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[00:02] We're going to talk about death. We're going to talk about difficult issues, exploitation of people by other people. We're going to talk about the reality of living in the Roman Empire in a way that I did not expect, but I think it's a

[00:15] really interesting video and there's some really important lessons to be learned here and how people don't change. So, with that being said, I'm going to give you a moment to get all children out of the room unless you as a

[00:28] appropriate for them and you've reviewed this material. So, we're going to start now. When I was a kid in Sunday school class, Miss Jamie Ray sometimes would tell me stories about a thing that happened in

[00:40] the Bible, which a lot of that happened in the Roman Empire. And I used to board out and she'd put these kids on here or she'd put these people on here like everything just came alive to me, but I remember these being very vibrant

[00:55] and exciting stories, but everybody looked happy, right? Like if you zoom in here, like these ladies, they have like makeup on. And and they they look like me, which I don't think is what really the way That wasn't really the way it

[01:09] It's interesting because when I think of Roman times or the Bible stories that happened in the Roman Empire, I often think about a scene like this. When I went to Pompeii,

[01:22] which was a city that was locked in time by the volcanic eruption of Mount by the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius, I was expecting to see the engineering marvels of the Roman Empire. I was expecting to see the

[01:34] streets and we are going to see that, but I was expecting to walk away from that with a very different feeling than what I actually walked away with. Let's start with the simple facts of what happened in a city called Pompeii. I

[01:48] know the name Pompeii sounds like some kind of Polynesian island, but it's Mediterranean Sea in Italy. It's located right here in between the modern cities of Sorrento and Naples, which at the

[02:00] time of the eruption were called Surrentum and Neapolis. Mount Vesuvius rises high above Pompeii here in the northwest. In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted burying the cities of Pompeii, Oplontis, and Herculaneum in ash and

[02:15] pyroclastic flows. Most historians believe this occurred on August 24th of been later in the year. Doesn't really matter. What we do know is that Herculaneum and Oplontis were hit immediately by pyroclastic flows killing

[02:28] people almost instantly. But because of the direction that the wind was blowing that day, Pompeii was covered in ash first and then it was later hit by subsequent pyroclastic flows. I really don't know what a pyroclastic flow is.

[02:41] When I think of a volcano erupting, I think of red molten rock lava and magma flowing down a hill and covering things. But a pyroclastic flow, as I understand, is a little bit different. It's like rock and ash that's shooting down a

[02:55] hillside with hot gases mixed in very, very quickly and that creates this wave of all this what will become sediment flowing over the city, but there's like this this little layer, this boundary layer of hot gases that these rocks and

[03:09] ash are floating on and just covering everything. It's a terrifying thing. There's a lot of interesting footage of pyroclastic flows online, but the only ones that I had the rights to were the US Geological Survey's. Back when Mount

[03:21] St. Helens erupted, there was a photographer that was in an aircraft with a 16 mm film camera. This is an 8 mm film camera. You see this is a Bell & Howell film camera, but he was flying in the aircraft and he was shooting Mount

[03:36] St. Helens from the air. You can see the pyroclastic flow running down the side of the mountain. It looks like dust running down really, really fast. That is extremely hot ash and rocks and all kinds of stuff like that. That is

[03:50] modern footage, but I didn't have the rights to any of that, so this gives you an idea of what that cloud might have looked like as it was rushing towards Pompeii. So, these pyroclastic flows just instantly hit these cities and

[04:04] covered them and locked a Roman city in time, and I have thought about this my entire life, and my beautiful wife Tara planned a trip for us for our 20th see something that's been on my bucket list forever, so let's go get smarter

[04:17] list forever, so let's go get smarter every day. logistics, which is why I thought it was fascinating that she elected to hire a

[04:29] tour guide for Pompeii. Why did you decide that a tour guide was the right Just for that particular place. It was so big, and there was so much to do that the only way to get in the door and to see the highlights was to have

[04:43] somebody do that for us. Tara likes to plan with Rick Steves tour guides. If you know, you know. In on one of the forums about Pompeii, she learned about pompeitourguide.com, which we were very excited about because

[04:55] it says that Ciro is a fourth-generation tour guide. >> you doing? Nice to meet you. Hey, Tara. Tara, nice to meet you. How are you? for the site, and then we followed him in to begin our tour. So, Pompeii was a

[05:09] never destroyed by river of lava, but was it just a buried and preserved under was it just a buried and preserved under 25 ft? It means a 7-8 m of a pumice stones and ash. All what you have to imagine is a rain of a pumice stones and

[05:22] ash from the sky. That's the reason why all the roofs, all the upper part of the all the roofs, all the upper part of the buildings collapsed. 30% of Pompeii, 1/4 of it is a still under the volcanic ash. 79 AD, the first eruption. 1748,

[05:38] the first excavation. It means for 18 centuries, all the other Roman cities and towns were all destroyed by the barbarians and all the other folks come after them, while Pompeii was always a so well preserved under a green hill,

