Digging Up People...
Apr. 25th, 2011 10:25 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
endlessraritiesBefore I start my mammoth tour of Ponpeii and Herculaneum, I have a confession to make.
I dislike the Romans. That's being too nice about it. I DETEST the Romans.
It wasn't always this way. When I was a kid, I was besotted with them. Thanks largely to the BBC, and their adaptation of The Eagle of The Ninth, which featured the lovely Anthony Higgins as Marcus.
My feelngs changed when I took up archaeology, and at first it was an artistic thing. I found Celtic art awe-inspiring, and would willing trade the flowing lines and the open-ended curve of the La Tene style for anything that ever came out of a Roman workshop. You can keep your marble sculpture and frescos: give me the Basse Yutz flagons or the Battersea shield any day.
The La Tene style was at its peak in the pre-Roman Iron Age, and its fate was to be unceremoniously swept aside by the relentless march of the Roman legions. Belgic pottery gave way to (bleaugh!) Samian Ware, roundhouses to villas, and eeyore-esque Stanwick horse masks (see user pic) to bog-standard statues of Mercury. How many treasures of the Celtic world were hauled back to Rome as war booty and melted down into coinage and trinkets for the masses??
Sigh.
I haven't even got around to mentioning the more unsavoury aspects of the Roman psyche. I get the distinct impression that they filched most of their ideas from the Greeks, and then transformed them into something nasty. The Greeks were insular and into establising colonies and trading with all and sundry: the Romans were incorrigible expansionists, sending their legions swarming out over the known world. The Greeks' idea of a fun sporting event was either a good pitched battle or the Olympic Games, all mass participation events in which everyone (okay, so long as they're male) could get involved. The Romans twisted Estruscan funeral fights into grim spectator sports which required the horrible slaughter of men and animals in every greater numbers and ever more exotic fashions. Their art reflects this. It's often violent, and sometimes it's downright perverse.
The Romans were probably the first mega-mass consumers. They were fashion conscious, and style conscious. But their ecomony relied on slavery: war won slaves, slaves did all the heavy labour, so the Roman citizens could swan about and have a good time, eating fast food and going shopping. They thrust their way into the so-called 'Barbarian' countries (which had problems of their own, admittedly) and they manipulated local politics to suit themselves. I think it's Tacitus who sums them up extremely nicely with his quote: 'They make a desert, and they call it peace.'
Their influence on our own modern world has been profound. The fact that so many of our political and judicial and munipical buildings are modelled on Roman originals is not conincidental. I think it's fair to say that if you stare too deep into the eyes of an Ancient Roman, you can find a reflection of yourself staring right back. And when you take all the bad things as well as the good things into consideration, the resulting picture is not very pretty.
So there you have it. By now, you're probably scratching your heads and wondering why I wanted to go to Pompeii in the first place. To gloat, perhaps. Because these darned pesky Romans had it coming to them. Why, not even the might of the Roman Empire could stand up to Vesuvius when it blew its top. Well, let me assure you that much as though I HATE the Romans, I don't think anyone deserves to be suffocated under tons of ash and pumice, nor seared and roasted in the midst of a pyroclastic flow. I didn't weep for these unfortunates, but I came damn well close, even though there was almost two thousand years between us.
I suppose I hoped I'd see something in Pompeii that changed my preconceptions. I didn't, but that didn't make the experience any less awe-inspiring. The idea of a city - an entire city - being preserved for posterity is just mind-boggling. Let alone three (we'll include Pompei, Herculaneum and Stabia in the total).
But before I embark upon my virtual tour, I want you all to spare a thought for those who died that day. Because they had names, and they had faces. They had everyday lives, they had families, they had aspirations. And it all got wiped out, due to circumstances completely outwith their control.
Some poignant images are preserved for posterity in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples:-
I dislike the Romans. That's being too nice about it. I DETEST the Romans.
