeth as working tools, possibly in relation to activities connected with fishing. Amazingly, a remnant boat was found on the beach below the ‘Fornici’, (picture above).

The overlaying of deposits from the massive Pyroclastic Flow that buried Herculaneum, subsequently solidified up to the present stone-like consistency through geological-diagenesis caused by magmatic gases trapped in the deposits of the eruption and by the overload pressure resulting from the elevated thickness of the same.