Herculaneum: Past and Future by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill (review)

Herculaneum—the often forgotten cousin of Pompeii—is passed by train- and busloads of tourists alike, many of whom remain sadly ignorant that such a remarkable city exists. Unlike Pompeii, for which there is an abundance of well-written and well-illustrated literature, the last English-language introductory work on Herculaneum was Joseph Jay Diess’s revised edition of Herculaneum. Italy’s Buried Treasure in 1989, first published in 1966. Thus, Herculaneum: Past and Present by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, one of the leading English-speaking scholars of the Bay of Naples and the head of the Herculaneum Conservation Project, is a most welcome addition. The book more than fulfills its aim to provide an up-to-date overview of, and introduction to, the site, its past and future (7). Its accessible, clear prose and lavish photography, coupled with a synthesis of new findings and recent scholarship, means that this book should become the standard reference for Herculaneum for the foreseeable future.

In this work, the city rather than the Villa of the Papyri takes center stage. Chapter 1 provides an overview of the geology of Campania, the seismic activity that preceded the eruption of Vesuvius, and the phases of the eruption in AD 79. Chapter 2 charts the history of excavations at Herculaneum from the Spanish Bourbon rulers to the Italian Republic today. Chapter 3 discusses the disregard that many early excavators had for the site, which they exploited in their hunt for ancient treasures. It also reviews many of the problematic restorations of architecture and presentation of finds at the site that Amedeo Maiuri oversaw in the early twentieth century and reminds the visitor that the ruins sometimes reflect a manufactured view of the past. Chapter 4 discusses the favorable location of Herculaneum on a promontory in the Bay of Naples.

Chapters 5–10 will probably be of most interest to academics, teachers, students, and general readers, as Wallace-Hadrill reconstructs the lives and dramatic death of the people of Herculaneum through the archaeological remains of the city. Chapter 5 focuses on the evidence for inhabitants of the city, as seen through the scientific study of numerous skeletons and through epigraphic evidence that attests to at least 500 unique individuals. Chapter 6 focuses on the public buildings of Herculaneum, discussing the so-called Basilica, the question of where the Forum may have been located, the possible Curia (hitherto known as the College of the Augustales), and the various different baths in the city. This chapter draws attention to the richness of the public sphere at Herculaneum, which has typically been overshadowed by the city’s outstanding private architecture. Chapter 7 examines standards of living through Herculaneum’s remarkably diverse domestic architecture. Chapters 8 and 9 continue this discussion by considering the “High Life” enjoyed by Herculaneum’s rich and the “Low Life” that defined the lives of so many more. Throughout the book Wallace-Hadrill deftly uses new data about Herculaneum that has come to light through recent archaeological work and the application of new scientific techniques in the last twenty years; he also makes much of this work, published in Italian, accessible to Anglophone readers for the first time. Chapter 10 discusses the differences and similarities between Herculaneum and Pompeii—in terms of the eruption, the history of the cities, the scale of the two sites, and their different legal status in antiquity, as well as the preservation issues that face them both. The author argues that Herculaneum was not simply a resort full of vacationers, but an intimate small town (305). By the end of these six chapters, the reader has a sense of the city’s unique urban form and multifarious population.

The final chapter focuses on a seminal topic: the conservation of Herculaneum. Wallace-Hadrill strongly advocates for conservation of the site and proper care of the extant remains rather than an expansion of excavations into new terrain, while detailing...