[05:52] just like a frozen in a time. That's the reason why nowadays is so well Now we are in front of one of the main entrance. The big arch over there is called the Porta Marina. Porta Marina it means a sea gate. Why that? Down here

[06:06] there was the sea. Pompeii it was a seaport town, commercial town, trading center. About 20,000 people used to live here at the time and they used to sell really good quality of olive oil, wine, clothes,

[06:22] wooden furniture. Everyday used to come here travelers, sailors, merchants. It's a kind of Vegas of 2,000 years ago. Imagine seven different gates like this one in front of us, all around 2 miles of city wall and outside of the city

[06:37] wall we have these buildings where on the lower part the public bath, the spa >> Right right next to the the ocean. Yeah. >> would have been here. >> Yeah. Yes. This is one of the reason why the Roman Empire it last so long, 12

[06:50] the Roman Empire it last so long, 12 centuries from 700 years BC to 500 years AD. Until now no other emperor or democracy it last so long. Another reason why it last very long is because they did everything considering the

[07:04] needs of the common people. So aqueduct, sewage system, theaters, spa, roads, all in way to improve the daily lifestyle. So people felt to be loved by the Roman Empire and they were always ready to fight against any others in way to

[07:18] preserve the good lifestyle they got and supporting the emperor Rome. We headed into the street and it was surreal to be standing on stones that were built as a part of a road that belonged to the Roman Empire. I would love to give you

[07:31] inside this complex of spa. First important information, Pompeii at the moment of the explosion eruption Vesuvius it was a 700 years old a town. Now, Pompeii was the first to build 600 years BC, buried in 79 AD. So, 700 years

[07:49] the modern states to give you a better idea. Very old. That's the reason why whatever we go around, all the buildings are all originals, but built using different stones and techniques. That's

[08:03] why in some part we found the bricks, tufa stones, marble, basalt. Second important information, you have to imagine all the walls inside and outside used to be covered by plaster and decorated by colors. So, you have to

[08:15] around you. >> Like painted? Yeah, yeah, painted. Uh color You know why? Beautiful So, good combination of colors makes them feeling good. Once again, they are prepared psychologically all the travelers to

[08:28] spend money in a happy way. Colors, game, wine, women. Not just the walls of the wealthy houses, like many people used to think, but the walls of the entire town inside and outside covered by plaster and decorated by colors.

[08:41] That's awesome. Amazing. So, the first part now of every complex of spa, this opening in front of us, it was the gymnasium of the time, where they did a warm whistling, a bit of sports before going in the spa. Huh? Please, let's go

[08:54] inside. Mind your step, watch your feet. >> I thought I knew what to expect when going to be like a hot water place, a cold water place, but I wasn't prepared for the brothel. >> First of all, the roof is not original.

[09:07] archaeologist with the same shape and same stuff. So, all the original roofs were done like this. What I mean? With the wooden beams covered by terracotta tiles. Then you have to imagine decorations all over, 360°.

[09:21] What I mean? Payments, walls, and also ceiling. The The ceiling in some part is collapsed at the time. But you have to imagine decorations and colors everywhere. We have original mosaic floor in all of the complex of spa. Why

[09:37] that? Beautiful decorations not slippery with the wet feet. Beautiful and functional. For the Romans everything is to be beautiful and functional. Not just beautiful, just functional, but both. We are talking about original colors,

[09:49] frescoes on walls of 2,000 years ago. And on your right a kind of reception of the time where they did welcome to the complex of spa. Now, um So, this is like where you check in? Yes.

[10:03] Welcome. Okay. And then the colors after 2,000 years look so new, so vivid for a special technique they use at the time. They prepare every walls with the two, three layer of a plaster,

[10:17] very thick layer of plaster. On the last layer of plaster still fresh, they painted. That's why frescoes, painted on the fresh plaster. It absorbs all the colors and stays forever. Always do the example of a tattoo. When we do a

[10:31] tattoo, the colors goes through the seven layers of skin and stays forever. The same technique they use at the time. That's why you find all the walls covered with this very thick layer of plaster all over. Just on the last layer

[10:43] the colors. And the colors from all what they could find in the nature, the pigments of a flowers, of a plants. All right? That looks like an angel. A right? That looks like an angel. A cupid, yeah. Oh, it's cupid.

[11:02] see over here in this first room, to the right we have a door. Of course it's not the original door of the time. Behind the door we have the stairs leading up to the second stories. And we have a many erotic paintings on the

[11:15] have a many erotic paintings on the walls showing different position of sex. Now, nothing to do with the modern pornography, but all was done to avoid any misunderstanding between the travelers and the girls speaking

[11:27] different languages. It was like a menu. Look at the numbers. 1 2 3 4 5 6. The numbers indicate the lockers where they put clothes, but also the position of

[11:39] sex. Unfortunately, we missed the other specialty of the house. Number 13, 14, 15, just your imagination. Seeing this was pretty heartbreaking. There's the exploitation of people, many

[11:52] of them slaves, by other people for sexual pleasure, financial gain. There's just a lot wrong here. And I think I would be naive if I just pretended like, "Oh, the ancient world was the only place where this kind of

