Download Vesuvian Geography

IS HISTORY JUST A QUESTION OF
GEOGRAPHY?
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FACTORS OF LOCATION- A CURSE AND A
BLESSING?
LOOK AT THE FOLLOWING SLIDE AND LIST AS
MANY FAVOURABLE FACTORS WHICH WOULD
CONTRIBUTE TO THE GROWTH OF BOTH
TOWNS.
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The Oldest Image of
Vesuvius
This painting of
Vesuvius was
discovered in 1879 on
a wall in the Casa del
Centenario, one of the
largest houses in
Pompeii. Bacchus is
pictured standing
before the mountain;
at the time Vesuvius
was covered in
vineyards.
Setting
Features
Resources
Campania, fertile
region 200 km
south of Rome
Area near Pllegrean
fields( burning
fields)-geothermal
activity
On the coast of
Naples
River Sarno flowed
into the Bay
ClimateMediterranean,
plentiful rainfall and
distinct dry season
Fertile soils allowed
2-3 crop yields
Sea based
navigation and
resources
Soils rich in
phosphorous and
ash
Fish, molluscs
,garum and Salt
from sea
Wine and Olive oil
famous from this
area
Salt used as
preservative- near
Herculaneum Gate
Other crops
included wheat
barley, cabbages,
fruit
Sheep and Goats
were grazed
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marine environment supported a fish & shellfish
industry & production of a fermented fish sauce
called Garum
Salt, used for preserving food was produced by the
salt pans in shallow pools
Woodland provided building materials & sand was
mixed with lime to make cement
Fertile soils allowed the cultivation of grapevines &
olives. Loamy sand allowed good drainage and an
ideal ph for crop growing. Minerals like phosphorous
produced abundant flowering of crops
Sheep & goats were raised for meat, milk, skins &
wool
Local clay was used for containers
Dietary remains from latrine
pits and sewers
•‘The Heracleian Fortress . . . admirably catches the breeze . . . a healthful place to live.’ ~ Strabo
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‘Campania is the fairest of all
regions . . . it flowers twice a
year. Nowhere is the soil more
fertile . . . here are the vineclad mountains . . . Vesuvius is
the fairest of them all’ ~
Florus,
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‘The Heracleian Fortress . . .
admirably catches the breeze .
. . a healthful place to live.’ ~
Strabo
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‘a fertile region so blessed
with pleasant scenery that it
was manifestly the work of
nature in a happy mood . . .
wonderful and life sustaining
and healthy atmosphere that
lasts all year through,
embracing a climate so mild,
plains so fertile, hills so sunny,
woodlands so secure & groves
so shady . . . different kinds of
forest, breezes, an abundance
of corn, vines & olives,
splendid fleeces, fine necked
bulls, numerous lakes, rich
sources of rivers, seas and
harbours, lands are open to
commerce . . . even the land
runs equally out into the sea
as if to assist mankind.’ ~ Pliny
the Elder, Natural history
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Diodorus Siculus (80-20 BC) reports that the Campanian plain was called
"Phlegrean ("fiery") from the mountain which of old spouted forth a huge
fire as Aetna did in Sicily; at this time, however, the mountain is called
Vesuvius and shows many signs of the fire which once raged in those
ancients times."
Vitruvius, active between 46 and 30 BC, reported in his "The Architectura"
that "once fires burnt below Vesuvius and sometimes it spouted flames on
the surrounding fields".
Strabo (64 BC-25 AD) gives the most accurate description of Vesuvius of his
times: "Above these places lies Mt. Vesuvius, which, save for its summit, has
dwellings all round, on farm-lands that are absolutely beautiful. As for the
summit, a considerable part of it is flat, but all of it is unfruitful, and looks
ash-coloured, and it shows pore-like cavities in masses of rocks that are sootcoloured on the surface, these masses of rock looking as though they had
been eaten out by fire; and hence one might infer that in earlier times this
district was on fire and had craters of fire, and then, because the fuel gave
out, was quenched."
What degree of understanding did the ancients
have of Vesuvius?
Why might this contribute to the human reaction
to the disaster?
How reliable is Strabo’s evidence?
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In western Italy, upon the Tyrrhenian Sea, lies the uniquely inviting land of Campania. This coast, starting a
hundred and forty-five kilometres south-east of Rome and extending downwards beyond the Bay of Naples,
gave Ancient Rome its first good sea-front, its first window upon the Mediterranean, its first idea of becoming a
world state. And behind the coast, stretching back to the Apennine range, is a plain which is incredibly favoured
by nature. Traversed by two fairly important rivers and fanned by moist south-westerly winds, this territory of
spongy volcanic earth, rich in phosphorus and potash, enjoys relatively mild and short winters, and the soil
retains enough of the abundant seasonal rainfall to escape ill-effects from three months of summer drought.
