Like the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, Oplontis was buried in ash during the volcanic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.[2] However, the force of the eruption was even stronger than at these cities as not only roofs collapsed, but walls and columns were broken and pieces thrown sideways.[3]
History and excavations
Oplontis and other cities affected by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The black cloud represents the general distribution of ash and cinder. Modern coast lines are shown.Fresco from Villa Caius Siculius Caius Filius
The town of Oplontis probably developed under where Torre Annunziata stands today. Excavations have revealed buildings particularly on the east and west sides of the town, the eastern one in the immediate vicinity of Villa A and the other almost at its boundary with Torre del Greco.[4] It is thought that in antiquity, as elsewhere (e.g. at Herculaneum and Stabiae), luxury residential villas like Villa A lined the coast, whereas most productive (agricultural) villas were located farther inland.
Among the finds in the western zone, the most important is the Roman bath complex on the sea shore at Oncino (the Terme Nunziante) as a public building of Oplontis.[5] R. Liberatore recorded the archaeology in detail[6] and he identified it as belonging to Lucius Nonius Florus whose name is stamped on the edge of a terracotta basin in the baths, decorated with vegetal forms and galloping horses.
Unfortunately, the construction of the modern baths above them caused their destruction. Later two underground water supply or drainage tunnels belonging to the baths were found.
In addition remains of two residential villas were discovered nearby, one owned by Caius Siculius Caius Filius whose seal was found and from which a fine fresco was retrieved, though many other remains in the area were destroyed and stolen.[7]
The first of the villas, known as Villa A, was discovered in 1593–1600 during the great construction project by Fontana of the Sarnoaqueduct to feed the mills at Torre Annunziata, the same aqueduct that was tunnelled through Pompeii where he also found the first remains, but similarly no attempt was made to explore the ruins in Oplontis. This aqueduct still runs through the centre of Villa A. In 1785 the Spanish architect Francesco La Vega explored this area, known as Le Mascatelle, with tunnels and found beautiful objects but soon gave up due to toxic gases.
In 1839–40 excavations in tunnels were restarted by Michele Rusca using La Vega's publications and he discovered for the first time the extent and quality of the building including two peristyles, mosaics and other decorations. He had to stop due to lack of funds.
From 1880 a series of mills and pasta factories were built in Via Fontanelle in the Oplontis area and ancient Roman walls, marble columns, mosaic pavements, and many fragments from a variety of objects were found in their foundation trenches. At the Iennaco pasta factory were found marble basins and lead pipes, two marble statuettes of “exquisite Greek production” one of the goddess Minerva. Many mosaics and frescoes were destroyed. A spring of mineral water erupted during drilling at a depth of 11m and its water was marketed.
In 1934, during construction of a private building in Via Fontanelle more finds came to light. Remains were found of some opus reticulatum and of a probable cryptoporticus. Vincenzo Cuccurullo ordered test trenches to be dug to which brought to light another perimeter wall in opus incertum with light traces of white plaster with traces of a vault.
From this time ever more frequent finds came to light[8] as the town expanded and gradually it became clear that there was an important Roman site on the hill of Le Mascatelle. The "Friends of Oplontis" committee of volunteers was established in 1962 to promote proper excavation.
It was only in 1964 that a full-scale excavation was officially approved. However, even then it was somewhat chaotic and no official records were kept until 1971 when most of the rooms had already been exposed. Valuable information and many frescoes were lost during the period from excavation to final reconstruction.[9] Even after 1971, records were not accurate and omitted details and discoveries that rendered proper reconstruction impossible.[10]
In 1975 the only human skeleton was found at the northern edge of the site, an adult lying on its back 6 m above the floor of the villa who must have been carried by the volcanic flow probably from farther inland.
Badly damaged in the AD 62 Pompeii earthquake, parts of the villa were rebuilt with Third-Style frescoes, also as famous as the earlier ones for their quality.
Villa A was probably uninhabited and still in the process of being rebuilt at the time of the AD 79 eruption, as a number of tools were found on the site and statues and columns were stored away from their proper places.
The power of the eruption made roofs and walls collapse, columns to break and be thrown sideways so that on excavation many pieces of walls were difficult to reassemble.[11]
Villa B
A second villa, Villa B, was discovered in 1974, 300 metres (980ft) east of Villa A,[12] during the construction of a school and partially excavated until 1991.
