“I have just heard that Pompeii, the famous city in Campania, has been laid low by an earthquake, which has also disturbed all the adjacent districts…” (Seneca, Book 6, Natural Questions).

On the 5th February 62AD, Pompeii was indeed “laid low” by an earthquake that affected much of the surrounding region. Unknown to the local Campanians, the event was the first indication that the volcano Vesuvius was awakening from a long period of dormancy.

The violent tremors devastated Pompeii. Public buildings collapsed, the water supply was disrupted, while homes were damaged or destroyed.

Rebuilding began immediately. However, seventeen years later, Pompeii’s restoration was still ongoing. The forum was unfinished and many homes were still renovating and redecorating. 

Some believe this indicates that Pompeii struggled to recover from the earthquake. However, others believe archaeology suggests something entirely different.

Pompeii in Decline?

After the earthquake, many of Pompeii’s grand residences seem to have changed from a domestic to commercial function. Some, like Stephanus’s Fullery on the Via della Abbondanza, completely converted the house space to accommodate a trade. Others remained in part domestic, with the rest of the space given over to commerce.

One example is the Villa of the Mysteries. Following the earthquake, doorways in the main house were bricked up and others added, altering the house’s layout. The villa ceased to be solely a high-status country residence. Now it was part of a working farm.

Archaeological evidence indicates the villa’s original owners were the Istacidii, a noble Samnite family. After 62AD, a seal shows that the villa changed hands, passing onto Lucius Istacidius Zosimus, a freedman of the former owners.

The case of the Villa of the Mysteries and other similar properties in Pompeii has led to theories that the earthquake ruined many of the old aristocracy, with a rising class of tradesmen taking their place.

The Forum

There is other evidence for a decline, not only for the upper classes but Pompeii as a whole. When the forum was first excavated, archaeologists discovered many of the buildings were incomplete. Some, like the Capitolium, had not been repaired at all after the earthquake. Others were unfinished, with marble facings missing. In addition, many of the statue pedestals in the forum were empty, suggesting that damaged statues were never replaced.

The disarray in the forum was believed to indicate that Pompeii did not have the resources to repair its civic centre. However, John Dobbins has suggested an alternative view. He attributes the state of the forum to post-eruption looting. Once the ash had settled in 79AD, the tops of the forum’s buildings would have acted as markers to those returning to the city to recover personal and civic valuables. Many of the statues and much of the missing marble facings could have been taken at this time.

Indeed, some evidence suggests that far from struggling to recover, Pompeii had taken advantage of the earthquake to modernise.

The New Central Baths

Whole areas of housing were damaged in the quake. In some parts of the city, these lost homes were not rebuilt. Instead, the land was used to build modern public facilities for Pompeii as a whole, such as the first new set of public baths for just under a century.

The new central baths were spacious, light and airy due to high vaulted ceilings and multiple windows. They were state of the art, employing the latest first-century innovations in bathhouse technology. Their construction demonstrates there was no shortage of money for post-earthquake building projects in Pompeii.

Funding for Recovery

Some of the money for the restoration of Pompeii may well have come from Rome and the emperor himself. But other funding for public works came from the same fund as usual — from the pockets of politically astute local businessmen.

One such person was Numerius Popidius Ampliatus, a freedman of the Poppidii. As a former slave, Ampliatus was barred from public office. But his young son was not. So Ampliatus found a suitable project to bolster his son’s future political career. 

The Cult of Isis was popular in Pompeii and the earthquake destroyed its temple. After the earthquake, Ampliatus rebuilt it in luxurious style and recorded his generosity on the dedicatory inscription.

Ampliatus’s generous gesture paid off. Despite being only six years old, his son was voted onto the city council as a gesture of gratitude.

A Warning from Vesuvius

The fact remains that much of Pompeii did resemble a building site in 79AD, with houses as well as the forum still undergoing repairs. But this activity was not a result of the 62AD earthquake.

Between the earthquake and the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, the seismic activity in the region of Vesuvius did not cease as the volcano slowly returned to life. In 64AD, a further earthquake destroyed the theatre at Naples during a visit from Emperor Nero. Others no doubt occurred but remained unrecorded.

It was probably because of these ongoing quakes or tremors that much of Pompeii remained covered in scaffolding right up until its final destruction.

Resources

Dobbins, J J and Foss, P W, (eds) (2008) “The World of Pompeii“. Routledge: London and New York

Grant, M, (2005) “Pompeii and Herculaneum: The Cities of Vesuvius”. London: Folio Society