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Reading and Writing Pompeii
VELS Focus:
Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening at Level 5 and above
Notes for the teacher
After students have conducted their research on the signature objects and their
significance to daily life in Pompeii, they will no doubt have a better understanding of
what life was like for people two thousand years ago. In order to maximize the utility
of this research, English teachers may wish to use the experience of Pompeii as a
stimulus for reading and writing activities.
The resources and activities provided here pick up on some of the themes that might
appeal to upper primary and lower secondary students. The sometimes ‘exotic’
and/or gruesome practices of the Romans might stimulate students’ imagination and
desire to write.
Write like a Roman
This section has excerpts from some of the well known letter writers from the period.
You may wish to read these extracts in the class using slideshow or interactive
whiteboard, to analyse the style of writing and discuss the attitudes they reveal. The
challenge for students will be to reproduce the genre, ‘like a Roman’ so they may
need some support.
For more examples of authentic writing from this period see:
http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient_Sources.htm#IG
A Slave’s Life
There is a lot of information available about the lives of slaves and the social pecking
order in Roman society. Few accounts, however, are actually written by slaves. The
activities listed here enable students to learn by empathisig with the plight of the
slave, and bring their voice into the story.
For further research:
http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-slavery.php
Graffiti in Pompeii
A note of caution: Some of the graffiti found in Pompeii was quite bawdy and
explicitly sexual. The selection included here has been edited to avoid undue offence
while retaining some of the humour and poignancy of the inscriptions.
For further examples:
http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient/Graffiti%20from%20Pompeii.htm
Pompeii Poetica
Two Melbourne poets have been inspired by the plight of those who perished in
Pompeii. Claire Saxby captures the empathy felt by humans for animals incinerated
in Pompeii in Pompeii Dog. Angela Costi takes on the spirit of a pregnant woman,
caught in the last hours of Pompeii, who speaks to us from ancient times through,
When Ash and Bone Speaks. The latter is probably more suitable for older students.
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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Write like a Roman
"...it was plain butchery."
"There is nothing so ruinous to good character as to idle away
one's time at some spectacle. Vices have a way of creeping in
because of the feeling of pleasure that it brings. Why do you think
that I say that I personally return from shows greedier, more
ambitious and more given to luxury, and I might add, with thoughts
of greater cruelty and less humanity, simply because I have been
among
humans?
The other day, I chanced to drop in at the midday games,
expecting sport and wit and some relaxation to rest men's eyes
from the sight of human blood. Just the opposite was the case.
Any fighting before that was as nothing; all trifles were now put
aside - it was plain butchery.
The men had nothing with which to protect themselves, for their
whole bodies were open to the thrust, and every thrust told. The common people prefer this to
matches on level terms or request performances. Of course they do. The blade is not parried
by helmet or shield, and what use is skill or defence? All these merely postpone death.
In the morning men are thrown to bears or lions, at midday to those who were previously
watching them. The crowd cries for the killers to be paired with those who will kill them, and
reserves the victor for yet another death. This is the only release the gladiators have. The
whole business needs fire and steel to urge men on to fight. There was no escape for them.
The slayer was kept fighting until he could be slain.
'Kill him! Flog him! Burn him alive!' (the spectators roared) 'Why is he such a coward? Why
won't he rush on the steel? Why does he fall so meekly? Why won't he die willingly?’
Unhappy as I am, how have I deserved that I must look on such a scene as this? Do not, my
Lucilius, attend the games, I pray you. Either you will be corrupted by the multitude, or, if you
show disgust, be hated by them. So stay away."
TASK 1: As you can see, the Roman philosopher Seneca did not have a high
opinion of gladiatorial games. He wrote this account as a letter to a friend. Outline his
main concerns about what he saw and experienced. Do you agree with him?
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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Task 2: More Gladiators
Read the article "Gladiators, 50 AD,"
EyeWitness to History,
www.eyewitnesstohistory.com to find
out more about gladiators and the
work they had to do.
Imagine that you yourself have
attended a gladiatorial battle. Write a
letter to a friend describing what you
saw and felt as if you were there. Try
to use the same kind of language used
in Seneca’s letter.
Gladiator’s shield- Source: Alfredo & Pio Foglia
Task 3: Chariot Races
Pliny the Younger was a great letter writer in Roman times (1). In this letter, he
reflects on the recreational pastime of chariot races. Read the following letter and
comment on his main objections to the sport.