In contrast to the sumptuously decorated Villa Poppaea, Villa B is much smaller and lacks the latter's lavish decoration. Villa B is a rustic, two-story structure with many rooms left unplastered and with tamped earth floors. The structure's plan reveals a central courtyard surrounded by a two-story peristyle of Noceratufa columns. Nevertheless, more than seventy rooms were found on both ground and second-story levels. On the ground floor all four sides of the courtyard have barrel-vaulted rooms in opus incertum and opus reticulatum.[13]
A bronze seal bearing the name of L. Crassius Tertius was found at the site.
It was built at the end of the 2nd c. BC. The complex was part of a wider settlement built before the construction of neighbouring Villa A.
This villa was not deserted at the time of the eruption: the remains of 54 people were recovered in one of the rooms of the villa, perishing in the surge that hit Oplontis. They were split into two groups, one group possessing fine jewellery, silverware, and coins whilst the other group had none.
Recent archaeology has shown that it suffered unique type of destruction because of its proximity to the sea, different from Pompeii or Herculaneum. The volcanic eruption generated a pyroclastic flow that sped down the mountain toward Oplontis. The impact of the flow on the sea surface led to a type of "tsunami" which caused the violent entry and deposition of a water-heavy layer in the barrel-vaulted rooms (similar to the deposit that buried the skeletons on the shore of Herculaneum). The people sheltering at Oplontis died beneath a mixed mass of superheated gas, ash, and water. The impact of the wave probably also caused the collapse of the barrel-vaults.[14]
Some of the rooms seem to have been used for manufacturing, and others were storerooms, while the upper floor contained the living quarters of the house. These circumstances, along with more than 400 amphorae recovered in the excavations, indicate the property was devoted to the production of wine, oil, and agricultural goods. The discovery of a series of weights seems to confirm this; a bronze seal found at the site preserved the name of Lucius Crassius Tertius, apparently its last owner.
The southern part of the upper floor is perhaps the owner's living quarters, as some rooms are decorated with paintings in the Fourth Style, and there is also a rare example of a second style painting from the Republican era.
A rare very ornate strongbox was found in the peristyle, perhaps fallen from the upper floor, containing over 200 coins, jewellery, and a seal ring. It was finely decorated with inlay in silver, copper, and gilded bronze typical of late Hellenistic design, and it had a complex locking system that was still used in the 19th century.
A sophisticated water drainage system was added late in the villa's history. At the north of the site the ground floor rooms were reconfigured and the street repaved.[15]
Torre del Greco is a comune in the Metropolitan City of Naples in Italy, with a population of c. 85,000 as of 2016. The locals are sometimes called Corallini because of the once plentiful coral in the nearby sea, and because the city has been a major producer of coral jewellery and cameo brooches since the seventeenth century.
The Villa of the Papyri was an ancient Roman villa in Herculaneum, in what is now Ercolano, southern Italy. It is named after its unique library of papyri scrolls, discovered in 1750. The Villa was considered to be one of the most luxurious houses in all of Herculaneum and in the Roman world. Its luxury is shown by its exquisite architecture and by the large number of outstanding works of art discovered, including frescoes, bronzes and marble sculpture which constitute the largest collection of Greek and Roman sculptures ever discovered in a single context.
Torre Annunziata is a comune (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is located on the Gulf of Naples, at the foot of Mount Vesuvius.
Ercolano is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania of Southern Italy. It lies at the western foot of Mount Vesuvius, on the Bay of Naples, just southeast of the city of Naples. The medieval town of Resina was built on the volcanic material left by the eruption of Vesuvius that destroyed the ancient city of Herculaneum, from which the present name is derived. Ercolano is a resort and the starting point for excursions to the excavations of Herculaneum and for the ascent of Vesuvius by bus. The town also manufactures leather goods, buttons, glass, and Lacryma Christi wine.
The Villa Poppaea is an ancient luxurious Roman seaside villa located in Torre Annunziata between Naples and Sorrento, in Southern Italy. It is also called the Villa Oplontis or Oplontis Villa A. as it was situated in the ancient Roman town of Oplontis.
Boscoreale is an Italian comune (municipality) and town in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, with a population of 27,457 in 2011. Located in the Vesuvius National Park, under the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, it is known for the fruit and vineyards of Lacryma Christi del Vesuvio. There is also a fine Vesuvian lava stone production.
