Tom Holland

Pompeii’s greatest gifts are not all archeological

A review of Ingrid D. Rowland’s ‘From Pompeii: The Afterlife of a Roman Town’. The dead city is still capable of changing lives – Ingrid Rowland proves it

Wall painting of a female head, Pompeii, 1st century AD [www.bridgemanart.com] 
issue 12 April 2014

The first visitor to take a break on the Bay of Naples was Hercules. He had just defeated some rebellious giants and buried them beneath Mount Vesuvius. To celebrate, he staged a procession across the mountain’s slope — in Greek, a ‘pompe’. He also founded two cities: one named after the procession, the other after himself.

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