'Once-in-a-century' discovery reveals luxury of Pompeii
26 comments
·January 17, 2025noduerme
perihelions
Isn't it the exact opposite? Every single house in the modern world has running water—it wouldn't be code-compliant, in any functioning country, to not have that. That was a high-status luxury in Rome. (It was even a largesse of the Emperor to be gifted[0] the right to have a private plumbing connection to an aqueduct—something considered highly desirable in that world).
The fact people today build inexpensive plastic Thermae as a novelty object, reflects how thoroughly we've solved all the *actually hard* problems of water infrastructure. The formerly expensive parts are now unimaginably cheap, so, we're exploring new places to cut costs that we previously wouldn't think of.
(It's akin to how computer keyboards are now 10x cheaper and junkier than they were in the 1960's–1980's (?), because, the other problems having been solved, that became a new focus of economization. No one would think twice about paying (the modern equivalent of) $100 for a well-engineered mechanical keyboard, in an era when the corresponding PC went for $5,000. The expensive object reflects an economic difficulty elsewhere; and the expensive Roman stonework baths perhaps reflected the costliness of water in general).
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_aqueduct#Distribution
YouWhy
> That thing isn't going to last 3 winters let alone a volcanic eruption.
Could it have been a case of survivorship bias? I.e., perhaps jankier facilities have been built at Pompeii but simply did not make it at all or were not prioritized for excavation?
4gotunameagain
People are downvoting you because it is simply due to the different materials and building methodologies of the past.
Things took much longer to build and were much more expensive, but they were very durable as an effect.
There were no plastic hot tubs in Pompeii that burned when the pyroclastic flow swept past.
shawabawa3
There were no plastic ones but there were very probably some wooden ones, or other luxurious wooden items which were destroyed without a trace and we'd never know
Aniket-N
Well, this bath house was owned by some one ultra wealthy. There were multiple people (possibly slaves), just toiling away to keep the furnace going.
Today a hot tub can be had by millions.
marginalia_nu
Wealthy Romans had a bit of a culture-boner for leaving a lasting legacy, maintaining the dynasty, and that sort of thing, and conversely often relied on ancestral clout to borrow credibility from. I don't think anyone today would try to base their credibility on being the distant relative of Ben Franklin in the way an upstart roman might invoke their familiar relationship with Scipio Africanus.
Makes sense they built stuff to last in such an environment.
beardyw
I think also they were very much more in touch with their own mortality than is common today.
ElevenLathe
It was also impossible to make things out of fiberglass, but hand-carved stone was actually available.
marginalia_nu
So was non-permanent building materials such as wood, to be fair.
qq66
"The bodies belonged to a woman, aged between 35 and 50, who was clutching jewellery and coins"
Funny to see that some things never change. You're about to get vaporized by a pyroclastic avalanche and your first thought is to grab your bling.
andrelaszlo
"The woman was still alive while he was dying"
If I ever die, I hope it's after I'm long gone...
melling
No banking system. I imagine without any money in ancient times, you could end up in trouble quickly.
worldsayshi
They must've had banks. I don't think you can have organised society without some form of banks.
cjs_ac
There were money lenders (argentarii) but they were just individuals setting up stall in the local forum. If you exhausted your credit with one argentarius you just went and found another who didn't talk to the first.
Terr_
Local banks don't necessarily mean your balance would be safe if the city were destroyed.
neuronic
Archaic banking existed since 4th-3rd millenium BCE. This was surprising to me.
The modern form of banking is rooted in 14th century Italy (Medici and so on) [1].
worldsayshi
Perhaps they were in the process of evacuating and they wanted to gather their valuables to protect from looters?
mimentum
Probably were prayer beads or something. Still 'bling' I guess.
chgs
People who have a grab bag will have some cash in it today.
dzonga
also shows - how on a basic comparison some rich people back then lived way better than some poor folks do today in terms of assets. though in terms of relative access to goods poor folks today are better off.
tumsfestival
Kind of depressing how some people two millennia ago had bigger homes than most people alive today. Then again, if they were alive today their homes would be 10x the size.
YouWhy
The home in question is thought to have belonged to the wealthiest family around - which, for a society where economics are generational and local, practically means super-rich.
In modern societies such super rich people flock to major cities, but in pre-industrial societies relocating would leave familial assets under-attended. Accordingly a well adjusted wealthy person would arrange for an excellent standard of living adjacently to their possessions
chgs
The side of the planet 2000 years ago was the same as today. The population today is a thousand times larger.
It's amazing what people built 2000 years ago, and sort of depressing too. I went over to a friend's house recently who had gotten a new outdoor hot tub. That thing isn't going to last 3 winters let alone a volcanic eruption.