Is the ancient Pompeii a modern city frozen in time and ash?

The inhabitants of Pompeii did not know that Vesuvius was a volcano, as it hadn't erupted in 1800 years.

With many shops shutting down due to the current economic crisis, the thermopolium (snack bar) owned by Vetutius Placidus in Pompeii, Italy, reopened its doors three weeks ago, after an unforeseen break in business of 1,921 years.

This was Pompeii’s most popular hang out, where locals would stop off to meet friends, grab something to eat or take away their meals.  

Some identify the fast food restaurants with American life-style

In Pompeii people had a varied diet, iincluding bread, cheese, walnuts, almonds, dates, figs and olives

and recognize White Castle as the very first fast food. Opened in 1916, White Castle started out by selling hamburgers for 5 cents in Kansas. But more than 2000 years ago Romans ate their meals on the run, just like many Americans and many of us do today, as I learnt during my visit to Pompeii during the Easter break.  

Opened directly on the street, the thermopolium was a forerunner of snack bars. Visitors were greeted with a large, L-shaped, decorated counter where customers stood to enjoy a quick lunch. It served hot food and mulled spiced wine (calida) from earthenware jars set in the counter. 

The eruption preserved the bodies of the 2000 inhabitants who did not escape the city and were killed.

Widely regarded as the ancient equivalent of tomato ketchup, the garum  was a popular condiment,. It was made by the crushing and fermentation in brine of the intestines of fish such as tuna, eel, anchovies, and mackerel. The finished product was quite mild and subtle and was mixed with wine, vinegar, pepper, oil to enhance the flavour of many dishes. To give you an idea, the Garum is similar to the fish sauce used today in Thai and Vietnamese cooking. 

Customers, especially the busy ones (Pompeii was a commercial city), would have eaten outside. But for those who preferred to sit, the thermopolium had a triclinium, or dining area, with couches. The house of the owner and his family usually adjoined the premises. 

The House of Mysteries’ frescos refer to the ritual ceremony aimed at preparing girls for the psychological transition to life as married women.

Pliny the younger wrote “for several days before (the eruption) the earth had been shaken, but this fact did not cause fear because this was a feature commonly observed in Campania” (praecesserat per multos dies tremor terrae, minus formidolosus quia Campaniae solitus).

On 24 August 79AD Pompeii, near Naples in the Campania region, was completely buried under 20 metres of ash and pumice during the two-day eruption of the Vesuvius. Excavations began on March 23, 1748 and revealed a well-preserved modern city, almost in contrast with Pompeii new town. 

A walk in the original streets and among the many buildings gives a clear picture of what life was in the first Century AD and show that Romans were just like us. Other curiosities worthy of note and proving that Pompeii was actually a very modern city include: 

• The zebra crossing – stepping-stone crossing were built because the streets had little drainage. These allowed pedestrians to cross the street when there was rain and mud and also allowed carts to pass with wheel openings.
• The statues to delimit the pedestrian area – the traffic was controlled by providing special zones for pedestrians especially at the Forum and at the Amphitheatre
• The graffitis – the walls of the houses in Pompeii were frequently covered with inscriptions, including electoral propaganda messages, declarations of love as well as ads for gladiatorial combats.