Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum

Remarkably emotional exhibition at the British Museum looking at everyday life in Pompeii and Herculaneum when the volcano struck.

The exhibition was beautifully laid out taking you through a Roman home from the street through to the kitchens using exhibits from the towns to show how people lived. It was like going round a Roman Ideal Home Exhibition!  You came away with ideas for things you could do in your own house.

I loved the section which took you through the different decorative styles and was struck by the personal nature of many of the objects which were versions of things we use now. Whatever age you live in the human emotions and drivers are the same!

I loved items which gave a direct link to a household such as the fish sauce producer who had proudly had a mosaic made of his product with his name on for his atrium. Also the fact that the remains of the dog from the start came from the same house as the “beware of the dog” type mosaic from a doorway. Was it actually a portrait of the dog? I do hope so!

The personal nature of the show made the last section with the casts of bodies in almost unbearable moving. I defy anyone to look at the family who had died together and not shed a tear!

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