[12:06] thing exists." There are probably more slaves on Earth today than in the ancient Roman Empire. That's just like raw numbers. That's just the way it is. And there are financial incentives today for people to be sexually exploited and

[12:20] trafficked. So, I just thought about the total depravity of humans, like human nature, and how it was just a very sad thing to see it all here. But, there's something about seeing people being able to be ordered on a menu that really

[12:36] bothered me. As a Christian, um and thinking about the context of Jesus entering into this society where the normalization of sexual exploitation was everywhere, it's very interesting and it it helps me

[12:50] understand how radical and dangerous the teachings of the young Christian church would have been in a location like this. about here. We looked around the rest of the spa and uh I saw all kinds of

[13:04] interesting engineering things that went into how they made the floors warm and things like that. But, as we exited the spa, I asked Ciro an interesting question and he gave me a fascinating answer. When it was uncovered initially,

[13:17] was it colorful? Yes, it was more beautiful than now. Uh Pompeii first time excavated was something left intact. So, colors everywhere, original around. Then, after the first excavations, the the

[13:34] during the years the colors disappearing under the pollution, rain, sun. Then, the Second World War, during the Second World War, more or less 160 bombs

[13:46] exploded in this archaeological area, destroying much others. And then, the pollution. And then, we don't have a good technical preservation. That's why we totally agree with the archaeologists to go very slow with the excavations to

[14:00] Otherwise, in a bit of time we lose everything. Because the things today are better preserved underneath and outside. all of the world, but first time excavated may be more beautiful than

[14:14] the center of the city on the hill where Pompeii was built and we got our bearings. Up here you can see that Pompeii was built in a in amazing location. We are on top of the hill in the middle of everything. We

[14:28] your left. The islands of Ischia covering this direction behind by the wall, the Mediterranean Sea down there, which was once much closer. Nice breeze from the sea, can you feel it? Yes.

[14:42] >> That's why locations, locations, locations. But, the Romans were the first to pave the roads all around. They did the the roads all around. They did the 75,000 miles of highways all around.

[14:54] That's why the expression all the roads lead to Rome. But, they realized very soon that on the same roads used to go the animals and the people. So, now there was a problem because the animals left excrements on

[15:07] the floor and people people used to walk on it. This was not really good. What did the Romans invented for the people for the very first time are the sidewalks left and right everywhere. All along the sidewalks the people just

[15:21] animals. >> All right. Destiny, but the problem is still on the floor. Huh? Pee-pee, poo-poo, how to wash the roads? >> In all of the city, they got many water fountains, always left open, cleaning

[15:36] and washing the roads every time. Fantastico, clever. Yeah. And how to Fantastico, clever. Yeah. And how to cross road avoiding wet feet? Look down there, the central stepping stones to cross the road avoiding wet feet. That's

[15:51] >> Yes. But during the night, no illumination, no electricity, how to recognize the roads by the sidewalks? The small and white marble chips, the

[16:03] The small and white marble chips, the reflectors, the cats' eyes to reflect either the moonlight or the torches' light people normally got during the evenings. Huh? So smart. So the

[16:16] the white rock in the road. We have the central stepping stones, We have the central stepping stones, huh? To cross road avoiding wet feet. wheels, is this the same gauge as the wagon wheel?

[16:30] >> Yes, but the wagons, the chariots, how they were able to pass through? Now, first of all, they all got the same gauge, so standard, always pulled it by two animals, usually two donkeys in a line with the two wheels. So imagine,

[16:44] one donkey on a wheel to the right, one donkey on a wheel to the left, one wagon in this direction, another one to the other side, so two-way road. Wherever you find the three or four central stepping stones, it means two-way, but

[16:57] only. But once again, one-way, two-way, sidewalks, crosswalks. One thing I find interesting about crosswalks in modern interesting about crosswalks in modern society is these white squares are kind

[17:11] society is these white squares are kind of like the raised stones in Pompeii at pedestrian crossings, which I think is really cool. Makes me think about not stepping here from now on, but I think that's neat. Isn't that cool?

[17:25] Okay. Yeah. The most of funny picture to do in Pompeii is crossing the roads like The Beatles. Abbey Road. Huh? Uh And then we have the Mount Vesuvius in front of us. Huh? The volcano before

[17:39] the eruption was much higher and bigger than now. Huh? Can you see the right peak and the left one? Yes. So, with your imagination, put together high in your imagination, put together high in the sky. It was one big cone. After the

[17:52] the sky. It was one big cone. After the eruption '79, one part blew up. Huh? Do we have any idea how tall it was? >> Uh more or less 2,000 m high. Today is >> Uh more or less 2,000 m high. Today is 1,281

[18:06] >> Huh? Is it still active? It is one >> It's kind of ominous, isn't it? It kind of feels like it's overbearing, like >> Yeah. It looks so very close from here. Yeah. And Still active. One of the most dangerous

[18:19] volcano in the world. That's why in a bit of time, I mean, when you go back home in a bit of time staying home, you hear about another eruption Vesuvius, please thinking about me. Pray for me. Yeah, absolutely. You're a guide, for

