Romans On The Bay Of Naples

Today our class visited the underground ancient Greek “Macellum” ruins and
Naples National Archaeological Museum which contained archaeological finds from many of the luxury villas in Pompeii. The artifacts on display included mosaic tiles which were used to create elaborate pictures. There was a display of a sterling silver dinner set which had delicate artistic designs allover which showed their wealth. There were also huge marble statues that were made out of a single piece of marble which is simply amazing.

In “Romans on The Bay of Naples” Erik and I examined how luxury villas in the imperial age played a role in the local economy. You would think that the presence of these extravagant villas on the coast would play a large economic role, but it’s actually the opposite. At the initial stage there was a boost to the economy due to construction, decorations, and improved roads for communication. But once the villa was completed the boost to the economy ended. There were a few villas that were exceptions, such as productive estates engaged in agriculture.

Normally these luxury villas were nonproductive, which means that they were just villas where the elite would build an extra home. One reason why these villas did not contribute to the local economy was because the owners would only live in them for a short period of time and the rest of the time there might only be a couple servants/slaves that actually live there year round. When the owners did visit they brought their own fleet of slaves and stockpiles of food which hurt the local economy because everything was imported. Most of the economic strength in that region was due to the port and the amount of trade that went through it.

A picture from our visit to underground ancient Greek “Macellum” ruins