The Lost City – Ancient Pompeii

From the daily activities of common people to the spectacular events that punctuated Pompeii’s existence, the ruins provide a fascinating window into the life of its people. As Pompeians went about their daily business—visiting stores, attending religious events, and mingling with friends and family—we can follow their footsteps.

Roman life revolved around the thermal baths, which also functioned as social centers and leisure venues. Pompeii claimed several bath complexes, each with a set of chambers meant for several phases of the bathing process. Enjoying the therapeutic advantages of the several temperatures, patrons would first go from the tepidarium (warm room) to the caldarium (hot room) and then to the frigidarium (cold room). The baths were hubs of social activity where people gathered to gossip, debate politics, and create bonds rather than only places of hygiene.

With markets and stores along its streets, Pompeii was a hive of trade and business. Large market hall The Macellum was a hive of activity where traders displayed their goods and customers haggled over prices. From food and drink to clothing and house goods, Pompeii’s stores presented a vast range of products. The remnants of bakeries, where bread was produced in big ovens, and taverns, where customers gathered to sip wine and mingle, still show where Pompeii’s commercial activity was evidence of both its citizens’ entrepreneurial energy and its economic vitality.

Pompeian society revolved mostly on family life. The fundamental social unit was the household, which comprised parents, children, and sometimes extended family members. Although the male head of the house, the paterfamilias had total control over his family, women nevertheless were quite involved in running the house and raising the children. Though social and financial considerations sometimes drove marriages, love and affection were not lacking in Pompeian relationships. Preserved in the volcanic ash, the moving remains of couples locked in embrace bear witness to the ongoing power of love even in the face of catastrophe.

For the Pompeians, religion was fundamental in their daily life. From Jupiter, the king of the gods, to Venus, the goddess of love, the city claimed many temples honoring a range of gods and goddesses. Daily life included religious rituals, with offerings to the gods and celebrations in their honor. The Pompeians also held beliefs in lares and penates, household spirits thought to guard the house and family. The remains of Pompeii provide an interesting window into the religious beliefs and practices of the ancient Romans, so clarifying their interaction with the divine and their perspective of the surroundings.