So I went to the #NeroExhibition @britishmuseum... Image
You cannot have a #NeroExhibition without the back story. Cue Augustus (and his swooshy locks), Caligula (and his cute eyelashes) and a few of the other Julio-Claudians before we meet the protagonist: Nero. #NeroExhibition ImageImageImageImage
From a curtain fringe to full on foppish curls (and a fuller chin) #NeroExhibition ImageImageImageImage
Senatorial scribes at work.
An altar dedicated to Q. Flavius Eunus’ two sons who had achieved the rank of senior clerks but had both died in their twenties. I’m assuming it’s the two sons who have broken the fourth wall and aren’t concentrating on task in hand. #NeroExhibition ImageImageImage
Astonishingly fine detail on this marble relief of a meeting of the Praetorian Guard - you really feel like you’re eavesdropping. #NeroExhibition ImageImageImage
Couldn’t have been happier to see this fresco from #Herculaneum in the #NeroExhibition. Having only encountered it recently it was thrilling to see in person the woman writing as the men look on.

ImageImageImage
Nero in #Pompeii. You can only imagine my delight.

An anonymous Roman scratched into the wall of the House of G. Julius Polybius a record of a visit made by Nero and his wife Poppaea to Pompeii - specifically the Temple of Venus and the offerings they made. #NeroExhibition ImageImageImage
A painted stucco relief from the House of the Meleager, #Pompeii. Anyone else a little unsettled by the fact the figures in relief that have lost their colour resemble the plaster casts made of the victims of the eruption? #NeroExhibition ImageImageImageImage
For lovers of Roman coins & Portus, the port of Rome, this is a treat.
Shown are the 2 curving moles of the Claudian harbour, one of which both @stephenjohnkay and I spent an inordinate amount of time looking for...

Narrator: they found it
cambridge.org/core/journals/… #NeroExhibition ImageImageImage
Love this fresco for the fact the main protagonists frame a rather empty scene. Orestes and Pylades on the left with King Tauris seated on the right. Iphigenia is there too in shades of shadowy brown...
From the House of the Citharist, #Pompeii. #NeroExhibition ImageImageImageImage
A non-collapsible boat. Not designed for Nero’s mother then...
Detail of a fresco from #Pompeii. #NeroExhibition Image
Military triumphs & tribulations.
A jaunty looking statue of Nero in military garb, a staggering find of horse regalia with Pliny’s name stamped on it, and a fine cuirass sported by Nero.
Then the blood runs cold on the sight of chains used on enslaved Britons. #NeroExhibition ImageImageImageImage
Skewed view of #Pompeii.
Relief from the household shrine in the House of Caecilius Iucundus depicting the devastating effects of the AD 63 earthquake in the Forum of Pompeii. Detail of the Arch of Augustus and the Temple of Jupiter.
#NeroExhibition Image
Not a #NeroExhibition without a bit of damnatio memoriae...
An inscription announcing some games in honour of Nero at the amphitheatre in Puteoli (Pozzuoli) #EpigraphyTuesday ImageImage
Fun and games.
A pair of glorious terracotta panels. One shows a charioteer approaching the turning posts in a circus (and trying to avoid the fallen contestant) and the other an animal hunt with traces of the original paintwork. #NeroExhibition ImageImage
‘What an artist dies in me!’
— Nero
From the House of the Dioscuri #Pompeii a theatrical performance acted by men dressed as ladies. The perpetual pantomime dames of the Roman World. #NeroExhibition ImageImageImage
To end, a bit more damnatio memoriae for good measure. The final insult that a portrait of Nero is later re-sculpted to depict Vespasian - a few telltale leftover Neronian curls on the back of the head are the giveaway.
2nd image: britishmuseum.org/collection/obj…
#NeroExhibition ImageImage
And what better to listen to on the subject of #Nero than of course the dynamic duo of @holland_tom and @dcsandbrook waxing lyrical on @TheRestHistory podcast?
For those wondering what this panel from a triumphal arch might have looked like painted, your curiosity can now be sated...