A letter to Calvisius Rufus on racing.
“I have been spending all the last few days amongst my notes and welcome peace.
How could I - in the city? The Races were on, a type of spectacle which has never
had the slightest attraction for me. I can find nothing new or different in them: once
seen is enough, so it surprises me all the more that so many thousands of adult men
should have such a childish passion for watching galloping horses and drivers
standing in chariots, over and over again. If they were attracted by the speed of the
horses or the drivers’ skill one could account for it, but in fact it is the racing-colours
they really support and care about and if the colours were to be exchanged in midcourse during a race, they would transfer their favour and enthusiasm and rapidly
desert the famous drivers and horses whose names they shout as they recognize
them from afar. Such is the popularity and importance of a worthless shirt - I don’t
mean with the crowd, which is worth less than the shirt, but with certain serious
individuals. When I think how this futile, tedious, monotonous, business can keep
1
The Letters of the younger Pliny – Penguin Classics, 1969
For more examples of authentic writing from this period see:
http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient_Sources.htm#IG
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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them sitting endlessly in their seats, I take pleasure in the fact that their pleasure is
not mine. And I have been very glad to fill my idle hours with literary work”
Task 4
Find out more about chariot racing from the following website
http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/circus.html
Write an account of the races from the point of view of someone who enjoyed chariot
racing. Make sure you try and write it like a Roman might!
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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A Slave’s Life
"We approached the house. At the entrance stood a door keeper,
shelling peas into a silver bowl. Over the door, a magpie
squawked a greeting to guests from his golden cage."
(Petronius, Satyricon, 28)
A normal household in Roman times might have had between two and
ten slaves performing various duties within the home. Many were given
very specific roles e.g. to work in the kitchen, to attend to the master or
lady of the house, care for children, and so on. A large number of slaves
were bought from Greece and were well educated. They would be given
the task of teaching the children in the house, or being scribes or
accountants for their masters. Many slaves could earn their freedom by
serving their masters well. 2
The literature from Roman times reveals conflicting views about how slaves were
regarded by their masters. Slaves were at the bottom of the social pecking order and
did not always get respect when they became freedman, as the following account
suggests:
We reached the dining room. Boys from Egypt poured cooled water
on our hands while others ministered to our feet, removing the
hangnails with precision. I began chatting with my neighbour.’ Who
was that woman running here and there?’ 'The host's wife,' he replied.
'She counts her money by the bushel. But take care you don't scorn
the other freedmen here. They're oozing wealth too. See that one
reclining at the end of the couch? Today he's worth 800,000. He's
newly freed. Not too long ago, he carried wood on his back.'
(Satyricon, 31-37)
There are also accounts of slave rebellions, such as
the one led by Spartacus 3. Pliny the Younger tells the story of a
number of slaves turning on their master in the baths and attacking
him, causing his death. 4 So we mustn’t assume that slaves were
completely subservient as the following account demonstrates
"We hired a porter called Corax, who turned out to be more trouble
than help. He often dropped his load, complaining about the pace
and griping, 'What do you think I am? A horse? I am no less free
than you, even if my father left me a pauper.' Not content with
cursing us, he lifted his foot and filled the air with the noise and
stench of his fart."
(Satyricon, 117.11, 12)
2
3
4
To find out more about Roman Slaves: http://www.unrv.com/culture/roman-slavery.php)
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/558359/Spartacus
http://www.vroma.org/~hwalker/Pliny/Pliny03-14-E.html
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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Task 1: Slave Titles
Look at the following list of duties performed by slaves in a typical house in Pompeii.
Imagine that you are one of these slaves working in a house in Pompeii on the day of
the eruption. Describe how your day starts and what tasks you are performing. The
earth starts rumbling and pumice begins to fall on your roof top. What happens to you
and your household?
Alipila
A slave with skills in massage and skin-care
Atriensis
The keeper of the main doorway into the villa house
Calmamistera
A slave with hairdressing skills
Cellarius
He was in charge of the villa pantries and cellars
Cestellatrix
A chamber maid who helped her mistress get
dressed
Cubicularii
Slaves who worked in the main house on the villa
estate
Focarius
He kept the villa’s fires and ovens alight
Lanista
A retired gladiator who trained new fighters
Paedagogus The slave in charge of the master’s children
Praegustator A trusted slave who tasted the master’s food for
poison
Scissor
A kitchen slave with skills in carving meat
Scurra
A slave who flattered his master’s guests at banquets
Silentarius
He made sure slaves were silent in the master’s presence
Tonsor
The slave who worked as the villa barber
Task 2: Dialogica
Imagine that all of the slaves in one large house got together after work to have a
drink and chat. What do you think they’d talk about? What do you think they’d say
about their master or mistress?
