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Naples / Pompeii

From Rome, many would travel to Naples, but few would go any further south. Naples offered many things, including being a seaport and having paintings which incorporate this, to having Vesuvius and the many paintings of it glowing and being fiery (many people were in awe of the natural power that it held), and the Greek remains at Paestum which were two temples. When Herculaneum and Pompeii were discovered, these too became important places to visit. Some went further south, but it was pretty rare. If they did, they usually all went to Sicily because of the interest in Greek artifacts. There were also some smaller towns which were visited, but they weren’t very important in the grand scheme of things. Most people turned back at Naples, some only going as far as Rome.

Pompeii

The southern Italian city of Pompeii was a thriving city of about 10,000-20,000 people. It was like any other Roman city with a theater, baths, a market, and a forum. Many of the walls in the houses were beautifully painted with city views, figural tableaux, architecture, still lives, and portraits. Life was going on as always when in 79 CE Mount Vesuvius erupted , covering the city and all its people in 20 feet of ash. Everything was perfectly preserved till its rediscovery in the 18th century. Where they found hallow like cast of where people and animals were caught in those last moments before they were covered in ash. This was an amazing wealth of information of Roman history, architecture and art, for the people of the 18th century. This find definitely helped these people who were interested in the ancient world know what it was really like.