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Ancient Sources (Material Evidence) - Pompeii: Destruction, Discovery and Afterlife (CLA1514)

15 credits

Pompeii is one of the most recognisable archaeological sites from the ancient world. It has been a tourist site since the days of the ‘Grand Tour’, and continues to attract millions of tourists each year, offering an opportunity to walk through streets apparently unchanged for millennia. Yet the site has a complex history and interpreting the archaeological material is far from straightforward. You will focus not just on what we can learn about the Roman world from Pompeii, including topics such as society, economy, commercial life, streets and traffic, houses, and sexuality, but on the history of the site itself, including its destruction, ‘rediscovery’, troubled excavation history, and the current pressing issue of preservation and conservation. You will also explore the reception of the site, considering the significant cultural influence of Pompeii from the eighteenth century onwards.