In groups of three or four, create a dialogue between all of these ‘specialist’ slaves.
Get your class to do a big or small production.
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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Graffiti in Pompeii
The people of Pompeii were very fond of writing on walls. This took the form of an
inscription, which is why it still exists today. It is widely understood that graffiti was
used as a form of advertising or political campaigning. However, a closer
examination (and translations from the Latin) of the graffiti on many of the walls
reveals that the graffiti of Pompeii is not so different from what we see on walls
around our cities today.
Historians are very interested in these inscriptions, because they tell us a great deal
about the character of a people who have long passed into history.
Task 3: What can you say about the character of the people of Pompeii? Read some
of the following examples of graffiti and write a piece about what you think they tell us
about the people of Pompeii− their humour, beliefs, and practices? Are they like the
people you know?
IX.8.3 (House of the Centenary; interior of the house): Once you are dead, you are
nothing
II.2.1 (Bar of Astylus and Pardalus): Lovers are like bees in that they live a honeyed
life
III.4.2 (House of the Moralist): Let water wash your feet clean and a slave wipe them
dry; let a cloth cover the couch; take care of our linens.
I.10.4 (exterior of the House of Menander): Satura was here on September 3rd
VI (on the Street of Mercury); 1321: Publius Comicius Restitutus stood right here with
his brother
III.5.1 (House of Pascius Hermes; left of the door); 7716: To the one defecating
here. Beware of the curse. If you look down on this curse, may you have an
angry Jupiter for an enemy.
V.5 (near the Vesuvius Gate); 7086: Marcus loves Spendusa
VI.14 (vico degli Scienziati); 3042: Cruel Lalagus, why do you not love me?
VI.15.6 (House of Caesius Valens and Herennius Nardus); 4637: Rufus loves
Cornelia Hele
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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VIII.2 (in the basilica); 1820:
Chie, I hope your hemorrhoids rub together so much that they hurt worse than when
they ever have before!
VIII.2 (in the basilica); 1864: Samius to Cornelius: go hang yourself!
IX.2.18 (House of Curvius Marcellus and Fabia; in the tablinum); 4993: Ampliatus
Pedania is a thief!
VIII.2 (in the basilica); 1826: Phileros is a eunuch!
VIII.7.6 (Inn of the Muledrivers; left of the door); 4957: We have wet the bed, host. I
confess we have done wrong. If you want to know why, there was no chamber pot
And finally….
VIII.2 (in the basilica); 1904:
O walls, you have held up so much tedious graffiti that I am amazed that you have
not already collapsed in ruin. 5
TASK 4: Write your own ‘tedious’ graffiti and share it with your class members.
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Source: http://www.pompeiana.org/Resources/Ancient/Graffiti%20from%20Pompeii.htm
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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Pompeii Poetica
Visitors to Pompeii are often moved by the body castes of the victims who perished when
Pompeii was covered by a pyroclastic surge of lava and molten rock. Frozen in their last
moments, the victims reach out from the past to capture our sympathy. Amongst those victims
there were also many dogs and animals.
The poem below captures a human response to the suffering of animals in the devastation of
Pompeii.
Pompeii Dog
down ancient streets
along chariot tracks worn in stone
past shop fronts with braziers
along walls stacked with amphora
by a brothel with how-to paintings
and political graffitied walls
ahead of grand amphitheatres
and bathhouse chambers warm cold and steaming
past forum fresco fountain
a dog lies
limbs extended torso twisted
twice preserved for eternity
once by a shower of pumice and ash
and again when skin and fur long gone
cast in plaster
his drawn-out inexplicable death
terribly plain
plainly terrible
©Claire Saxby
Newport, Victoria 2008.
Source: Alfredo & Pio Foglia
Discussion Points
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
How does the poet show us what the city was like?
Why do you think she does this?
What does she mean by ‘twice preserved for eternity’?
Did you feel sorry for the dog in this poem?
