Pompeii: Public and Private Life (Revealing Antiquity)

Pompeii's tragedy is society's windfall: an ancient city fully preserved, its urban design and domestic styles speaking across the ages. This richly illustrated book conducts readers through the captured wonders of Pompeii, evoking at every turn the life of the city as it was 2,000 years ago. At home or in public, at work or at ease, the people of Pompeii and their world come alive in Zanker's masterly rendering. It is a provocative and original reading of material culture. 21 color illustrators. 55 halftones.

Paul Zanker's POMPEII PUBLIC AND PRIVATE LIFE is an outstanding work of scholarship presented in a way that is understandable to general reader. Zanker draws heavily on the work of Andrew Wallace-Hadrill. (In fact, if your interest is really passionate, I would recommend reading Wallace-Hadrill's HOUSES AND SOCIETY IN POMPEII AND HERCULANEUM in tandem with this book.) The book basically focuses on the analysis and interpretation of public and private space. I found it extremely edifying and very enjoyable reading, too. Deborah Lucas Schneider's fluid translation does not read like a translation. Several good books on Pompeii have been published in recent years. This is one of the most useful. This covers a lot of the same material as Mary Beard's THE FIRES OF VESUVIUS, but Zanker's approach is far more scholarly and he doesn't intrude his own personality into his work. There are many illustrations and maps, along with sixteen pages of color plates. I highly recommend this book to all serious students of archaeology, ancient history, and architecture.

This is about as fine a book as you will find on this subject.

I enjoyed reading it immensely.

Out of respect for the author's hard and dedicated work I encourage you to vote the jackass one-star review below by "Jeromiah Cox" as "Inappropriate" so that it can be removed.

This book is an excellent introduction to Pompeii studies. Paul Zanker expertly describes the beginnings and variations on the private houses in Pompeii; how they were influenced by lavish country villas and how many of the houses were changed to provide an illusion of luxury. The "illusion" comes into play because many of the houses had very limited space and made the best of what they had. Several of the homes, such as the House of the Grand Duke, were not known to me.

Mr. Zanker begins by relating the beginnings of Pompeii as an Oscan city and traces its development through the Social War, when Sulla settled veterans in the city, and into the Augustan period. The latter was arguably the golden age of Pompeii when the emperor took an interest in the city (by having an imperial aqueduct diverted to the city) and was a period of great civic building. The author provides a glimpse into some of the current theories about the city, such as did the wealthy leave Pompeii following the earthquake of 62? This is a theory that could use a chapter on its own and gets a page of discussion here. Another interesting discussion has to do with the reconstruction following the earthquake in 62 CE. Why were buildings like the basilica, and other civic buildings, left in ruins? One possibility is that buildings were rebuilt because there were fraternal groups that needed the use of the buildings (like the worshipers of Isis). Buildings like the amphitheater were repaired but the theaters were not.

So this is a good introduction to the private homes of Pompeii: a book that can be read and followed up by more in depth reading. It is a fascinating look at the public and private sides of the city, illustrated nicely, and well written. Highly recommended.

Zander's Pompeii is one of the main textbook books on Pompeii these days. She covers the city from an archaeologist's point of view by discussing the public and private areas of the city and how Pompeiians would have used them. She discusses not only how each of these areas were populated by regular Pompeiians, but also the women's and slaves' roles throughout the city through these private and public areas.

This book is filled with good information for students, teachers and the amateur classicist alike. A must have for anyone interested in Pompeii or ancient Roman culture.

This book is with out a doubt an wonderful souce for students and Pompeii fanatics. As a classist myself, I was enraptured by this book. Zanker is able to intergrate the archaeological evidence with a comperhensive look at the pompeian socity. This is not to be missed!!