The Melbourne Museum is currently showing a fantastic exhibition called A Day in Pompeii. Like many people, I am fascinated by this lost city, its apparently pleasure-driven (at least for the elites) lifestyle, and its amazing preservation and archaeology. So I went along to see the exhibition today around 1pm and found the crowds were quite tolerable.
It's a huge exhibit with a large number of Pompeii artefact on display, and much detailed information about life in Pompeii, its architecture, social life, and of course its destruction, "rediscovery" and archaeology. It's very detailed, and includes a 3D animated film of the city's destruction which sounds ghoulish but is actually quite fascinating. There are the inevitable body casts, which are of course very emotional - even though these poor people died in 79 AD, their images at the moment of their deaths (mostly from asphyxiation, rather than burning) are so hauntingly preserved. I would have liked to have seen some more about the lives of the slaves, but overall it is a very comprehensive exhibition.
I learned some interesting things, such as the fact that graffiti was popular in Pompeii - people would write all sorts of saying, witticisms, poetry or political slogans on their houses. The only one I recall was this one: Sex, wine and baths ruin our bodies. But what is life without sex, wine and baths?
I also learned that most of the 20,000 citizens survived by fleeing after the initial eruption. I had always thought that they all died.
I highly recommend this exhibition and may even try to see it myself a second time before it closes in October.