It wasn't always this way. When I was a kid, I was besotted with them. Thanks largely to the BBC, and their adaptation of The Eagle of The Ninth, which featured the lovely Anthony Higgins as Marcus.
My feelngs changed when I took up archaeology, and at first it was an artistic thing. I found Celtic art awe-inspiring, and would willing trade the flowing lines and the open-ended curve of the La Tene style for anything that ever came out of a Roman workshop. You can keep your marble sculpture and frescos: give me the Basse Yutz flagons or the Battersea shield any day.
The La Tene style was at its peak in the pre-Roman Iron Age, and its fate was to be unceremoniously swept aside by the relentless march of the Roman legions. Belgic pottery gave way to (bleaugh!) Samian Ware, roundhouses to villas, and eeyore-esque Stanwick horse masks (see user pic) to bog-standard statues of Mercury. How many treasures of the Celtic world were hauled back to Rome as war booty and melted down into coinage and trinkets for the masses??
Sigh.
I haven't even got around to mentioning the more unsavoury aspects of the Roman psyche. I get the distinct impression that they filched most of their ideas from the Greeks, and then transformed them into something nasty. The Greeks were insular and into establising colonies and trading with all and sundry: the Romans were incorrigible expansionists, sending their legions swarming out over the known world. The Greeks' idea of a fun sporting event was either a good pitched battle or the Olympic Games, all mass participation events in which everyone (okay, so long as they're male) could get involved. The Romans twisted Estruscan funeral fights into grim spectator sports which required the horrible slaughter of men and animals in every greater numbers and ever more exotic fashions. Their art reflects this. It's often violent, and sometimes it's downright perverse.
The Romans were probably the first mega-mass consumers. They were fashion conscious, and style conscious. But their ecomony relied on slavery: war won slaves, slaves did all the heavy labour, so the Roman citizens could swan about and have a good time, eating fast food and going shopping. They thrust their way into the so-called 'Barbarian' countries (which had problems of their own, admittedly) and they manipulated local politics to suit themselves. I think it's Tacitus who sums them up extremely nicely with his quote: 'They make a desert, and they call it peace.'
Their influence on our own modern world has been profound. The fact that so many of our political and judicial and munipical buildings are modelled on Roman originals is not conincidental. I think it's fair to say that if you stare too deep into the eyes of an Ancient Roman, you can find a reflection of yourself staring right back. And when you take all the bad things as well as the good things into consideration, the resulting picture is not very pretty.
So there you have it. By now, you're probably scratching your heads and wondering why I wanted to go to Pompeii in the first place. To gloat, perhaps. Because these darned pesky Romans had it coming to them. Why, not even the might of the Roman Empire could stand up to Vesuvius when it blew its top. Well, let me assure you that much as though I HATE the Romans, I don't think anyone deserves to be suffocated under tons of ash and pumice, nor seared and roasted in the midst of a pyroclastic flow. I didn't weep for these unfortunates, but I came damn well close, even though there was almost two thousand years between us.
I suppose I hoped I'd see something in Pompeii that changed my preconceptions. I didn't, but that didn't make the experience any less awe-inspiring. The idea of a city - an entire city - being preserved for posterity is just mind-boggling. Let alone three (we'll include Pompei, Herculaneum and Stabia in the total).
But before I embark upon my virtual tour, I want you all to spare a thought for those who died that day. Because they had names, and they had faces. They had everyday lives, they had families, they had aspirations. And it all got wiped out, due to circumstances completely outwith their control.
Some poignant images are preserved for posterity in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples:-
And so it's to them that I respectfully dedicate this forthcoming series of posts, because without their loss and their sacrifice, we'd still know next to nothing about their world. They've left us a powerful and evocative legacy, and that's something for which we should be truly grateful.
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no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 10:11 am (UTC)I couldn't bear to watch the series 'Rome' because I knew what was going to happen to the noble Vercingetorix...
