Night Life was Hectic, 2,000 Years Ago

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 750, 24 August 1929, Page 20

Night Life was Hectic, 2,000 Years Ago

Recent Eruption of Vesuvius Coincides with Lately-Dis-covered Evidences of Gay Parties in Gaming Houses and Cabarets of Pompeii where Roman Roisterers Held Their Revels

jrT|EJE|ajfi HE recent eruption of Vesuvius, pouring lava down upon the villages clustered along its IBBMt ‘** > '* slopes is a dramatic reminder of the catastrophe which occurred in 79 A.D., when the prosperous city of Pompeii was overwhelmed, and Herculaneum was buried many feet deep beneath lava and ashes, bringing death to men, women, and children in a horrible form. Yet that terrible misfortune to humanity was the means of preserving, as would have been possible in no other way, the houses, furnishings, wall paintings, and other remains of that period in Roman civilisation. Excavations have taken place at various periods, and even now further digging is being carried on by the Italian Government in the ruins of both these famous cities, bringing to light much of the most interesting material bearing upon the life of the people at that time. It is not so much the differences as the similarities of life which intrigue us, and there is no more startling resemblance than that between the night life of old Pompeii and that of a modern city today. The western part of the city, which includes the forum, was more than 1,000 .ears old before the eiruption of Vesuvius, which wiped out the entire city. This section has been entirely excavated along the Street of Nola for some years, but before 19X1 only the western half of the Street of Abundance had been laid bare. The new excavations began where the'old left off. For many reasons it was considered necessary to isolate these new diggings. For IS years the longcontinued refusal to allow general admission to these new excavations has had the effect of keeping the world in general almost entirely uninformed of the progress being made. SENATORS AT PLAY When Roman senators went to Pompeii, It was for relaxation, and the old and young men as well enjoyed themselves. Ther e were all kinds of amusements in the daytime, such as the gladiatorial games and the various baths, as well

as the two theatres, one for comedy and the other for tragedy, in which visitors might enjoy the skill of the trained gladiators or watch the scenes of classic dramas and farces. But it was the night life which held especial charm for the Pompeiians, if one may judge from the numerous buildings devoted to entertainment of the more abandoned sort. Human nature has not altered very much in twenty centuries, if fair conclusions may be drawn from the inscriptions and paintings which have been discovered in the ruins of Pompeii, showing the desire for all kinds of dissipation, especially such as is to be found in a modern night club, with gambling as one of the chief features. For the Romans were gamblers at all times, and most of all when let loose in the Pompeiian inns and clubs. Every inn was a night club in Pompeii, with feminine hostesses. There were also dancing girls, wearing hardly less than their modern sisters, whom guests were invited to applaud by “giving the little girl a hand.” There were wineshops at all the crossways, and all grades of houses for the public, from the lowest shops in which the slaves gathere.d to drink the posca, a kind of eggnog, served by the barmaid, or copa. MULLED WINES Then came the better class of tavern, the thermopolium, in which hot drinks were served, murrhina, mulled wine, and hydromel, containing honey. According to the inscriptions scribbled upon the walls, as well as the more formal carefully lettered mottoes, these were used as a rendezvous, where men came, often in disguise, not daring to be observed going in or out. In the inns kept by Phoebus and by Pereanius Nympherois, which belonged to the better class of houses with entertainment for “man and beast,” paintings of scenes in these taverns were drawn on the panels of the walls. In one of these a young woman is resisting the advances of an ardent swain, while the copa, who brings in the wine, asks whom she should serve.

Proof of the gambling practice is presented in another painting in which two men are playing dice, and one calls a six. “Not three, but two,” the other player says, holding up two fingers, as the modern Italians do when playing mora. In another panel the two dice-players have come to blows, and the innkeeper is turning them out, telling them to fight outside. Other pictures show jreople muffled in their cloaks, wearing black slippers, as they drink; and a youth making love to a girl as she raises a glass to her Ups. But it is only lately that the discovery of an inscription or two in the very celebrated House of the Faun has goue toward proving that this must have been* the most elaborate of all the night clubs in Pompeii. On the broad path leading up to this mansion was an inscription in large white letters, “Ave” (greeting) like the word “Welcome” on the mat at the door. Upon one of the magnificent columns the visitors could read the inscription, “Victory and Greetings; Sneeze where you will and good luck to you!” Very evidently the room supported by this column and others quite as fine was the main gambling room, for the reference to sneezing is a reminder of the ancient superstition that sneezing brought ill-luck. Naturally the keepers of the gambling tables did not care who sneezed, or how often, so long as he continued to bet, and none was to be discouraged because of a mere, sneeze. HOUSE OF THE FAUN Even the modern visitor who sees this House of the Faun In ruins is impressed by its beauty and extensiveness, for it was really a small palace. Catering to the pleasures of Romans on a holiday must have been quite remunerative, for nothing was spared that art could furnish, and the mosaics are as fine as those discovered anywhere. it was called the House of the Faun because of the splendid statue in bronze of a faun which was found there in a perfect state of preservation. It was iu the ruins of this house that the remains of a woman were found, wearing a gold ring on her finger inscribed with the name Cassia, so it seems not improbable that the hostess of the House of the Faun, on the very night when Pompeii was destroyed, was none other than the fated Cassia. Scenes in these night clubs have been described by several of the Roman writers, who explain how the hostess greeted the visitor; —“Wel-

come, Calybita; it is easier to meet a god nowadays than a real man!” and then led him in to drink all that he would, to gamble, and to watch the spectacle, which in the House of the Faun was most elaborate. THE DANCERS The visitors were regaled first by the bacchantic posturings of the ambunia, displaying as she did all of the charms which she possessed iu most alluring fashion. She might have danced the dance of the maenad, whirling, leaping, keeping time with the crotala (castanets) in her hands, until at last, through a shaded opening, came a troupe of Pans and satyrs, led by Dionysius, while all intoned the hymn of Bacchus. The audience was keyed up to a high pitch as dancer succeeded dancer, and the fun grew more furious with the increased pouring of Falernian wine. And after the spectacle, the spectators, eager for every joy, would call: —“Bring wine and dice.” The ivory cubes were tossed over the stone table-top, carrying fortunes with them. This was the favourite mode of gambling among the Romans. It is not difficult to imagine that these taverns and inns became hotbeds of crime, and the Roman authorities relate many instances of murders committed in those days of infamy, both in the roadhouses, which seem to have been the most dangerous, and in the taverns in the city. In vain the Government attempted to regulate the taverns of Pompeii and Rome. It is related of the Emperor Nero that one of his chief indoor sports, besides that of torturing Christians or feeding them to the lions, was to visit the lowest taverns in Rome or in nearby Pompeii, and pretend not to be the emperor. But, with all his roistering, he hated to he overcharged, and if he only suspected that the innkeeper was trying to rob him he settled all questions out of hand by condemning him to the arena.

Juvenal characterises these places succinctly in a well-known passage:—“Close all the doors and windows, extinguish the lights, stop up all the cracks, dismiss all the witnesses, and though the noises of the neighbourhood prevent things from being heard, before dawn, before the cocks crow for the second time, the tavernkeeper will know everything that was done—and not he alone, the cook and the staff of the establishment.” So, if an adequate idea of the life of the Romans in their hours of relaxation and ease is to be secured, there is no better place to search for it than in the inscriptions of the taverns of Pompeii, with all the light they shed upon the enjoyments and the vices of Romans on pleasure bent.