[Authors and titles are listed at the end of the review]
In the first installment of a planned four-volume series, Ellis, Emmerson, and Dicus deliver a general interpretation of fieldwork carried out by the Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia (PARP:PS) between 2005 and 2012 in Insulae VIII.7 and I.1 as well as along portions of the Via Stabiana, the gate itself, and the necropolis beyond it. Since the 1990s, several other initiatives have attempted to couple systematic architectural survey with sub-surface excavation to investigate broader topographic units in Pompeii (as listed on p. 6), but PARP:PS stands out for targeting non-monumental spaces. Spreading over an area of 4,500 m2 adjacent to the entertainment district, the two city blocks are among the smallest and are notable for lacking atrium house architecture—which partly explains the disinterest in previous scholarship. Functionally, the modest remains appear associated with the retail and hospitality industries, therefore lending themselves to an investigation of the role played by sub-elites in urban development and socio-economic life.
The volume aims to “tell the story” (p. 6) of the site through the sequence of landscape modifications and construction events that shaped its structure and spatial organization and to connect the physical transformations occurring over the span of seven centuries within the individual properties to the broader cultural-historical context. To back up the interpretation, reference is made throughout to relevant stratigraphic units (SUs) (about 1,350 out of the nearly 6,000 documented from natural to modern), architectural features (about 250 construction activities, or Wall Construction Units, WCUs), and select artifacts or find categories, all richly illustrated (342 images between photos, plans, and charts). Whereas structural fixtures and votive objects are catalogued in a dedicated section, the primary data and spatial files have not yet been released (see Ch. 3 for snapshots of the database structure and user interface). The companion webpage was originally envisioned as a dynamic tool enabling readers to search, retrieve records, and interrogate the conclusions (p.7), but for now only includes higher resolution copies of the images and plans that appear in print. Nevertheless, the present work sets a new high standard in Pompeian archaeology for publishing the comprehensive results of large-scale excavations in a rigorous and timely manner.
Testifying to the truly collaborative nature of both the fieldwork and post-excavation research, the content features contributions by many members of the PARP:PS team. Part I offers a general introduction to the site——from geologic setting and topography to the history of previous explorations—and describes project methods and strategy. Open-area approaches are notoriously difficult to apply in Pompeii due to the high density of built-up features and conservation needs, but stratigraphic excavations here covered about 25% of the total surface within the blocks (41 trenches measuring on average 18 m2 in extent; p. 24). Geophysical prospection was employed to identify other buried walls and secondary features (tanks, drains, and cisterns) in unexcavated areas of the insulae (fig. 5.01). Part II represents the core of the book: its phase-by-phase narrative provides the chronological and explanatory framework for the forthcoming special studies of ceramic assemblages, finds, and ecofacts, whose treatment is here synthetic. Part III zooms out to connect the local archaeological sequence to the development of the Porta Stabia and annexed necropolis, before offering a general review of the main results and implications. Finally, Part IV contains 14 short essays on the most common types of architectural features documented across trenches, properties and phases—researchers involved in fieldwork at Pompeii will find these extremely valuable for comparanda. At the back of the book are “The Contexts”, a 211-page-long list of SUs with fields for stratigraphic correspondences and short descriptions, followed by Harris matrices.
Particularly relevant to the volume’s focus on structure and space is Chapter 6, in which Poehler discusses methods of architectural analysis (the full ontology, however, will be published elsewhere). The system devised by PARP:PS (pp. 72-75) privileges stratigraphic relations over typology, whereby the smallest units, or Wall Segments (WS), were first identified in plan and then assembled into larger sections of masonry, i.e. the WCUs, based on observed physical relationships (see fig. 6.10-11 online for their distribution across the two insulae; the print version is not easily legible). These were subsequently analyzed in elevation to distinguish individual elements of construction, or SUs. Thus, absolute dates are predominantly assigned based on the wall’s stratigraphic position rather than solely on the particular building technique, or Wall Facing (WF), avoiding a shortcoming often too common in Pompeian studies. Several representative WCUs and SUs are mentioned in the footnotes to clarify these distinctions, but other means of visualization could have enhanced the argumentation (e.g., elevation drawings, annotated 3D models, or the tracing of limits on photographs).
