There is a unique place in the world where the thin line between History and contemporaneity is hardly distinguishable. Walking the streets of ancient Pompeii feels like hanging on the tightrope of time without fear of falling: a place enclosing two thousand years in the day where body, spirit and heart of any human present there become as one with those who preceded. And when you manage to tear your mind away from the perennial fascination that such a place impresses on its visitors, it turns out the protagonists of this never-ending tale are not only the men and women who inhabit that world but also and above all, other animals.
Dogs, cats, chickens, horses, crocodiles, lions, gazelles, rams, bears and many other species. Their presence at the Pompeii excavations is everywhere: in the mosaics and frescoes. They are immortalized in statues, eternally kept in plaster casts and are even the main characters of children's drawings house walls crystallized under ashes over time and forever returned to the world.
Kodami has made an exclusive documentary: we went to the excavations to look at the history of Pompeii not only from an anthropocentric perspective. We traveled through time to unveil, through the voice of Luana Toniolo, archeologist and site official, a story about living beings and how the relationship between animals and people was already a cornerstone of the culture of that age, far beyond the agricultural or food use that the ancient Romans made of animals.
79 AC, when everything ends and begins for human and non-human animals
The fate of human and non-human animals who lived in a city of about 30,000 inhabitants ends and begins together on August the 25th After Christ (or more likely in October 79 AD). «We have to imagine that at the beginning there was a rain of lapilli which slowly filled the hallways of houses and gardens. Then the first part of the Vesuvius Eruption made the roofs collapse and those who survived this first phase, which lasted about 12 hours, tried to escape from the first floors of the houses: the city was entirely covered with gray pumice in a lunar climate».
This is how Luana Toniolo begins the story of a place that has been and continues to be a source of inspiration for humanity. But her narration for Kodami proceeds from a perspective of Pompeii that had not yet been narrated. The archeologist does it in front of our cameras but, above all, turning her back to a newly restored masterpiece that has not yet been unveiled to the public: a huge fresco of a hunting scene in the Casa dei Ceii.
«Those who tried to escape were bewildered: the city was unrecognizable. But unfortunately, another terrible phase struck Pompeii: at about 10 am the next day, a very high temperature and extremely high-speed current of ashes and lapilli surged, covering everything and preserving goods and beings for eternity. The bodies that even today we archeologists continue to find, however, are not only those of men, women and children. The casts that have been made can give us a last and unique testimony, not only of the people who inhabited this city about 2,000 years ago, but also of their animal companions always present in daily life: animals in general but also pets who already where a reality at that time, dogs and cats who lived in close contact just as family members».
And that is where the journey through time we invite you to take with us begins. But this time, we will dig into the history of the relationship between humans and animals. We will discover together that, 2000 years ago, our bond with other sentient beings who inhabited the planet was not so different, for better or for worse, from the one still existing today. As Luana Toniolo explains, while she accompanies us through the streets of a city that is once again populated by men but also, this time, by many animals: «Times can change but human nature and feelings remain unchanged».
Casa dei Ceii, among the wild animal protagonists of the frescoes and mosaics in the patrician houses
Entering the homes of the Pompeiians of 79 AD means diving into their daily life studded with animal symbolism. And before discovering and going into the depth of the daily relationship that the ancient Romans had with dogs and cats in particular, we can paint in our mind a fresco in which wild species are predominant as it used to be in the culture of the era.
The fascination that comes from distant territories and ancient myths is still a memento in the homes of the wealthiest classes and the most evocative example of this is the wonderful frescoed wall welcoming the visitor as he enters the Casa dei Ceii.
The entrance is on vicolo del Melandro, a narrow street reachable from the Via dell'Abbondanza. The access to this house already leads to the kingdom of animals: a marble table with lions' heads stands out in the front and when you arrive in the garden, the full-length fresco shown in its original magnificence thanks to a recent restoration is absolutely breathtaking. Today the Casa dei Ceii is still closed to the public.
