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FLEEING FROM A burning, volcanic cloud, the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum had little time to pack, snatching a lamp, some cash or the house key as they tried to run to safety.
But the owners of the objects never made it, the key never used again, as they perished in the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, the subject of a major new exhibition at the British Museum in London.
Although the disaster has been exhaustively examined, Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum seeks to shed fresh light on the daily lives of those killed that day.
It brings together objects from both destroyed cities which display a startling similarity to those we use today, from the colander and bakeware in the kitchen to dice used in games.
One of the most evocative images is a crib which was burned to charcoal when volcanic material measuring 400 degrees Celsius swept through Herculaneum. The infant in it was incinerated.
“The Romans had rooms in homes filled with things just like we have. They had a consumer lifestyle, they liked nice things,” curator Paul Roberts told AFP.
“It’s really a way of bringing the Romans closer to us. They’re not just ‘I, Claudius’, they’re not gladiators – they’re us.”
A cast of a woman, one of more than 70 people who died in the basement of a house near Pompeii, on display in the exhibition. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Visitors to the exhibition are taken through rooms in a Roman house, decorated with frescos including one embellished with graffiti animals, likely the work of younger members of the family.
There are countless examples of everyday life, from furniture to jewellery and sculptures, as well as erotic art that would have been displayed with little embarrassment.
A cast of a man who died in Pompeii (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
But this image of two bustling cities – Pompeii the industrial hub of the region and Herculaneum a smaller seaside city – is brought to a abrupt and brutal halt, just as they were.
At the end of the exhibition are casts of a man who died as he crouched down behind a wall desperately seeking protection, and of a family flung back in agony by waves of ash and volcanic rock in Pompeii.
A mosaic panel depicting a guard dog that was found in Pompeii (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Such was the heat that hit Herculaneum that most people were incinerated immediately, but in Pompeii it was slightly cooler, allowing lava to harden around the bodies of the dead.
In the 18th century, archaeologists discovered the voids where these bodies had been and filled them with plaster, creating casts that show in gruesome detail how the people died.
Two statues, one found in Herculaneum and the other found in Pompeii, on display. (Photo: AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Many strike ‘the boxer pose’, their arms held up as if to throw a punch. It is caused by the heat which contracts the tendons.
After half an hour examining the lives of ordinary Romans at the museum, this graphic evidence of one family’s demise is shocking.
The mother is holding her toddler child on her lap as she falls back against the wave of heat, her husband next to her, his body contorted. Another child lies lifeless on the floor nearby.
“People didn’t see it coming,” said Vanessa Baldwin, assistant curator of the exhibition. “They were living their daily lives when it hit.”
(Video: britishmuseum/YouTube)
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Even the ladies of the evening need to retire and put their legs down.
Beware: The sexual innuendo police have done a swoop.
Are they saying they want job opportunities as prostitution managers, coaches and pundits in their later years?
That’s an unbelievable move! Then it just bobbles up and she can’t quite finish. She’ll be disappointed with that when she watches the video tomorrow.
Yeah they’ll be looking to get their prostitution badges as they edge closer to retirement
I can understand what they’re asking for as I too am not as young as I used to be.
It now takes me all night to do what I used to do all night !
Someone should ask Wayne Rooney. He has experience of playing with older people in both professions.
And they are absolutely right. Like soccer its a young persons game, and every pro can’t become manager/madam. Some consideration of the short shelf life is in order.
They see more balls than footballers
Imagine the testimonials!!
They have them in the banana bar lol
Do they have as good ball control and penetration as the top premier players?
I typed “jezebel.com” into my address bar and I landed here? Surely McAfee should have given me a warning?
Where will Rooney go if there are no Grannies out there?
Makes sense to me. I wish them the best of luck with this proposal. I don’t like the idea of anybody having to do this job but at least if they do they should get the full extent of available protections.
Or how about just get a normal job like the rest of us. Can they not educate themselves while they’re earning money in their youth?
Actually you’ll be surprised how many of them are paying their way through school or saving up for a house. It pays a lot better than a normal job for most of them. At least it’s honest work.
I didn’t realise that the had a use by date!
It’s a best before date.
That’s EU policy. Everything has a use by date, even Honey
@ Dave
Most keepers would be able to stop a couple of balls
Unbelievable Jeff!!!!
Do they understand the Offside rule? ;)
I also want a pension like that, seeing the Dail is screwing me!!!
Lucrative coaching positions await the most skilled
@ Mike
My girlfriend is Dutch and she told me a story before about how some men thought she was a hooker when in Amsterdam years ago. I don’t know if this is a compliment or insult. It’s funny because she’s a really sweetie kind of woman and would hate men like this. I had to laugh.
Thy should go on strike all tools down and no cu@ts working
Their coochies look like grilled cheese that’s being left out in the baking sun.
Dont despair Gals …There is life with Saggy boobs .. Just Ask Wayne Rooney
At least their both as good when it cums to dribbling with the balls !
More views on this article than most others
Im a chef and I think we should get the same perks. Burned our from it and im only 30. There are 100s of jobs you could say the same about!
*out
I agree with you. Just have a look at the erecting crews who build wind farms. Those Lads work really crazy hours in cold; rain; snow; heat. By the time they hit 40 their bodies are worn out! No real pension for them
Sex sells baby!
Good ball stoppers
As sure between them it is….
Maybe the journal should shop using the P word as it is hate speech, you don’t use the n word now do you. Consenting people that are paid are called sex workers weither or nor the chief editor at the journal likes it.
Don’t ya just love the Dutch
Was she any use around the box
Professional soccer players go down easier than prostitutes
have your say