The study of design choices concentrates on the final phases of occupation, for which evidence is more complete. The discussion is organized by functional category, i.e. inns and stables, bars and restaurants, and retail shops (pp. 79-83), and focuses on features that made the commercial landscape of Porta Stabia unique within Pompeii (e.g. the high number of sit-down establishments; the above-average size of bars and unusual style of counters; the underrepresentation of single-room shops, which was likely determined by the absence of residential properties). Proximity to the theater quarter may have influenced the phenomenon to a great degree, in what appears to be a textbook case of urban zoning (one in fact wonders if other adjacent insulae further north or east may have belonged to the same organic unit). Whereas fig. 6.01 shows an artist’s rendering of the street frontages, internal layouts are illustrated only with top-down, schematic plans. A useful reconstruction of the roofed areas of each property in the final stage of the properties is provided by Motz in his essay on the water-capture systems (fig. 19.2.06), albeit not in cross-section. The extent to which viewsheds may reveal patterns of consumer behavior or marketing strategies put in place by the shop owners will deserve further analysis. Architectural historians will find the metrological observations intriguing, since the chronological distribution of modular measurements taken for quoins and wall thicknesses seems to suggest that masons using the standard Roman foot were active in Pompeii before its official incorporation, whereas Oscan traditions seemingly continued to be attested in later periods (p. 88). A fuller presentation of the underlying data would have merited a place in the appendix to verify how the pattern correlates with different materials (especially in the case of Sarno limestone, which is not amenable to fine sculpting, or brickwork consisting of reused tile fragments), or to assess how crews with different backgrounds may have operated across the properties.
In Part II, the authors explain the chronological development of the neighborhood as a whole by phases and periods within phases (these are not to be confused with the “subphases”, which group activities within rooms or neighboring rooms). Evidence for standing architecture is sparse for Phases 1 and 2. The first structures were introduced in the 6th century BCE (Phase 1a) on either side of an early road composed of hard-packed ash. Importantly, the valley in which the via Stabiana sits was never used as a major routeway prior to the establishment of the Archaic town at its fullest extent (no trampling was found on the natural levels, as remarked by Robinson on p. 97). As can be gleaned from the site-wide Harris Matrix (cf. fig. 1.03), building activities peaked in Phase 1c (ca. 300-250 BCE). These include quarrying and leveling for terracing, the construction of rubble foundations and associated votive pits, as well as evidence of resurfacing of the road (on the same alignment as the gate; fig. 8.08), which the authors characterize as part of a “civic effort” (p. 120). This sector would have appeared as a largely open landscape occupied by few small and simple structures scattered across. Within these spaces, production activities are documented most clearly by the pottery kiln located in the far south side of insula I.1, which operated close to the gate and related traffic at some point during Phase 2 (ca. 250-125 BCE). The inception of economic activities in this area has been generically linked with urban growth (pp. 127-128, with reference to the early development of the forum as well as Pompeii’s “Golden Age” in the 2nd century BCE).
The formation of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1 begins in earnest in Phase 3. Construction during the last quarter of the 2nd century BCE resulted in the creation of at least three properties to the west of Via Stabiana and one to the east, where ceramic production was also expanded. The property plots range in size from 175 m2 to a staggering 845m2 (VIII.7.5.8; this broader unit, however, was most likely subdivided into multiple “row-houses”; cf. p. 27). This was a period of widespread development of infrastructure, including the first pavement of the roadway, the installation of a public well in later room 102 of I.I.1-2 (which may have represented an early focus of social interaction among neighbors), as well as additions to the fortifications, though the date of the gate’s monumentalization in opus incertum remains unsolved (Van der Graaff notes on pp. 324-25 that it could either be Late Samnite of Early Roman).
The insulae were redeveloped in the early 1st century BCE to accommodate additional properties (one west of the Via Stabiana and two to the east) and expand manufacturing activities, most notably fish-salting. The study of the vats demonstrates their uniformity in terms of typological, spatial, and chronological patterns, putting to rest any lingering questions about their functional interpretation (p. 166-67). The frequent residues of fish scale and bone in the fills of soak-aways that were built together with these tanks and destroyed in the subsequent phase are particularly relevant (see also Chs. 19.5-6). Whereas in previous interim reports and preliminary studies by Ellis the vats were assigned to the second half of the 2nd century BCE, their downdating to the post-80 BCE now betrays sweeping economic changes brought about by Roman colonization on the urban economy (pp. 198-99).
The next major transition occurred in the early 1st century CE, when the neighborhood acquired a more dedicated retail function (Phase 5, ca. 1-35 CE; see p. 200 on the low visibility of the early and mid-Augustan period). Street-side rooms were now given over to retail of various types—shops and food and drink outlets provided with thresholds and doorstops. The phenomenon reflects a significant shift in the social make-up of the resident community, with merchants displacing manufacturers (p. 243). The conversion of the properties was likely sparked by the continued urbanization of Pompeii in this period. As the authors convincingly argue, the increasing volume of runoff water poured onto the streets from the drainage system serving a record number of roofed structures required higher sidewalks, in turn making the construction of higher floors within properties necessary to reconcile the changes in elevation. Cumulatively, these projects called for massive volumes of fill material, thus explaining how roughly 46% of the total finds recovered come from Phase 5 stratigraphy (p. 244, fig. 12.53). Since they were retrieved as inclusions from debris packed below the floors, however, most of the objects cannot be referred to the activities carried out in the properties (this is true also for many of the coins found in shopfronts; cf. fig. 18.03).
