Pompeii:An inscription that changes a date of the history
Rome/Pompeii [ENA] A charcoal inscription has been discovered during new excavations at Pompeii. That inscription supports the theory that the Mount Vesuvius eruption that destroyed the ancient Roman city took place in October of 79 AD, not August. The inscription is dated the 16th day before the calends of November - i.e. October 17. It is the latest in a series of important findings made during recent excavations of the Regio V
section of Pompeii. Moreover,two prestigious residences with precious decorations have come to light redefining the ideas about the knowledge and the organization of the Regio V of Pompeii, thanks to funds provided for by the Great Pompeii Project. Intact from the lapilli, with various furnishings, the so called House with garden has been excavated with the beautiful frescoed porch and the rooms decorated with lively megalographs, and the House of Jupiter, with the paintings in I style and the exceptional floor mosaics. Inscriptions and further remains of the victims also add details to the story of the eruption and the ancient city.
A lavishly decorated lararium, a shrine to the spirits that protected the Roman household, of about 4m x 5m came into view in the course of excavation in the Regio V of Pompeii. The beautiful lararium, among the most elegant ones emerged in Pompeii, is relevant to an environment of a house already partly excavated at the beginning of the twentieth century, with access from the alley of Lucretius Frontone. At the center of a wall with idyllic landscapes and bountiful nature with plants and birds, there is the sacred aedicule with the figures of the "Lari" protectors of the house and, below, two large "agatodemoni" snakes (good demons), a symbol of prosperity and good omen.
At the same level, the painted altar at the center of the two serpents, with the offerings (the pinecone and the eggs), finds correspondence in a small stone altar found in the garden and on which traces of burnt offerings still persist. They served to honor the domestic deities, to guarantee the well-being and prosperity of the whole family. On the opposite wall, instead, a hunting scene on a red background with several light colored animals surrounding a black boar, seems to symbolically suggest the victory of the forces of good over evil.
It was a room used for worship, but the unusual presence of some elements such as a pool bordered by the garden, placed at the center of the room and the loft space that closes one of the sides, are still to be explained.These extraordinary findings that continue to give great emotions, are part of the largest maintenance intervention on approximately 3 km of fronts that delimit the excavated area of Pompeii. A fundamental intervention in one of the areas most at risk of the site, never before treated as a whole and that today, has permitted to bring to light intact rooms with beautiful decorations.