Based on your time in Italy, compare your impressions of ancient Rome and Pompeii Scavi (the ruins)."
When I first arrived here in Rome and saw all the ancient buildings and ruins, I was kind of amazed that they were still standing. So many people travel from all around the world to see the statues, buildings, museums, etc. and it is always so busy. Rome is definitely a huge tourist attraction because of everything it has to offer and everything that they were able to preserve. When I saw the Coliseum, I was a bit let down because when I would see pictures and hear stories from other people, they made it seem like it was absolutely amazing and that it would be my favorite part of the trip. It was amazing to see though how well it was preserved at the same time. There were a lot of people there because it is one of the major attractions when you come to Rome.
Pompeii on the other hand, seems really laid back and not as quite as busy like Rome is. When we visited the ruins of Pompeii, I was expecting a ton of people to be there and it be super crazy like Rome, but it was not like that at all. I feel like Pompeii was also very well preserved and it might be even more preserved than things in Rome. I thought it was amazing how they were able to dig all of that up from under hardened ash and it still look that good! Seeing the cases of ash with the bodies inside of them was really cool to see. I really feel like you can learn so much about Pompeii just through these caskets. I was very impressed with what we were shown and it was definitely my favorite part of this entire trip for me.
Pompeii was also a bit "scandalous" because of the brothels that were there. To me this was a shock because of what they were able to uncover in Pompeii, the cities and stores around there take full advantage of that and see merchandise reflecting back on "scandalous" part of Pompeii. What you see painted on the walls in some of the homes and brothels, you see on the products in stores whether it be in pasta or on pictures. In Rome you have the Statue of David on t-shirts and such but I feel personally that it does not go to the extent that Pompeii does.
The two cities are two completely different places and it is very obvious when you visit both of them. I love both of the cities because they are unique in their own ways. Each city has their own stories like Rome with Cesar and the Coliseum with all the 150 days of games, and Pompeii with Mount Vesuvius plastering the city in ash.
I agree with you that Pompeii is more laid back. I was expecting Pompeii to be busy just like Rome because I think they are both big deals when it comes to history, but I am thankful that it was not busy.I also thought that Pompeii's history was more interesting to me than Romes was because it dealt with more than just old Chruches and government bulidings.
ReplyDeleteI also was shocked with what I found at Pompeii (the brothels). We never learned about anything like that in school! I agree with all the differences, but I thought they were similar in the fact that both civilizations were so far ahead of their times.
ReplyDeleteI agree that Pompeii has been better preserved over the years and I think it has to do with the fact that Rome is still a living city while Pompeii is not. In other words, Rome is still inhabited by people and now cars, but no one lives in Pompeii except for the dogs. I was also surprised to see that Pompeii was not crowded like I expected, but after the rushing crowds of Rome, it was a nice change of pace.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I agree with your statement about Pompeii being "scandalous." I think that having brothels is almost natural for a city of that importance and size to have. Whenever there is a city there is bound to be some sort of brothel or images that pertain to sex. And I think that it is naive to think otherwise. Maybe it is just the idea about seeing it in an ancient city like that, but I just do not get why everyone seemed so surprised. I know that it was never discussed in school, but I know that on the History Channel's Pompeii program they do mention it.
“Scandalous” is a great word to describe Pompeii. It made me laugh when we visited the rooms where men were pleasured by prostitutes. I never would have fathomed Pompeii as a city of sex. I was actually disappointed that of all the great cities in history it was a city of prostitution that survived.
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