Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum - Softcover

Roberts, Paul

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0714122823 ISBN 13: 9780714122823

Publisher: British Museum Press, 2013

Synopsis

This captivating book explores the lives of the ordinary people of Pompeii and Herculaneum the two cities on the Bay of Naples that were buried by the catastrophic volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The plaster-cast bodies of the victims are the most vivid shocking reminders of the horrific event that made Pompeii famous, but who were these men, women and children so cruelly frozen in time? Exploring striking new discoveries and over 200 sensational artefacts, the author brings the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum back to life from the ashes and ruins of their own homes.

About this title

Review:

"We learn about food preparation, interior decoration and more personal items such as jewellery and grooming equipment. We read about how identification of buildings and their inhabitants have been made. By looking at 250 objects in this way we access the inhabitants' lives in a personal way so that we get to know and understand the Roman people". - Yorkshire Gazette & Herald

"Published to accompany the major exhibition at the British Museum, this wonderful book reveals Pompeii and Herculaneum as they must have been and shows us the tragedy of their loss in AD 79 when Vesuvius erupted, producing an ash cloud 19 miles high ... This is an outstanding publication from the British Museum". - The Press

"Many books have been written about the cities buried by Vesuvius, but few have presented their story with such clarity, sobriety, and so much new material: drawing on overlooked items in museum storerooms and finds from the most recent excavations, Paul Roberts succeeds in making the past tangible". --Kenneth Lapatin, Department of Antiquities, The J. Paul Getty Museum

"[Encapsulates] the latest research and opinions on these once living cities, invaluable in preparation for a visit." - Brian Sewell, The London Evening Standard

"Curator Paul Roberts has done a superb job in bringing these objects to life, using them in such a way that each work in the show adds something new to our understanding of the classical world". --Richard Dorment, The Telegraph

"encapsulating the latest research and opinions on these once living cities, invaluable in preparation for a visit there." --Brian Sewell, Evening Standard

"encapsulating the latest research and opinions on these once living cities, invaluable in preparation for a visit there."
'Family portraits, cosmetics containers, jars that housed edible dormice this is the stuff of real life, so rarely recorded in written sources'

Current World Archaeology --Brian Sewell, Evening Standard

"encapsulating the latest research and opinions on these once living cities, invaluable in preparation for a visit there." --Brian Sewell, Evening Standard

About the Author:

Paul Roberts is head of the Roman section in the Department of Greece and Rome, and is responsible for all of the Roman collections, other than sculpture and wall paintings. Paul's research focuses on aspects of the day-to-day life of the ordinary people of the Roman world. His particular research interests include glass, pottery, bronze and the mummy portraits of Roman Egypt.

About this edition

• Publisher: British Museum Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0714122823
• ISBN 13: 9780714122823
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320