[18:34] sure. No, we say 79 AD the eruption Vesuvius, Pompeii was destroyed by pumice stones and ash. Above the ash grew the vegetation. Everybody forgot about Pompeii for 18 centuries because Pompeii became a green hill. Now, who

[18:50] and how Pompeii it was founded? Now, Pompeii it was a founded by the Spanish with an accident because during the 1748, during the first excavations, we were under the Spanish dominations. And the

[19:03] Spanish were building in this area an aqueduct. Just in cutting the hill of Pompeii, they found the remains of an ancient Roman town. So, Pompeii it was founded by the Spanish with an accident after 18th century that it was frozen in

[19:18] a time. So, this is a mixture of terracotta brick and volcanic stone. Yeah, now I tell you more about bricks. I will see you very interesting. Now, the bricks are originals, but the bricks got a cost

[19:32] because they need to produce. In a way to save a money during the constructions, they use bricks only in the corners. Look, all the corners made by bricks. The rest of the wall with the poor stones, local stones having no

[19:47] cost. But then, always covered by plaster decorated by colors. It was once never possible to see how the buildings were made out of. Everything was under covered by plaster decorated by colors.

[20:00] >> straight and just uh Yes. And then they just had volumetric fill in the middle, right? All the corners made by bricks. Inside the wall, the rest of the wall poor stones, local stones having no cost. East to west was the longest side

[20:15] of Pompeii because having no electricity, the sunlight was important. Here, from the sunrise till to the sunset, they always got sunlight all along this side, east to west. And everything once again was like in a

[20:29] everything once again was like in a modern town. Look, sidewalks left and right, crosswalk in the middle, house and shops left and right, second story with a balcony terrace, colors everywhere, a large number of wagons.

[20:42] Look how deep are the tracks left by the wheels of the wagons. The wheels of the wagons were made by wooden all around and iron circle, no shock absorbers, very noisy, produced the tracks, the grooves on the floor.

[20:56] Originals. Wow. They were very systematic people. Look, shop, house, shop. he gets the prize. house, shop. The building is over is a block. Then start another block, shop,

[21:11] house, shop. Very systematic people. Okay, you're smart. AnyDesk is free. That's the sponsor for this video. And so my first question is if something's free, does that mean I'm the product? And the answer is not in this case

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[22:39] in England for an upcoming video that we're working on and I just logged into my computer that was in Alabama and I was like, man, this is crazy. I'm on a train in England, but I'm logged into the computer in Alabama, nuts. But

[22:51] move files around. They've got a built-in FTP system so you can move files from one system to the other. It's all integrated and and works seamlessly. AnyDesk is awesome, you can try it. It's free. anydesk.com/smarter

[23:05] if you want to check it out. I think you will really enjoy it. Literally free. here is they're like, "Well, if people want to use this for like their job." going to take it to your business and get an account there.

[23:19] anydesk.com/smarter. Big thanks to AnyDesk, specifically Matt, for hooking me up with sponsorships here on Smarter Every Day, letting me do really cool stuff, giving me some of my life back, enabling me to

[23:31] go out and about while still getting the stuff done that I want to do. Yeah, that's it. Now, over here I'm able to show you one example of a water fountain. Now, the water fountains were made by four blocks of a lava, like this

[23:45] one, one, two, three, and four, or four blocks of white marble like the next I show you later. Anyway, the four blocks used to be tied together by iron, salted in stones by lead. When the fountain was a full, So, this is the lead.

[24:00] >> Yes. And this is iron. >> Yes. Was the iron poured in position or the iron and then they put the lead to fix. I see. Uh, yes. when the fountain was a full, also animals were able to drink a clean water

[24:15] from the pool, like horses, cows, donkeys. But through the central opening that every fountains got, the water flowed out the Slance Road, cleaning and washing the roads every time. >> So, it flowed out right here. Yes. Ah.

[24:29] >> Yeah. Is this Does this represent This is for your animals? Yeah, this one is a is for your animals? Yeah, this one is a kind of uh face of a bull. Now, because at the time the roads got no name, only the

[24:41] most important roads like in Rome, the Appian Way. But the roads in the middle of the uh province and all the town they got no name. That's why every water fountain got a different decoration. Here, for

[24:54] of a bull, and probably you were able to find the found with the face of a horse, of a cow, and so on. Just to recognize into the city. water, they start to close the water first in the spa, then in the houses at

[25:09] the end of the water fountains. Water fountains always left open. back to the road, like you can see over here, three or four central stepping stones to wait was a kind of a main road. And if you see on your left

[25:28] One or two is a one-way. Ah, yeah. But unfortunately, we don't know which way. there, please. If I've learned anything about Italian roads, it's like you just

[25:43] about Italian roads, it's like you just make your own rules. On the way up to this house, I'm able to show you original lead water pipes. So, you can They got lead water pipes everywhere

[25:59] They got lead water pipes everywhere under the side roads, under Sorry, under the sidewalks, under the roads not visible. But the lead is poisoning. Yes, it is. But the water flow always along the pipes leaves a

[26:13] layer of a calcium all around and protected the rest of the water. Let's say that they got drinkable water in all of the city. But in any case, we are talking about 2,000 years ago. I think the time they used to die very young,

[26:26] 40, 45 years. And this one of the reason, the lead water pipes. Lead was poisoning. But the most impressive things to me, in Italy, we never had the lead. Romans went to conquer UK just for lead.