«This is one of the oldest and most famous domus of Pompeii – explains Luana Toniolo – characterized by this beautiful painting reproducing a hunting scene with wild animals like antelopes, gazelles and bulls. What is reproduced here is a topos of Pompeiian painting because between the first century BC and the first century AD many scenes like this were recreated in gardens to let nature into the houses. In the lower part of the fresco, some plants recreate an atmosphere and make guests feel part of the distant landscapes home of exotic animals. Above all the world of animals is the most recalled and the subjects painted are those that the Romans had encountered in Egypt and other parts of North Africa. Many Pompeiians did not know them directly but they built themselves an iconography through what was reproduced in many houses: you must imagine that at that time, inhabitants feasted in this space and we can also assume that some of these animals were seen at the games that took place in the local amphitheater where bears, giraffes and other wild animals were involved as the ancient sources tell us».
Another example of the Romans extreme fascination for exotic animals is the floor mosaic of Casa dell’Orso ferito (“The House of Wounded Bear”), which dates back to the mid-first century AD. and owes its name to the animal that welcomes visitors with the words "HAVE" (a greeting sign) next to it.
The fresco of Casa dei Ceii is however one of the most important examples of the strong impact of animals in Roman culture: it also features wolves against boars, a tiger chasing a ram, a lion trying to grab a bull and laterally pictures landscapes of the Nile with other animals of the Egyptian delta. No humans are represented, hunting is shown from the point of view of animals, prey and predators in the natural dynamics of events that characterize the life of each species.
The reference to the gladiatorial games that the archeologist made explaining the fresco of the Ceii house brings to mind a detail on another painting that opens a window on the imagination of the children of Pompeii. Today as then, the little ones were fascinated by the animals and also by the men who fought to the death in the arenas. Inside the Antiquarium, the exhibition venue that finally gave the Archaeological Park a place where visitors can admire the findings on site, is exposed a painting that adorned one of the houses in Pompeii. However, you must look carefully to discover the engravings at its bottom: they are drawings of children who reproduced the fights also held in the city amphitheater. It pictures men wearing typical gladiator armors facing wild animals.
Animals in religion: sacrificial offerings and symbols of protection and prayer. Diana and Faun
«Animals are also part of the religious world of Pompeii and the Pompeiians had small domestic altars inside their houses, called “larari”, dedicated to the cult of their ancestors in which references to the wildlife are often found», continues Luana Toniolo.
In fact, the house next door to the House of Cei is the Casa del Criptoportico, in which there is a lararium characterized by one of the most symbolic animal from a religious point of view: the snake. «During the excavations we also found blood offerings of small animals, such as birds. Thanks to archaeozoological studies, we could understand they were the same that the ones often represented in the frescoes. On the larari, however, there were also representations that paid homage to animals and the snake is a truly typical one in all Pompeian contexts».
In the Roman world, large coils snakes had a different value compared to our contemporary perception: «Nowadays snake are perceived as dangerous and bad animals – explains Toniolo – But in the ancient Rome it was a “daemon”, a spirit of positive elements and a talisman to remove negativity from the house».
From religion to mythology the step is short, in a place where «many paintings show us different animals that Pompeiians could know more or less directly and illustrate stories of divinity – explains Toniolo – For example, in the Casa del Menandro we have the representation of Diana and Actaeon. It represents the moment when the goddess transforms Actaeon, a hunter who had dared to watch her as she bathed naked, into a deer. Actaeon is then mauled by the dogs. Several domus pictorial examples recalling this episode where found, such as the very famous fresco in the Casa della Caccia Antica where Apollo is also depicted as the one who, according to other interpretations and driven by jealousy towards his sister, would be the true architect Actaeon’s death. There again, as you can see in the following image, in the “Octavius Quartio House” you can admire two paintings depicting Diana taking a bath naked and Actaeon being devoured by dogs for having looked at her.
The myth of the goddess has always been linked in our imagination to hunting. But let's debunk it: Artemis, this is her name for the ancient Greeks, had a sacred relationship with animals. She was "lady of the woods, protector of wild animals, keeper of springs and streams, protector of women to whom she ensured painless births and dispenser of sovereignty". Her protection, therefore, came from animals and certainly not from hunters.
Walking through the streets of ancient Pompeii thinking about the bond with animals brings to mind the word "fauna" that leads to Faun in the field of mythology. A Domus in his name is one of the largest: it extends on a 3000 square meters block. This later is called La casa del Fauno because of the statue of the god welcoming visitors and to which the ancients appealed in order to protect themselves from animals and, above all, to subjugate them for their own purposes.
