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The homeowner sought to create a spectacle, transforming their home into a Greek-style palace and gymnasium,
This discovery underscores how Roman houses were more than private residences, they were stages for public life and self-promotion,
said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii Archaeological Park And so the audience, grateful and hungry, would have applauded with sincere admiration the show orchestrated by the host and after an evening in his ‘gymnasium’ would have talked about it for a long time,
Just as the black hall was meant to transport guests to a Greek palace, so the peristyle with the large pool in the center and the adjacent spa complex had the function of creating a Greek gymnasium setting, which was further accentuated by the athletic scenes added later,
It's these spaces that really are part of the 'Pompeii effect' — it's almost as if the people had only left a minute ago,
Zuchtriegel told CBS News partner BBC News We have here perhaps the largest thermal complex in a private house in Pompeii,
said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Pompeii archaeological park The pyroclastic flow from Vesuvius came along the street just outside this room, and caused a wall to collapse, and that had basically crushed him to death,
Sophie Hay, an archaeologist at Pompeii, told the BBC There is room for about 30 people who could do the whole routine, and that could also be done in public baths. So there is the calidarium, a very warm environment and also a large tub with cold water,
There are just a few houses that have a private bath complex, so it was something really for the wealthiest of the wealthy
Everything was functional to the staging of a ‘show’, at the centre of which was the owner himself,
Dr Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii said The excavation of the rooms in question, and in particular of the peristyle took place thanks to an innovative method of execution, which made it possible.”
Director of the excavation, Anna Onesti said Everything was meant to give the spaces an atmosphere of Greekness, that is, of culture, erudition as well as of idleness,
The most powerful thing from these excavations is that stark contrast between the lives of the slaves and the very, very rich. And here we see it,