By comparison, far fewer deposits can be assigned to Phases 6 and 7, which cover the Julio-Claudian period (35-62 CE) and final occupation down to the 79 CE eruption, due to the damage caused by the earliest excavations and subsequent neglect of the area (see Ch. 4). Although the phase map does not make it immediately evident (fig. 14.04), in the aftermath of the 62 CE earthquake the site was subject to wholesale rebuilding, but this largely respected the blueprint and function of the early Imperial structures. The evidence suggests that the reconstruction was completed well before 79 CE, thus demonstrating that property owners were able to successfully compete for resources at a time when both laborers and materials were in high demand citywide.
The above highlights speak to the measurable impact of PARP:PS on the current discourse about Pompeian and Roman urbanism at large. The particular attention to taphonomic processes has allowed the excavators to distinguish between the recycling of localized debris and site-wide urban waste management patterns, opening a new and promising area of research on the economy of construction that can be applied to other Roman contexts. While only the full publication of the environmental datasets will allow one to thoroughly address the theme of urban living conditions, the project has already shown that the macroeconomic changes occurred simultaneously across and beyond Pompeii. More broadly, the team must be credited for reorienting the debate toward the contribution of ordinary people in making, maintaining, and transforming urban spaces. As the authors acknowledge with irony, the connections and sharing of spaces and resources observed between some of the properties may be read as evidence that fewer individuals were in control of ownership (pp. 350-51). Ultimately, then, the volume elucidates nicely the dynamic interactions between different actors, elite and non-elite, who participated in city-making processes.
Authors and Titles
Preface and Acknowledgements, Steven J. R. Ellis
I
1. Introduction, Steven J. R. Ellis
2. Methodology, Steven J. R. Ellis
3. The Database, Christopher F. Motz & John Wallrodt
4. The History of Excavation and Research Activity in VIII.7 and I.1, Ambra Spinelli & Aimeé Scorziello
5. A Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) Survey of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1 in Pompeii, Gregory Tucker
6. The Architecture of the Porta Stabia Neighborhood: Method, Design, and Construction, Eric E. Poehler
7. The Geomorphology and Topography of the Area of the Porta Stabia Excavations (Pompeii VIII.7 and I.1), Mark Robinson
II
8. Phase 1, The Earliest Structures and Surfaces (Sixth – Third centuries BCE)
9. Phase 2, The Beginning of Production Activity (Third – Second Centuries BCE)
10. Phase 3, The Establishment of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1 (c. 125 – c. 80 BCE)
11. Phase 4, Fish-Salting and Other Activities across Insulae VIII.7 and I.1 (Early First Century BCE – Early First Century CE)
12. Phase 5, The Rise of Retail in the Early Imperial Period (Early First Century CE)
13. Phase 6, The Julio-Claudian Years (Mid First Century CE)
14. Phase 7, The Final Years Following the Earthquake/s (Early 60s – 79 CE)
15. The Properties through the Phases
III
16. The Porta Stabia Gate and Fortification, Ivo van der Graaff
17. The Porta Stabia Necropolis, Allison L. C. Emmerson
18. Conclusions, Steven J. R. Ellis, Allison L. C. Emmerson & Kevin Dicus
IV
19. Appendices
19.1. The Bar counters of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Pompeii, Sarah Wenner
19.2. The Cisterns of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Pompeii, Christopher F. Motz
19.3. The Cooking Facilities of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Jenny R. Kreiger
19.4. The Doorstops of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Steven J. R. Ellis
19.5. The Drains of Insuale VIII.7 and I.1, Christopher F. Motz
19.6. The Fish-Salting Vats of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Christopher F. Motz
19.7. The Floors of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Jenny R. Kreiger
19.8. The Quarry Areas of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Eric E. Poehler
19.9. The Ritual Contexts in Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Jenny R. Kreiger & Ambra Spinelli
19.10. The Soak-aways of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Catherine Baker
19.11. The Thresholds of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Steven J. R. Ellis
19.12. The Votive Objects of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Kevin Dicus
19.13. The Toilets and Cesspits of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Kevin Dicus
19.14. The Graffiti and Dipinti of Insulae VIII.7 and I.1, Jacqueline DiBiasie-Sammons
20. The Contexts
21. The Harris Matrices