Faun was "the god of the countryside, pastures and agriculture, in opposition to the god of the woods, Silvanus. He was the defender of the flocks and inhabitants of the countryside from the assaults of wolves and the wolf himself", the sources say. Yet, according to what Marco Terenzio Varrone wrote in “De lingua Latina” Fauno did not have a great consideration towards our species. "Any kind of human wisdom is in vain": these are his words reported by the Roman author.
Beyond the entrance of the House of the Faun you can also admire the mosaic of the second century BC. of the battle between Alexander the Great and the Persian king Darius in which the mighty figures of horses stand out.
However, both works present on the excavation site are copies: the originals can be admired at the National Archeological Museum of Naples also homing a wonderful mosaic found in this Domus that shows a crocodile, ducks, a snake and a hippopotamus stand out.
Maiuri's horse: the soul of a fundamental animal for the Romans will rise from the bones
The bones begin to shine, returning to their original white color thanks to the complex and careful work that an interdisciplinary team is carrying out on a unique discovery: the so-called "Maiuri's horse". «It is a project that we have recently started: the restoration of an equine skeleton that Amedeo Maiuri had exhibited standing. It had been forgotten for decades and laid in a state of great decay. We are doing it precisely because we aim to better inform people visiting Pompeii about the importance that animals had in everyday life», explains Luana Toniolo.
The horse was found inside an ancient stable by the famous archeologist who made very important discoveries: «In 1938 Maiuri was digging the south part of via dell'Abbondanza and found a stabulum. He understood this after finding a quadrangular masonry structure, identified as a manger, and slowly the animal's head as well as the remains of the complete body began to emerge from the ashes. It is a horse of small tonnage: measuring 1 meter and 34 high, used to transport goods within the city. These animals were used to pull carts, like the one found in Casa del Menandro: very simple two-wheeled structures carrying foodstuffs».
«Varrone and Columella, the two writers of “De re rustica” describing the life of the countryside, tell us that in the Roman world three different types of equines existed: the selected horse, the large breed horse and the mules. And even on this matter, Pompeii never ceases to amaze us – continues Toniolo – because we found skeletons of all types and were able to make the casts». During the most recent excavation activities of Civita Giuliana, in the area of a large suburban villa, archeologists identified a stable with the remains of three harnessed horses and the last human skeletons found, the so-called "fugitives”, were also discovered there. Two other persons caught by the fury of the eruption.
«In Civita Giuliana we were able to make the only cast of a horse ever made in Pompeii of a large subject. It belongs to the first type about which Columella wrote because it is a selected horse of a very large breed and that specific one was an important subject as we deduced from his harness: we found the remains of the bronze bit muzzle still with fragments of leather. There were also elements of the saddle and bridle system that went around the ears. Originally, we thought it was the home of a Roman general. Then as the excavations progressed, we realized we were in a villa of great wealth and that the horse was harnessed because it had just been used and was still ready to train a cart».
Pompeii has also returned to History horses that were part of everyday life, just like that one of Maiuri who is now in a laboratory that Kodami has the exclusive opportunity to visit. Deborah Fagiani, cultural heritage restorer, works in the team of experts: «At the moment we are doing the grouting, that is the reintegration of the bones with a two-component resin. We are filling all the fractures in the bones and rebuilding the structure. This horse has undergone several interventions and above all it has been subjected to a grouting that was absolutely not suitable, with a very tenacious resin».
The horse has now been dismantled from the support that made its posture incorrect. «Before consolidating the bones, it was essential to pre-consolidate them – concludes the restorer – After the removal of the inside tube, we had to intervene with mechanical means to be able to break it. The final result is what you see: totally cleaned, filled and reintegrated bones. Next intervention will thus only be a final protection, so that the horse returns to his stable».