[26:42] Wow. What I would love that to understand, we are visiting the final result of all the knowledge that the Romans went to conquer all the other lands. Otherwise, it looks like the talents were genial, the other folks

[26:55] were stupid. No. That's why I did the comparison with the Americans and states of nowadays. Today in US, Italians, Jewish, Spanish, Japanese, Chinese working side by side and improving everything for the state.

[27:09] And here we are, 2,000 years ago, exactly the same. See, what is this Is this iron? What What is this ring? Hello, this one is iron, this one is lead, and this one is the calcium of water. And over there,

[27:23] I'm able I'm able to show you how two pipes used to be joined together. >> Oh, gosh, I'm so excited. This is so so excited. We still do the same after excited. We still do the same after 2,000 years.

[27:39] happened? I don't understand. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So, they How two pipes used to be joined together, soldered with lead.

[27:51] which is where we get plumbing, which is awesome. So, I could make an entire video about the lead pipes used in ancient Rome, because I've always been fascinated by it. In fact, I went to Bath, England, to the Roman baths there.

[28:05] If you ever get a chance to do that, it's fascinating. They have a fantastic make lead pipes. You can see they've got a big ingot or a pig of lead here, like Ciro was saying, there's a lot more lead in the UK than there is down in Italy.

[28:20] made. They wrap it around a piece of wood, they crease it on one side, and they use some clay to stop up one side, and then they pour molten lead to seal that seam, which is fascinating. I could make an entire video about how the lead

[28:34] pipes work in ancient Rome, but let's just get back to Pompeii. That's kind of beyond the scope of this video. Solder it. Yeah. This one is iron, and this one >> It looks like they held the Looks like they held the pipe down.

[28:47] >> Yeah, because the lead water pipes were always still. One with the T connection is to bring water directly to the the shops and the houses and the other lead water pipe uh bring water directly from one to the next water tanks wasting no

[29:04] pressure. The lead water pipes were always still. You know there's been a this. Look at this thing. So we have other Huh? Lead water pipes. Oh, yeah. The city one. But they go everywhere. So the

[29:18] only the only thing that we can see today only in a few part of the city, have been Uh so this is the side of the road here. Would there have been wood here? Or this is just dirt?

[29:32] >> a sidewalk. Terracotta. I mean, you know. Yeah. Maybe later I show you some. It's amazing. It's amazing. You can see also here. Look.

[29:48] Oh, wow. Other lead water pipes. The junctions. Mhm. It's a close here. Yeah, so nobody can damage it. Yeah. Other

[30:13] You know, they go up. You know why? Why? I see they go up. Because They go over the road. >> Oh, no. On top of these pillar uh this pillar they got an additional water tanks. Wow.

[30:27] >> Yes. So local storage. To because the water I don't know explain you about the water system. The water was a spring water coming from the mountain Avellino Monte Serino 40 miles far from here. They did an aqueduct to

[30:42] made by arches a bit slant to let the water the water running from on top of the mountain till it reach the highest part of Pompeii over there and where they built in a huge water tank. You see the building full of bricks is the main

[30:57] huge water tank. The water for gravity all along the lead water pipes used to flow in all of the shops and houses, but there was a problem because the water lost pressure. No pumps at the time, no engine. How to give water to to last the

[31:11] shop the last house in the city? They invented what we used to say the system the system of a communicated the vases. They did the pillars all over the city like this one on top of which an additional water tanks which was a

[31:27] smaller than the main one but at the same height and the lead water pipes were always tall like I told you before. So one with the T connection used to bring water in all of the houses and the shops. The second lead water pipe used

[31:39] to bring water directly from one to the next water tanks wasting no pressure. you go home you put glasses of the same size. If you connect them, put the water in the first glass, the water

[31:52] automatically goes in all of the others. That's what they invented 2,000 years ago without pumps without engine. Impressive. And I'm able to show you this so you can touch actually the original calcium water on the pillar.

[32:06] This one is the original calcium water. Huh? Of 2,000 years ago. That that's the Yeah, original calcium water of 2,000 Yeah, original calcium water of 2,000 years ago.

[32:23] It's incredible. You like chemistry? Taking a picture? Look. This is all the calcium. You see? This is all the pipes. Huh? Yes. >> Go to the next water tank. That's why you see the lead water pipes up.