Campania is alien to the desiccated Italian south—and alien to the modest conceptions of visitors from northern
lands. In ancient times, when this was the chief granary of the peninsula, some districts already produced as
many as three grain crops every year, in addition, often enough, to a catch-crop of vegetables as well. There
were none of the oranges and lemons that can be seen now, but olives and vines grew plentifully, and indeed
many of Italy’s principal olive groves were in Campania. Walking out of Pompeii today one can see fields bearing
vines, fruit trees and beans at one and the same time. And so it was in antiquity. An extraordinary variety of
crops gave constant cover to the fields throughout the year, and yields were perhaps as much as six times
higher than the average for the Italian peninsula. And above the plain, for example in the Montes Lactarii
(Lattari) at the southern end of the bay, the mountains pastured many thousands of sheep.
‘Nothing,’ said Madame de Stael, ‘gives a more voluptuous idea of life than this climate which intimately unites
man to nature’. More than seventeen centuries earlier, the elder Pliny had said much the same; and the Latin
writer Florus, though he was a north African who lived in Spain, found Campania the most beautiful place, not
only in Italy, but in all the world. And indeed this landscape in the grand style, with its superb sweep of coast, its
lush rising shores, its all-enveloping light, its emphatically blue sea and sky, is the perfect illustration of Dr
Samuel Johnson’s heartfelt assurance that there is nothing that can equal the Mediterranean.
Long before the Romans came, this inviting land had attracted immigrants and invaders. Already in the eighth
century BC the Greeks chose Cumae, on the coast just north-west of the bay, for their earliest settlement upon
the mainland of Italy. During the two centuries that followed, Cumae exercised widespread control throughout
the area, finally becoming one of the main suppliers of grain to other parts of the peninsula. Naples itself,
Neapolis, had been settled by Greeks before 650, to judge from reported finds. And then before the end of the
sixth century another Greek city was founded next door; this was Dicaearchia, later Puteoli and now Pozzuoli,
which in all fields except culture, and particularly in all matters relating to imports and exports, remained more
important than Neapolis for hundreds of years.
Puteoli lay 11 kilometres to the west of Neapolis, and the much smaller town of Pompeii was 22 kilometres
south-east of Neapolis, almost adjoining the same coast. No doubt even before the Greeks there had been a
native Italian (Oscan) fishing and agricultural village or small town on this site, though if so we do not know for
how long. But in any case it was supplemented, in due course, by a settlement or trading post of the Greeks. On
a tall, southward-facing spur, now known as the Triangular Forum, they built a Doric temple. Its fragmentary
remains go back to the sixth century, when the little place was no doubt still under the influence or control of
Cumae or Neapolis, forming a staging point on their trade route to the south.
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The Greek settlement or post at Pompeii was built on an isolated volcanic ridge about 39
metres above sea-level, produced by a prehistoric flow of lava down the slopes of Vesuvius,
which towers up just over eight kilometres away. To the south, beyond where the Greeks built
their temple, the flow had stopped abruptly, providing a fortifiable boundary which gave
protection against surprise attacks. This cliff-like termination overlooked the river Sarnus
(Sarno), is quite insignificant today but which in ancient times was navigable by ships of
respectable tonnage. The Sarnus, which watered the whole fertile plain south-east of Vesuvius,
had already before 700 BC prompted the creation of agricultural villages in the upper reaches
of its valley, and not far from the river mouth as well. Then, when Pompeii had been founded,
the river meant that the place did not have to depend too much or for too long on the larger
harbour towns, Cumae and Neapolis, that lay to the north. For the Sarnus gave Pompeii the
role of sea-port for the adjacent hinterland. And, in particular, it became the port of a native
town that lay to the east, eleven kilometres inland, Nuceria Alfaterna (Nocera), an important
road centre which drew its wealth from the river plain and dominated the southern regions of
Campania.
The Greeks settled not only at Pompeii but at two points on either side of it, both close beside
the coast. To the south, at some date unknown, they founded a town at Stabiae, just below the
hills at the southern end of the bay. Stabiae, now the shipbuilding town of Castellamare di
Stabia, is only five kilometres from Pompeii, and well in sight of its walls. Such proximity meant
that Pompeii, in this direction, could never own much land of its own; and indeed its territory
did not extend on any side for more than a few kilometres. But the other Greek coastal
settlement, to the north of Pompeii, was a good deal smaller still, indeed not one-fifth of its
size. This was Heracleion, later to become Herculaneum. Built on a spur projecting from the
lower slopes of Vesuvius, the little town, extending over something less than twelve hectares,
was protected on either flank by ravines containing streams which ran down from the
mountain to the sea. The streams were not navigable, and the sea-shore did not boast much of
a harbour; nor did any suitable roads lead to the interior. However, Herculaneum served as a
minor centre of the coasting trade, and as a transit town on the shore road round the bay. It
was only eight kilometres from Neapolis and certain Greek settlers—who probably came from
that city—found it worthwhile to establish themselves at Herculaneum at quite an early date.
According to a legend it was the hero Heracles (Hercules) himself, returning from Spain, who
sacrificed a tithe of his spoils to the gods and created this little town on the spot where his
fleet was anchored, naming the foundation after himself.
From: Grant M, (2001) Cities of Vesuvius – Pompeii and Herculaneum, Phoenix Press, London,
pp1-3.
THE Sarnus Lararium in the
House of the Centenery
Early pre roman coins bore the head of Sarnus
the river god
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up
hPMFFC5GI&feature=related