The Villa of the Mysteries is a well-preserved suburban ancient Roman villa on the outskirts of Pompeii, southern Italy. It is famous for the series of exquisite frescos in Room 5, which are usually interpreted as showing the initiation of a bride into a Greco-Roman mystery cult. These are now among the best known of the relatively rare survivals of Ancient Roman painting from the 1st century BC.
Pompeii and Herculaneum were once thriving towns, 2,000 years ago, in the Bay of Naples. Both cities have rich histories influenced by Greeks, Oscans, Etruscans, Samnites and finally the Romans. They are most renowned for their destruction: both were buried in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius. For over 1,500 years, these cities were left in remarkable states of preservation underneath volcanic ash, mud and rubble. The eruption obliterated the towns but in doing so, was the cause of their longevity and survival over the centuries.
The House of the Faun, constructed in the 2nd century BC during the Samnite period, was a grand Hellenistic palace that was framed by peristyle in Pompeii, Italy. The historical significance in this impressive estate is found in the many great pieces of art that were well preserved from the ash of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. It is one of the most luxurious aristocratic houses from the Roman Republic, and reflects this period better than most archaeological evidence found even in Rome itself.
The House of the Tragic Poet is a Roman house in Pompeii, Italy dating to the 2nd century BCE. The house is famous for its elaborate mosaic floors and frescoes depicting scenes from Greek mythology.
The House of Loreius Tiburtinus is renowned for well-preserved art, mainly in wall-paintings as well as its large gardens.
The House of Menander is one of the richest and most magnificent houses in ancient Pompeii in terms of architecture, decoration and contents, and covers a large area of about 1,800 square metres (19,000 sq ft) occupying most of its insula. Its quality means the owner must have been an aristocrat involved in politics, with great taste for art.
The Suburban Baths are a building in Pompeii, Italy, a town in the Italian region of Campania that was buried by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, which consequently preserved it.
Villa Boscoreale is a name given to any of several Roman villas discovered in the district of Boscoreale, Italy. They were all buried and preserved by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, along with Pompeii and Herculaneum. The only one visible in situ today is the Villa Regina, the others being reburied soon after their discovery. Although these villas can be classified as "rustic" rather than of otium due to their agricultural sections and sometimes lack of the most luxurious amenities, they were often embellished with extremely luxurious decorations such as frescoes, testifying to the wealth of the owners. Among the most important finds are the exquisite frescoes from the Villa of Publius Fannius Synistor and the sumptuous Boscoreale Treasure of the Villa della Pisanella, which is now displayed in several major museums.
Pompeii was an ancient city located in what is now the comune of Pompei near Naples in the Campania region of Italy. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, was buried under 4 to 6 m of volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Stabiae was an ancient city situated near the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia and approximately 4.5 km southwest of Pompeii. Like Pompeii, and being only 16 km (9.9 mi) from Mount Vesuvius, it was largely buried by tephra ash in 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius, in this case at a shallower depth of up to 5 m.
Herculaneum was an ancient Roman town, located in the modern-day comune of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
The House of Sallust was an elite residence (domus) in the ancient Roman city of Pompeii and among the most sumptuous of the city.
John R. Clarke is Annie Laurie Howard Regents Professor of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin, teaching in the Department of Art and Art History. Clarke, joined the University of Texas at Austin in 1980. His research and teaching focus on Roman art and archaeology, art-historical methodology, art of the sixties, and digital modeling.
The House of the Greek Epigrams is a Roman residence in the ancient town of Pompeii that was destroyed by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. It is named after wall paintings with inscriptions from Greek epigrams in a small room (y) next to the peristyle.
↑ First Results of Three Seasons of Excavation at Oplontis B (2016-18), Ivo Van der Graaff – Michael L. Thomas – Paul Wilkinson – Jennifer L. Muslin – John R. Clarke – Nayla K. Muntasser – Giovanni Di Maio, The Journal of Fasti Online (ISSN 1828-3179) http://www.fastionline.org
↑ The Oplontis Project 2012-13: A Report of Excavations at Oplontis B1 Michael L Thomas - Ivo van der Graaff - and Paul Wilkinson, The Journal of Fasti Online (ISSN 1828-3179)
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