[32:36] >> Yeah. That's amazing. So, we're about to enter a famous house in Pompeii known as the Vetti House. It's the house of two brothers. They seem to be rich. And Ciro going to see when I walk in the house. And I'm just not picking up what he's

[32:51] says it. And I think you'll get an idea for what these people are like as soon as we walk in the door. At the very main entrance of the Vetti House, V E T T I, it was the house of two Roman brothers. They were two very rich merchants. I

[33:07] are the same. What I mean, the same layout. The sides and the decorations others. Now, at the very main entrance of the house of this house, we have a god the Priapus.

[33:22] Pompeii. >> Priapus? Yes. What is that word? >> Priapus. I show you Okay. God the Priapus always

[33:34] symbol. >> Oh, I see. No, many, many times we found a phallic symbol. So, many, many times, sorry, we found the god Priapus in Pompeii. Here is a very well preserved. Why god the Priapus many times because

[33:52] the phallic symbol it got different meanings, but one of the most important meaning it was good luck, abundance, prosperity. Now, the owners of this house

[34:06] they want to show the others that they were rich. So, the very main entrance we have god the Priapus with his big phallic symbol. He is okay, you are rich, but not elegant at the very

[34:20] are rich, but not elegant at the very main entrance of the house. Please. I see. So, was he was he a Roman god? Yes, it was a Roman god. It was the uh the phallic symbol, symbol of uh

[34:34] uh the phallic symbol, symbol of uh abundance, prosperity, good luck, abundance, prosperity, good luck, fertility. Now, the owners of this house were just rich, but not elegant. They were nouveau riche, a show-off, new

[34:48] money. Huh? Now, they want to show the others that they were rich. Imagine that at the very main entrance of the house, we have a found the two bronze money chest, two bronze money box. One to the left, one to the right. Literally to

[35:02] show their money. Yeah. I mean, we have a found the two name on it. we have a found the two name on it. Aulus Vettius Restituta, Aulus Vettius Conviva, the name of the two Roman brothers. That's why Vetti House.

[35:16] Please, I show you. Let's go this way. the owners, Aulus Vettius Conviva, Aulus Vettius Restitutus.

[35:32] Huh? Mhm. The two Roman brothers. >> Brothers owned the house together. Yes. Huh? Two original bronze money chest, >> treasure chests just sitting out so everybody could see it.

[35:44] >> to show the others that at the very main entrance of the house. Huh? Then, People don't change, do they? >> No, no, no, no. Nothing Oh, I don't With the Romans, we are at the very beginning of our modern days.

[35:56] Nothing changed. Ciro showed us more of the Vetti House. We had a dining room there would be three couches where people could lay down. We also saw the kitchen and the bathroom seemed to be kind of co-located. Ciro showed us the

[36:09] original water pipe that brought water into the kitchen, and then of course, there was this. Here, we have another room for sex with the one, two, three frescos on the walls showing these firm position of sex.

[36:24] So, the one to the left, that one to the right very well preserved. I suggest to have a picture. First of all, because this house reopened after 20 years, only a few months ago. But also because you can see the details. You can see how the

[36:39] beds were made at the time. The women already got the bra. Is it possible that it was just the bedroom? And Mhm, I think this one not. This one is was a room for sex because I told you before, so they used to

[36:55] uh pointing. Huh? I want this. I want this. I want this. Like a menu. Mhm, so. that A little little second story, so probably where it still stay other other

[37:11] prostitutes or other slaves. Well, probably these are the owners of this house were two very rich wine merchants, but they also owned prostitutes. Over there used to work as slaves prostitutes. Huh? Now, um slaves

[37:25] prostitutes used to work together with other girls in a small rooms, stones bed. Uh they got the pimp. Uh they were interested to work hard in a good way because probably tips by tips made by the travelers, they were able to

[37:40] buy the freedom. They are going to do the same kind of a job on their own. That's is the difference. I don't I don't like the guys that owned this house. Come along. Now, this

[37:52] room it was a bedroom. Here you have to imagine a bed. Um what's important to see, to understand, is that 2,000 years ago, they they already knew the perspective and the

[38:05] optical illusion of depth. Something which is very modern fashion. The French people call it trompe l'oeil, the trick of the eyes. You know, Giotto, Michelangelo, Donatello, they need to re-carve it. Something the Romans

[38:18] already knew at the time. But at the time Pompeii was still covered, it was still buried. In this room no second stories, but they want to give you the illusion of the second stories. How? There is this big crown molding running

[38:32] all around sharing the lower part to the upper part. On the upper part the prospective, so it looks like that we can walk on top of the stairs or we can enter in a wall. Oh, yeah. Like you can see the perspective of the stairs really

[38:47] good, right? >> Yes, very good. Yes. And there's this big crown big crown molding running running all around sharing the lower part to the upper part. Now, with the prospective the rooms, the houses looks

[39:00] >> Oh, yeah. Look at this. So, we have those stairs going in from the right and we have these going in from the left. Now, the first part of every house or home is the atrium. We are in the

[39:14] and cabinets to the right and to the They got the opening in the middle of the roof for the skylight. Since used to rain through the opening the square pool on the floor collect the raining water

[39:27] through the hole the raining water flows down to the road cleaning and washing the roads every time. It's exactly the same for the slaves, It's exactly the same for the slaves, just a smaller.

