Quick questions on Investigating and interpreting Pompeii and Herculaneum: HSC Ancient History

Giuseppe Fiorelli became director of the Pompeii excavations in 1863 under the new Italian state. His reforms transformed the site.

Amedeo Maiuri directed the Pompeii excavations from 1924 to 1961, and also led the major Herculaneum excavations from 1927. His tenure produced spectacular discoveries but also controversial reconstructions.

By 2000 the Pompeii archaeological park was in crisis. Of around 64 hectares excavated, only a fraction was being maintained. Stratigraphic walls collapsed; frescoes faded; tourist pressure eroded paths and floors.

The Herculaneum Conservation Project (since 2001), led by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, is jointly funded by the Packard Humanities Institute, the British School at Rome, and the Italian Soprintendenza. It prioritises conservation of already-excavated areas over new excavation.

The display of body casts and skeletons raises ethical questions. The Garden of the Fugitives, the Boy of Oplontis, and the named individuals at the Lupanare are individual humans whose dignity in death is debated.

Fiorelli excavated houses from above downward, preserving walls intact rather than tunnelling.

Fiorelli divided Pompeii into nine regiones, each containing numbered insulae and houses. This system remains in use.

Fiorelli poured liquid plaster into voids left by decomposed bodies in the hardened ash. Over 100 casts have been produced. The technique transformed the human evidence.

Fiorelli opened the site to the public, established admission charges, and trained guides.

Maiuri exposed around four hectares (around 20 per cent of the site), revealing the Decumanus Maximus, the Hall of the Augustales, the House of the Wooden Partition, and the House of the Mosaic Atrium. Maiuri reconstructed roofs and upper storeys using reinforced concrete to support fragile remains.

Maiuri excavated the Via dell'Abbondanza, the Praedia of Julia Felix, the House of Loreius Tiburtinus (now called the House of Octavius Quartio), and the Suburban Baths. He also produced the standard guidebooks.

On 6 November 2010, the Schola Armaturarum (a gladiatorial training building on the Via dell'Abbondanza) collapsed after heavy rain. The collapse made international news and embarrassed the Italian government. The 1930s reinforced-concrete reconstruction had trapped moisture and accelerated decay.

Funded by 105 million euros from the European Union and the Italian government, the project prioritised emergency stabilisation, drainage, and conservation. The Direzione Generale Pompei was established in 2014 with autonomous management.

New excavations in unexplored areas of Pompeii (Regio V) under Massimo Osanna (Director 2014 to 2020) and Gabriel Zuchtriegel (2020 onward) have produced major discoveries: the House of Jupiter, the House with the Garden, the Charcoal Graffito (suggesting an October eruption date), and new Thermopolium frescoes.

BBC's Pompeii: The Last Day (2003), with CGI reconstruction of the eruption. Mary Beard's Meet the Romans (2012) and Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town (2010) for popular audiences.