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 12:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 12:38 pm (UTC)I'm just a prehistorian at heart, stuck in the sticks where one piece of Samian Ware makes not your day, but your whole excavation!
I love your blog - shame it's not still going strong on LJ:-(
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 01:02 pm (UTC)http://lostfort.livejournal.com/profile/
You can comment on the blog directly with you LJ account, or comment on the feed; I have it in my own flist to see comments. I just don't like the LJ software and structure that much and prefer Blogger. Plus I can upload my photos there for free and with so many pics, that's an important point.
Arminius is a fascinating character, btw (and 'hero' of one of my NiPs). What drove a man who got a Roman education, had been a decorated officer, a Roman citizen and member of the equestrian order (the only 'barbarian' to earn that disctinction at the time - it became more common in the 3rd and 4th centuries AD), to turn and fight the Romans?
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 01:06 pm (UTC)Thanks for the tip - I'm off to track down your blog!
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 01:30 pm (UTC)There were two pitched battles in that campaign, and whatever the Romans tried to make both look like stunning victories, the second at least was not. So Arminius could even hold the field against a Roman army, not only ambush marching columns successfully.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 01:41 pm (UTC)Thanks for the instant history lesson - I'd never paid much attention to the name of the individual who fought for the 'bad guys', aka the barbarians. I can picture the earthworks, but I can't remember the names...
I was always more interested in Gaul and Britain, and even then my interest was fleeting. It's a bit after my time, I'm afraid - I got diverted from the Iron Age into the Late Bronze Age so now I'm having to play catch-up!
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 04:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 05:06 pm (UTC)I fear my knowledge and understanding of this period comes from I, Claudius:-)
I like the idea of Roman Emperors on Facebook. Not to mention Germanicus tweeting his way through the German campaign...
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 05:26 pm (UTC)Germanicus was a nice enough person, I think (and he loved to break rules which is something I like about him). He was also under a lot of pressure from Augustus and from the people in Rome, to be the youthful hero, the image of his beloved father and all that jazz. So he pushed for a complete military victory in Germania when maybe the way Tiberius proceeded in pre-Varus times, the way of negotiations and not only skirmishes, would have achieved more. Arminius had enemies as well (including his own father-in-law) not only supporters. But the more Germanicus pressed, the more Germans followed Arminius as the only one who stood a chance at all.
Tacitus says Tiberius was jealous and even afraid that Germanicus might look for the imperial seat himself (which he probably didn't because else he could have used the mutiny of the Rhine army instead of quenching it), while the main reason more likely was that Tiberius saw the problems of a prolongued military involvment in a country that would need a lot of investment until it would render profit in the first place. Bad cost/profit relation.
Since I'm one mean author, lol, I've made Arminius and Germancius friends from the time of the Pannonian Wars. It adds a nice bit of psychological drama.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 05:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 05:51 pm (UTC)It will also take some time to get right. I have more trouble with this one than with my Fantasy stuff, because I want to do the history justice and tell a good story, and portray the historical characters as well and multi-faceted as I can considering the scarce and biased source material. Plus the plot grew .... erm, tentacles, and all the damn characters, historical and fictive, clamour for more screen time and have to be argued with.
Not to mention that blasted research never really ends. ;)
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 05:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 06:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 04:45 pm (UTC)Oooh. I don't usually get as far as commenting on Blogger, because it's such a pain on my setup; but if you see comments on the feed, I'll certainly make use of that.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 04:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 05:06 pm (UTC)Short of 'win the lottery' not much I can do.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 05:50 pm (UTC)I'm annoyed at Blogger that they gave up backwards compatibility for no discernible reason - I used to quite happily read and comment on them, until they changed the code, but now four out of five visits take down Safari, which is not tenable. But if I can comment on the feed, that's perfectly fine - I *do* read your posts with great interest, I've just been silent so far.
no subject
Date: 2011-04-25 05:56 pm (UTC)