What kind of poem would you like to write about Pompeii?
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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Pompeii Poetica
In the volcanic ash of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii the skeletal remains of a young pregnant
woman were found. Specialist scientists determined she was about to give birth. The remains of
her body have caused much interest to those involved in uncovering Pompeii.
Angela Costi captures the tragedy of this woman’s death in the following poem.
When Ash and Bone Speaks
My bedroom is Pluto’s new chamber
with no after-thought nor explanation
he unleashed Death, the mauling is beyond
pain, and Pluto spares no pleas for mercy or
lenience with the ruthless pride of an Emperor,
he thrust a fountain of flame which seared
throats to silence― how quickly he changes my
room the four walls melt into something blacker
than night, the ceiling cannot be trusted, with hit
after hit of shooting hot rock it heaves in panic,
air is corrupt with a smell and taste of sickness,
it aims calculated punches at my ribs and fists
my lungs like a gladiator about to slay a
wounded cub.
How long have I been lying on this bed of
embers sizzling me softly, lulling me into its
burning arms― long enough to know my baby
has turned to stone,
to know my husband lies buried somewhere
beneath me, to hear my mother, father, sisters,
brother…
gasp after gasp, cough after cough, breath till
no breath their final release of the one hope to
see our little one suckle my breasts, as odes
are sung to its new future each one takes a turn
to cradle, to croon a lullaby give a promise to
protect against everything wicked and bad.
Yesterday, if it was yesterday,
I had my husband’s eager ear
pressed against the full bloom of my belly
insisting he could hear our cherub pattering
about
Mama placed a bouquet of sweet wine grapes
honey figs and caramel dates on my plate
hoping fruit would ease the tender tug and pull
of womb the sun made quiet love to the water in
our pool white butterflies fluttered from flower to leaf
laughter swam easily from our mouths
as we threw a book-full of boys and girls names into the air
I caught the marble smile of Goddess Juno
whispering maternal endearments.
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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Now I know I was being mocked
basking in delusion, to think I could compare my content
to that of any Goddess, any Priestess, any
Sibyl I should have been aware, alert like the
birds, the cats
at the slightest tremor they fled taking their
knowledge
I should have looked at that fire breathing
cloud and screamed
like the slave girl turning her broom into a
weapon begging then threatening her master
to set her free
I should have understood why my insides
were pummelled,
Baby knew, my Baby knew, Baby wanted me
to say:
Yes, let’s leave!
to the question my family left to me
I became their Fortuna, their one and only
chance,
Sweetheart it’s up to you, they said,
all I could think of was the swelling in my tree
trunk
legs, the cramps surrounding my spine
the blubbery barge of me hobbling into the
frenzy
all I could think about was me, was only me.
Pluto wants me to feast on dread and terror
before Death takes me, but I am not hungry
I want to feel myself burn into nothing but ash
I want my bones to shrivel into chalk
I want nothing to be left of me at all,
Pluto when you pass me over to Vesuvius
do not make me drink from the River Lethe
I refuse any after-life unless it’s filled
with the memory of what I have done.
Thousands of years later, my memory returns
distorted by legend, embellished by science,
trapped in fossilised moment and glory
they pick at my bones and those of my baby
pour plaster into my ashen grave, resurrect the shape
of horror as they imagine, how awful for me they cry,
tears fall at my feet, while I stare back with hollow eyes,
they bring bouquets of spring flowers freshly picked
from the fertile fields at the volcano’s base
they bring their children, their elderly parents
I hear them say: Isn’t she a beautiful specimen.
©Angela Costi
Coburg, Australia
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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Discussion Points
1. Why do think the poet wrote this poem?
2. How accurately do you think it captures those last moments of panic that the
people of Pompeii might have felt?
3. Why does the pregnant woman feel guilty for not leaving?
4. What role did the gods of Pompeii play in her demise?
5. Is the poem convincing in capturing a voice from the past? How does the poet try
to do that?
TASK
Many others perished in Pompeii –
men, women, children, animals –
slaves, noblemen, bakers, sailors, and
gladiators. Imagine that you are one of
the people in Pompeii at the time of the
eruption. You can capture the
experience in any form of writing you
like  it could be a poem, letter, story,
play, news report, feature article or
even a series of graffiti, which was
common in Pompeii.
http://museumvictoria.vic.gov.au/Pompeii
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