Thanks to @chapps for finding this work by AutisticKnight on Reddit. Image

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More from @pompei79

15 May 20
This fabulous documentary explores the recent excavations in Region V in #Pompeii. It really brings together our understanding of the individual finds but also of the neighbourhood. Brilliant and compelling viewing. @pompeii_sites @MassimoOsanna
https://t.co/iFeViWHjlh
Didn’t think I’d be adding to this thread for a while but thanks to @MassimoOsanna a fabulous and previously unseen fresco from Region V excavations in #Pompeii has been revealed: Ariadne being abandoned by Theseus on the shores of Naxos. Wow.
Images: instagram.com/p/CHvqzLopq3W/… ImageImageImageImage
A close-up of that extraordinary decorative design...
Read 12 tweets
26 Apr 20
A very brief history of Pompeii in plans:
Historically, the hill that covered the ancient city of #Pompeii was known as ‘La Civita’ – the settlement.
Gaultier 1754
raremaps.com/gallery/detail…
#cartography @_MiBACT #viaggioinitalia #ArTyouReady #paesaggioitaliano
While excavation of #Pompeii was in its infancy plans of the city were being made and I love that they are barely identifiable as being the ancient city we see today.
Lapatie 1776
Piranesi 1792 (detail)
La Vega 1800

#cartography for @_MiBACT #viaggioinitalia
Under the auspices of French rule at the start of the 19th cent, excavations in #Pompeii opened up huge swathes of the ancient site & the city walls were uncovered revealing the extent of the urban area.
Unknown 1800
De Jorio 1825

#cartography for @_MiBACT #viaggioinitalia
Read 10 tweets
1 Apr 20
A really lovely series of short films dealing with various aspects of #Pompeii featuring a lot of unseen footage from the new excavations in Region V.
In French but the images speak volumes.
Courtesy of @Inrap_ActuGE & via @rogueclassicist
inrap.fr/mediatheque/re…
This fabulous documentary explores the recent excavations in Region V in #Pompeii. It really brings together our understanding of the individual finds but also of the neighbourhood. Brilliant and compelling viewing. @pompeii_sites @MassimoOsanna
https://t.co/iFeViWHjlh
Didn’t think I’d be adding to this thread for a while but thanks to @MassimoOsanna a fabulous and previously unseen fresco from Region V excavations in #Pompeii has been revealed: Ariadne being abandoned by Theseus on the shores of Naxos. Wow.
Images: instagram.com/p/CHvqzLopq3W/… ImageImageImageImage
Read 5 tweets
26 Mar 20
Amongst the wealth of online resources relating to their #Pompeii exhibition that @GrandPalaisRmn have generously made accessible online is this lovely film of a reconstruction of the recently discovered House with the Garden in Region V by @pompeii_sites
The House with the Garden became renown for the discovery of the charcoal inscription which initiated further debate as to the date of the eruption but many other, now familiar finds were also uncovered in the property.
Image: @pompeii_sites
I was fascinated to see the House with the Garden in #Pompeii being excavated and it slowly emerging from the volcanic debris on my couple of visits to Region V.
Separated by 4 months here are “before & after” photos in March then in July 2018 as more pumice had been removed...
Read 7 tweets
16 Oct 19
For #WorldFoodDay where to start in #Pompeii & the Vesuvian sites? So many foods are represented in frescoes but have also been found preserved, predominantly in the form of carbonised remains, in archaeological excavations. The most famous is the daily staple of a loaf of bread.
One of my favourite food discoveries from #Pompeii is the incredible survival of this ceramic bowl of eggs found in the House of Julius Polybius. His near neighbour, Julia Felix, had a fresco of a plate of eggs (and a tea towel!) adorning the wall of her study. #WorldFoodDay
Possibly the most infamous foodstuff from #Pompeii is garum made by fermenting blood & innards of fish. Umbricius Scaurus was a proud garum producer & had mosaics of his garum amphorae in his house. It’s an ingredient used to bring together flavours of the dish. #WorldFoodDay
Read 12 tweets
24 Aug 19
Your annual reminder that although it is claimed, today probably wasn’t the day that Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 burying the landscape in volcanic debris and covering the Roman cities of #Pompeii and #Herculaneum as well as other settlements and rural villas in the area.
According to letters Pliny the Younger wrote to Tacitus, detailing his eye-witness account of the AD79 eruption, it happened on Aug 24th.
We only have transcribed copies of these letters & the eruption date on each version varies. It’s more likely that Vesuvius erupted in Oct/Nov
A charcoal inscription uncovered in #Pompeii contains the date ‘XVI K Nov’—16 days before the Kalends of Nov—equating to 17th Oct. Though no year is mentioned, the impermanence of charcoal suggests this could have been written close to the time of eruption.
Image:@MassimoOsanna
Read 5 tweets

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