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| Herculanum | |
|---|---|
| Name | Herculanum |
| Settlement type | Ancient Roman town |
| Caption | Ruins at the site |
| Country | Italy |
| Region | Campania |
| Province | Naples |
| Established | 6th century BC |
| Abandoned | AD 79 |
Herculanum Herculanum was an ancient Roman town on the Bay of Naples destroyed in AD 79 by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Buried under pyroclastic material, it was preserved with buildings, frescoes, and wooden structures, attracting scholars from Renaissance antiquarians to modern archaeologists associated with institutions like the British Museum and the University of Naples Federico II. Excavations have connected the site to wider networks including Pompeii, Herculaneum papyri, and classical writers such as Pliny the Younger.
Herculanum developed from a pre-Roman settlement influenced by Oscans, Greeks, Etruscans and later integrated into the Samnium and the Roman Republic expansion, interacting with actors like Lucius Cornelius Sulla and Gaius Julius Caesar. In the Imperial period, patrons including Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and elites documented in inscriptions aligned with families attested in Ostia Antica, Capua, and Benevento. Literary references by Strabo, Livy, and Seneca the Younger help reconstruct social life, while legal and economic ties linked the town to markets in Puteoli, Posillipo, and the wider Mediterranean under Marcus Aurelius and Trajan.
Located on the Bay of Naples near Mount Vesuvius, the site occupies a coastal terrace between the Sarnus River basin and the Litorale Domitio. Proximity to ports like Puteoli and routes to Capua shaped trade connections with cities such as Naples, Cumae, and Ischia. Geological studies reference the Campanian volcanic arc and compare deposits with those at Pompeii and Stabiae. Modern administration involves the Comune di Ercolano and regional authorities including Soprintendenza Archeologia.
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, described by Pliny the Younger, produced pyroclastic surges and ash that overwhelmed towns including Pompeii and the site. Victims at the town experienced high-temperature flows similar to those studied in eruptions like Krakatoa and Mount St. Helens, with stratigraphy comparable to events examined by volcanologists from institutions such as the Smithsonian Institution and INGV. The catastrophe influenced Roman responses recorded in correspondence of figures like Tacitus and in imperial administration under Titus.
Excavations began in the early 18th century under the House of Bourbon with royal engineers and continued under archaeologists from the Accademia Ercolanese, Giovanni Battista Piranesi collectors, and scholars like Karl Weber, Guiseppe Fiorelli, and Amedeo Maiuri. Finds reached museums such as the Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, the British Museum, the Museo Nazionale di Capri, and collections in Paris, Vienna, and Berlin. Modern campaigns involve teams from UNESCO, World Monuments Fund, University College London, and the Getty Conservation Institute. Scientific methods include stratigraphic analysis by Giuseppe Fiorelli, radiocarbon dating used by Willard Libby's successors, and conservation approaches developed with the Istituto Centrale per il Restauro.
The town exhibits a grid of insulae with public buildings such as baths comparable to those in Bath, Somerset and civic spaces akin to those in Pompeii and Ostia Antica. Notable architectural features include wooden-beamed roofs preserved under carbonized ash, porticoes resembling structures in Paestum, and villas with peristyles like examples connected to families known from inscriptions linked to Via Appia. Architectural styles show Hellenistic influences from Magna Graecia and Roman adaptations seen in constructions associated with builders from Herculaneum and workshops paralleling those identified in Herculaneum papyri scroll houses.
Artifacts recovered include frescoes in styles of the Augustan and Flavian periods, marble sculptures comparable to works on display at the Capitoline Museums, bronze vessels similar to items in the Vatican Museums, and the famed carbonized scrolls known as the Herculaneum papyri. Conservation challenges involve salts, humidity, and tourism pressures addressed by teams from ICCROM and techniques refined in collaboration with Louvre conservators and universities like Sapienza University of Rome. Iconography on frescoes references mythological scenes familiar from works by Ovid, Virgil, and Homer.
The rediscovery of the site influenced Neoclassicism and inspired artists and intellectuals including Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Sir Walter Scott, and John Ruskin. Scholarship on the site impacted disciplines at institutions such as the British School at Rome and shaped debates in heritage policy involving UNESCO World Heritage frameworks. Exhibitions and publications have linked the site to broader cultural narratives alongside Pompeii, affecting tourism managed by the Comune di Ercolano and conservation funding from bodies like the European Commission. The site's finds continue to inform classical studies at universities including Harvard University, University of Oxford, and University of Cambridge.
Category:Archaeological sites in Italy