The technology was fundamental before proceeding with the disassembly of the horse that Maiuri had exhibited standing: «We made a survey with the laser scanner in order to obtain a 3D model of what was preserved by comparing it with the vintage photos. With the collaboration of an archaeozoologist – concludes Toniolo – we are now integrating the missing parts because unfortunately numerous parts of the rib cage were lost. We’ll then put him back on his feet in the correct position. Maiuri reconstructed it in a very simple way, now thanks to scientific studies and specialists we’ll give him back his true posture».
"Cave canem" and the cast of the dying dog. Little Sincletus and the guide dog for a blind man: the dogs were citizens of Pompeii
«Giuseppe Fiorelli was undoubtedly the most important archeologist working in Pompeii in the Nineteenth Century. Ordinary inspector in the Pompeii excavations from 1847 and later director of excavations from 1860 to 1875, he had among numerous merits that of the invention of the method for making casts of the victims of the eruption». This is how a fundamental figure for the discovery of the excavations is described on the official website of the Archeological Park of Pompeii and he is the one who allowed the world to witness every day the exact moment of death of many other living beings. It goes as follows : the casts show us the agony, the pain, the amazement and all the emotions forever petrified. As Luigi Settembrini wrote, those "statues" are ”pain of death which regains body and figure”.
Those human beings despite themselves have become over time a simulacrum of our transience. So much has already been written and talked about the people of Pompeii overwhelmed by the fury of the volcano whereas very little has been said about the casts of animals.
And no other animal as a dog can affect us deeply on an emotional level due to the long history of friendship and co-evolution we have with this species. Seeing a dog in the last excruciating moment of death, certainly at the end of a long agony, is one of the key moments in the history of Pompeii from the perspective of our relationship with animals.
«Selections of dog breeds were already made in Pompeii – explains Luana Toniolo – The subjects were crossed and training courses also took place. There are several pictorial testimonies and mosaics of dogs kept on a chain at the entrance to the houses, as frescoes and mosaics can testify. But there is an important and dramatic material testimony: on November 20, 1874 Fiorelli discovered the Casa di Orfeo, a very rich residence. There, he was able to make a cast of a dog who died during the eruption, unable to escape because of the chain he was tied to».
We can see all the pain and fear the dog must have felt in those moments: «He is a medium-sized dog, as were most of the individuals present at the time. The cast is a terrible "scene": it shows us all the strength of the eruption because the dog writhes in the last moments of life due to the gas and the very high temperature, between ash and lapilli. In front of us lays an animal exhaling its last moment of life, in the spasm caused by the muscles – continues the archeologist – And you can also clearly see that its collar is similar to the ones we use nowadays: it has some simple studs and keeping him tied up prevented his escape and survival».
This dog’s cast is the “Cave canem” ("beware of the dog" in Latin) example par excellence. That notice was represented in several mosaics, above all depicted on large floors at the entrance of the houses. Nowadays this caution sign still stands out on the gates of some Italian villas and worldwide.
«The most famous “Cave canem” stands at the entrance to the House of the tragic poet but we also find it in the House of Pachio Proculo. Its function was what we, as archeologists, call "apotropaic": defense as well as warding off negative spirits and thieves from the dwelling. It was also supposed to give some kind of warning informing you would surely come into a dog ready to protect the property if you dared passing the threshold», explains Toniolo.
Some of the dogs of Pompeii also had another task to carry out according to the needs of human beings: «They were used for hunting – adds Toniolo – to find small prey but also big animals such as wild boars. We know from the writings of Plinio or Varro that they were trained to help man with the hunt». And there are so many hounds immortalized in the houses of Pompeii, such as those chasing a wild boar on the mosaic floor of the Casa del Cinghiale or the bronze sculpture in which a couple assaults an ungulate in the garden of the Casa del Citarista.
Casa del Citarista, la scultura del cinghiale attaccato da due cani e quella di un serpente (Credits: sito ufficiale Parco Archeologico di Pompei)Dogs «had their own name and we know from sources that this custom existed in the ancient world. Xenophon, in his treatise on hunting, recommends short names that can be easily pronounced in order to give immediacy to orders; the author quotes among these: Psychè, Thimos, Bia, Aktis and Heba». This is the information taken from a book entitled "The dog in Pompeian art" by Gateano Vincenzo Pelagali and Michele Di Gerio, respectively veterinarian and archaeozoologist also interviewed by Kodami.
