A Roman road less travelled

Your fellow Liveryman David Barrett has just returned from Italy’s Amalfi coast. The great City of Naples on the Mediterranean coast exists in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, the volcano which is now half the height it used to be following a catastrophic explosion in AD 79.

The massive eruption not only extended the coastline into the sea, it buried Herculaneum in pumice and Pompeii in ash to a depth of 4-6m.

Largely preserved under the ash, Pompeii offers a unique snapshot of Roman life, frozen at the moment it was buried, as well as insight into ancient urban planning. It was a wealthy town of 10,000 to 20,000 residents at the time it was destroyed.

It hosted many fine public buildings and luxurious private houses with lavish decorations, furnishings and artworks, which were the main attractions for early excavators; subsequent excavations have found hundreds of private homes and businesses reflecting various architectural styles and social classes, as well as numerous public buildings. Most inhabitants had the opportunity to flee but those remaining were literally cooked and suffocated.

In Pompeii most roofs were destroyed and anything organic such as wood, but the masonry largely survived under the ash. The archaeological site now displays a replica of what might be the world’s oldest carriage, a Roman Cart used to transport people and goods and drawn by donkeys or mules, which were popular because of their strength, endurance, and steadier nature.

These lightweight, two-wheeled vehicles were the Roman equivalent of Victorian England’s hansom carriages. Known as a Cisium, they were driven by a Cisiarious; a driver who could be hired to take passengers on relatively short, swift journeys. They could be found around most city gates, and their speed was highly reputed and spoken of in many texts.

Cart wheels were shod with an iron tread, and the Roman roads were a punishing surface of raised stone slabs, as shown in this Pompeii photo above. Many had an effluent gulley down the middle, to be avoided at all costs. It was hard enough to walk on, as I found out during my visit, let alone a cart ride.

Pompeii and the picturesque Amalfi coastline is a highly recommended adventure.