[39:42] that you can have for yourself. For this Cupid on a cancer, when you go home you can print, you can put on you in your house is one of the best or maybe the best souvenir that you can have from Pompeii, from this house too.

[39:57] I show you also picture to send to your friends. This is for yourself. This one is a picture to send to your friends. They will love it. Oh, goodness.

[40:13] statue of Priapus? I don't remember it. It was the big wiener guy. Uh uh uh obviously I didn't think much of it.

[40:25] THAT'S FUNNY. AND HERE WE have Urania. Urania was the goddess of the universe showing the world. This one is the second time that we can see the world. Huh? So, 2,000 years ago they knew that the world was a globe.

[40:40] the world was a globe. Now is the time to show you a bakery. Okay. Not a simple one. What I mean, the best preserved in all of the city. We best preserved in all of the city. We have a found the 37 bakeries all around.

[40:52] Yeah, please. Yeah. what I consider the best preserved. Uh? So, look at the meals. The meals were

[41:06] made by two lava stones. We have a conical block of a lava. This one fixed on a floor, on top of which a biconical block of a lava. They put in the grain from the top. And they got a wooden pole in one hole,

[41:22] another one to the other side, and the upper stone used to be turned around by slaves or animals, usually donkeys. From the bottom came the flour. All around a wooden collector where the flour was collected. All along this side you have

[41:37] to imagine a table. Uh with the four or five slaves used to work and produce loaves of a bread. And then, hard to believe, the oven, which is just the same we still use today in a typical Italian pizzeria. Nothing has really

[41:53] changed. The same arch, the same quality of bricks, the small wooden storage, and The dome inside? >> Yeah. My dears, if after 2,000 years, not 20, not 200, but 2,000, we did not invented

[42:10] better than this, is because the taste of the food cooked in an oven like this always got a special taste, a smoked taste. We invented other kind of ovens like the electric one, but the same pizza cooked in an oven like this is the

[42:25] original pizza. Cooked in electric ovens is no more a pizza, we call it a is no more a pizza, we call it a focaccia, not pizza anymore. found the three pieces of a bread inside, so black, carbonized. It means

[42:40] working over here. When suddenly the eruption of Vesuvius, they run away, But we understand that the eruption of Vesuvius was during the day and not during the night, because they were working. Wow. This I've never seen a

[42:55] mill like this. Yeah. And this iron. Yeah, they tied it. others. Yeah, look at that. See there, there's also a picture of the mill.

[43:10] That's good. The wooden poles. stone? >> Lava stone. Conical block of a lava. They got lava stone from a previous

[43:25] It's amazing. I have never seen a mill design like a double cone mill. We've seen the the rolling stone mill, right? We've seen the the millstone that's a

[43:39] horizontal disc. But a double cone, I wonder I wonder if that's more efficient. Well, it would have to cuz it's funneling down the like only a small amount can enter at the same time instead of a large amount. And

[43:51] then it would spread it. Yeah. Bottom to be able to drive it. Does that make sense? It does. All right. Now what you see What do you think is this room? Is this what I think it is?

[44:03] >> I would have thought a bathroom. Mhm. I well, I think I've read about this. Mhm. What? Is this a Is this a fast food joint? Yes. call it the wine bar and fast food. Yeah?

[44:18] >> Huh? Wine bar and fast food because in these terracotta jars closing in a wall was possible to keep either cool wine or warm food. They used to work like the thermos of today. Inside which if you put something cold stays cold, something

[44:32] warm stays warm. I call wine bar and fast food, but the Latin word is a thermopolium, a thermos, because it's work like the thermos of today. So, imagine one side a kind of buffet, vegetable soup, fish, meat, chicken,

[44:47] whatever. They got the lids on top made by wooden. One side a buffet to the other side of wine bar. That's because I told you in this terracotta jars was possible to keep either cool wine or warm food. Something about seeing how

[45:00] normal people probably ate lunch on the streets of the Roman Empire was fascinating to me, and it made me want to connect more with the everyday things that they did. Now, a lot of the artifacts they found at Pompeii were not

[45:12] locally on site, some were, I'll show you later, but many of the artifacts found in Pompeii and Herculaneum were taken to the National Archaeological Museum in Naples. Tara and I had a few minutes to speed run that museum, and we

[45:24] saw all kinds of fascinating things. We saw ancient Roman glass. We saw lamps houses. We saw art, paintings that looked like menus. We saw mosaics. One thing I thought was really interesting are these little idols, these little

[45:39] statues. Some of which were terracotta, some were bronze. I find these statues to be fascinating because I've read about them. In Acts 19, it's talking about the disturbance that's come up into the Roman Empire because this new

[45:52] thing called Christianity, or it's referred to here as the way, it's disturbing the sexual ethics and the market forces of the day. Here you can see uh, Acts 19:23. About that time there arose no little

[46:06] disturbance concerning the way. For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. So Demetrius made stuff like this, spoons, saucers, plates, silver, right? But

