Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town eBook : Beard, Mary: Amazon.co.uk: Books

This is a brilliant and highly readable account by the famous popular classicist, author and TV personality. She explains in detail what we have discovered in the ruins of Pompeii, what it might mean, but also just as importantly warns against jumping to conclusions based on over-interpretation of the evidence available, sometimes based on what we might like, or believe might be true, based on our impressions of Roman life from popular culture. It is a fascinating exploration of the ruins and it is surprising what we do know, for example the numerous surviving graffiti range from election posters, enabling us to reconstruct much of the political history of the town, to scurrilous scribblings equivalent to the modern day equivalents in toilet cubicles and bus stations. I was particularly struck by specific examples such as the House of the Painters at Work, where painters were interrupted on the job on the very day of the eruption of Vesuvius, and we can see exactly where they left each panel on the wall at the time when they presumably made, or tried to make, their escape from the falling pumice or lava flow. Another thing that struck me was the stuff that has been lost since it has been excavated, for example wall paintings that were pristine when uncovered in the 18th or 19th century, but which have now faded almost or completely to nothing. One of the major myths about Pompeii's destruction that she exposes is the fallacy that the interruption was unexpected - the evidence was that there had been tremors in the weeks and months leading up to the eruption and many townspeople seem to have moved possessions out of the town before the end (there had been a major earthquake 16 or 17 years earlier, so this was not uncommon). I could write a whole essay on this wonderful description, but suffice to say this is an excellent account for the general reader.

Mary Beard comes across here the same way she does in her programmes and lectures – well-spoken (well-written in this case!), lucid, intelligent, knowledgeable – a true authority in her subject. Moreover she’s professional. She’s objective throughout, and thorough in her research, taking the time and care to deconstruct and debunk the untrue myths about Pompeii – including the ones you’ll hear from the tour guides (visitors – beware!). The book starts out by covering the practicalities: the layout of the town, its history before the eruption, even going into such detail as the form and function of the streets. Give us the juicy stuff, you may cry. But even this technical detail in the first few chapters isn’t as dull as you'd think. This whole section is kept lively by any appropriate anecdotes that can be told, and what’s more it enhanced my enjoyment of the rest of the book. Working from that solid basis, when the personal human stories where then told, I could set them in context and understand their environment and background, which really added to my enjoyment in the second part of the book. Mary Beard paints a vivid picture of life in Pompeii in the lead up to the eruption, and truly seems to bring to life the individuals again.

Mary Beard is always an entertaining and informative historian. The fact that I have read this in just over five days since first opening on my Kindle speaks volumes. Her style is somehow relaxed, as though she is delivering a much loved story to a group of enthralled students, enthralled because she is a consummate raconteur. The detail is impressive but carefully assembled and presented in a readily digestible manner. She rarely forgets that her readers are not always well versed in the history or fluent in Latin.Her annoyance at the readiness of even modern archaeologists to take one fact and make a story shines through, but her debunking is forensic in the true sense of the word. She follows a careful, thoughtful, logical process of testing and setting aside. Nor does she completely replace the hypothesis unless she has solid evidence for so doing.The one annoyance in this book, as in any literature, fact or fiction, is the use of the modern time references of BCE and CE. When does the "era" begin or end ? Oddly enough at the same notional date as BC and AD. Is the reason one of lack of belief or her self proclaimed socialist views ? Or as an attempt not to cause offence ? Mary Beard is not one to worry about that, as her blunt almost joyous use of what the Beeb coyly calls "strong language" clearly demonstrates. I'm not a Christian, nor follower of any belief system, political or religious, but it seems inconsistent to change the time reference that has existed for two millennia for no sound reason.Moan over. This is a damn good read. I have been an avid reader of anything about Rome for over half a century but Mary Beard never fails to bring new nuggets of knowledge for me to enjoy. And she makes it highly enjoyable.