But if the cast of the chain dog and the use of dogs for hunting remind us of the most utilitarian part of our relationship with them that still survives today in Italy as in the rest of the world, there is yet another aspect rarely spoken about but that already existed in those times.
In Pompeii it was normal to share daily life with dogs, as the animal was considered as a true member of the family. Not only wolfhounds, molossers and hounds but also small animals especially requested by "noblewomen" and of which there were “specialized farms in different locations described by Aristotle», as Pelagalli and Di Gerio recall.
«In the most recent excavations we were lucky – underlines the official of the Archaeological Park – Last year, we discovered a wonderful frescoed counter of a thermopylae in which the protagonists are once again animals (a duck, a hen and a dog always with the collar). There we also recovered the bones of a small dog that was probably what we now currently define as a “pet”. Our archaeozoology experts have estimated that it is probably the smallest dog ever found in the Roman world: it was slightly larger than the Chihuahuas that we know today. A truly unique case that emphasizes the awareness of the importance of dogs in families of any social class and how much they were a fundamental part of everyday life in the ancient Pompeiians».
Sincletus had to be like the little dog of Thermopylae. This is the only proper name of which we have direct knowledge of a dog from ancient Pompeii. He belonged to what looks like a small and tenacious Terrier whose reference human wished to immortalize by his representation on the house wall thousands of years ago, thus recalling even his name to everyone.
«Once again, we see how times can change but then human nature and feelings remain unchanged – comments Toniolo – From a house in Reggio V, in fact, we know from a graffiti that one of these dogs had a name: it was Sincletus and he was certainly not the only dog living in the houses of Pompeii being part of a family. And that was not due to some special tasks assigned to him like work, guardian or hunting. Two thousand years have passed and the role played by many dogs in people's homes is exactly the same as before: naming them is a sign of affection, clearly inclusive of the animal in one's own family».
And another "photography" comes to us from the findings of Pompeii that brings to mind that "dream team" of which dogs and men are part when they collaborate and already happened in those distant days. «Maiuri was the first to hypothesize that some dogs could also serve as guides for blind people at the time. One fresco represents a man with a dog: it seems that he has a two-rope leash, probably yesterday, just as today dogs helped disabled persons in their everyday life».
The fresco to which Luana Toniolo refers is truly incredible: according to the reconstruction made by Pelagalli and Di Gerio and thanks to the graphic reconstruction by Francesca Longo, it shows an elderly man with a dog held by two laces, very reminiscent of the harness used today for blind guide dogs.
The charm of cats roaming the streets of Pompeii since two thousand years
While Luana Toniolo was about to close the door of time opened at the beginning of our journey, unveiling a world where living beings of Pompeii coexisted two thousand years ago, the sound of a meow filled up the Casa dei Ceii. The gaze of the archeologist and of all those present turned upwards and there, on the ruins of the domus, a cat elegantly glided over the world that had continuously flowed around him.
«It is really appropriate to say that there were also cats in Pompeii, today like yesterday», says the archeologist, smiling and looking back at our camera. «We know them much less than dogs because we haven't found their skeletons and therefore have no direct archaeozoological data. But there are mosaics: in particular a very beautiful one kept at the National Archeological Museum of Naples that illustrates a small kitten playing with food».
Going away through the streets of Pompeii brought back to a new life, cats are yet the only inhabitants of this immense archeological treasure. After all, last January in a deserted site due to the pandemic, the Park's official Facebook account paid a tribute by publishing photos with a special dedication to some cats. «In a Pompeii still empty of tourists, cats are walking. They are among the few figures who roam the excavations, in addition to the custodians and staff working on the preservation of the site», was the picture’s caption.
"A cat is a lion in a jungle of small bushes" says an Indian poem. And in Pompeii the cats still relax in the sun of an ending day of January 2022 in which men and animals of all times met again.
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Thanks to:
Maria Neve Iervolino (support in research – Press office)
Miranda Mavridis (English translation support)
Video Credits:
Authors: Aniello Ferrone, Francesca Iandiorio
Shooting: Simone Iavazzo
Production: Francesca Ferara
Animations: Aniello Ferrone, Francesca Iandiorio, Francesca Ferrara