[46:22] Demetrius also made things like this, little bitty idols to certain gods, but he made them out of silver and it's fascinating because Demetrius recognized if these gods are no longer assigned the deity that the culture assigned them,

[46:37] then their value goes to zero, except for the weight of the silver, right? So he riled people up and got them really angry at these new group of people, these Christians or the way, and I I think it's fascinating. We're reading

[46:52] context about people that made things like this, like this silver pepper shaker. This person cared about the affairs of the finances of the Roman Empire. Like Christianity was subversive and dangerous to the political and

[47:07] financial forces of the day, and it just made things really, really real to me in a way that I I hadn't thought about before. Also, I thought their keys were look at the keys. I don't know why. Oh my goodness, look at these keys,

[47:22] Oh my goodness, look at these keys, Tara. So let's go back to the streets of Pompeii and fair warning, the next thing we're about to see is pretty somber. We're not going to see the actual bodies

[47:36] of the people that were buried in ash. We're going to see plaster casts of the voids where the bodies were. So this is pretty heavy stuff. How many years? pretty heavy stuff. How many years? Now, how they did the plaster cast?

[47:50] Imagine during the excavations, the archaeologists felt under the volcanic ash empty spaces left by the decompositions of a bodies. What to do?

[48:02] They simply did injections of a liquid the plaster in these empty spaces. Liquid plaster took the shape of the previous bodies. When it dried up, the archaeologist cleaned all the ash away and appeared the bodies in same

[48:18] positions the people were when they died. It means the original bones skeletons is a still in there. The plaster casts are so important for three reason. We can see the original shape of the bodies. The original bones

[48:32] skeletons is a still in there. And last moment of a life. People died in these positions, huh? Like you can see. The first reason people died was asphyxiated, suffocated by gas. They were not able to breathe.

[48:47] And then buried. This guy in the middle is not praying, but he's got part of his clothes near the mouth and the nose. So, first they asphyxiated and then buried. Looking at the casts, they were not very tall. They were short, tiny people. All

[49:02] right? Take your time for pictures.

[49:23] no, it's difficult to say how many people died, how many people escape. Um at the same time it's maybe difficult to say how many people used to live in a house, how many slaves they got. Right. But I would love to show you also other

[49:38] bodies. Maybe more beautiful than these because other bodies are without a glass on it. Okay. Yes. You can see very close. Of course, we are not able to close. Of course, we are not able to touch.

[49:56] went in and saw what was possibly a family of four discovered together. Look at this thing. Here we are able to see the original skull of the baby. >> Oh, that's awful. It's very interesting though. The

[50:10] original skull, also some uh uh clothes.

[50:27] bodies of the people, the plaster cast the bodies? It made it made it real, right? It made it very real to see families. families. Yeah. Yeah, it was heavy. And the protection, the way that

[50:41] you know the way that they lived out the very end, right? Yeah. It's it's bizarre to think that those plaster casts were actual people. And there's something very odd about

[50:55] being right next to I the a person's final moments. It it it doesn't feel sacrilegious or I I don't What's the word? It it's heavy. It's just a very It's a very heavy thing. It made the Roman Empire

[51:10] come alive to me in a way that nothing else ever has. I had this image in my head of what Rome was and I walked away from Pompeii thinking something very, very different about Rome. I thought slavery was a

[51:25] really big part of this. They were out in the open with a lot of the the sexual stuff. Um it was just it was just a vile time. That's so funny cuz I just I didn't walk away feel I that's not how I left it. I

[51:39] left it seeing how storefronts were set up and the logistics of running a house worked and like how um things were built in a way for function without what we have today. So,

[51:53] I think I took a little bit different. I I guess being in the physical space streets and you got to experience it in a different way. Ciro and I really enjoyed our time with Ciro. He was super professional, very patient with us,

[52:08] taught us so much through stories, and when we saw this model at the National Museum in Naples, it made us realize that we had only the surface because the site is huge. There's an amphitheater, another brothel, the Temple of Isis.

[52:22] to show us, but because we had to catch a train, we had to cut it short. >> Ciro, thank you. So, um let's just let's just end it here. So, if people want to other things you didn't show us, of course. Yeah, definitely. So, the area

[52:38] is very big. So, uh how how do they get in touch with you? Uh you can uh go on website and contact pompeiitourguide.com.

[52:50] generation, right? >> Yeah, fourth, yes. pleasure to meet you. Okay, I hope you enjoyed this episode of Smarter Every Day, and I hope that when you think of the ancient Roman Empire, this video has

[53:05] made you look at it a little bit differently. It certainly did me, and um I'm grateful that I was able to do this uh with my wife. It was a fascinating experience. I think we grew as a couple and as people experiencing this

[53:18] together, and so I'm grateful that you let me do this. So, big thanks to everybody that supports Smarter Every Day at patreon.com/smartereveryday. I'm grateful for your support. Uh it's it's changed my life, and I hope that I

[53:33] continue to earn your support by doing this sort of stuff. So, that's it. I'm Destin. You're getting smarter every day. Have a good one. Bye.