Adventures in Italy: Day 15 Pompeii, Sorrento

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Italy, Day 15, Tuesday, October 18, Pompeii and Sorrento

We drove through numerous long tunnels via the A3 from Sorrento to Naples en route to Pompeii, another UNESCO World Heritage Site. The distinction of the spelling of Pompei versus Pompeii is that the first refers to the modern city, the second, the ancient ruins.

Sitting under the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, Pompeii ironically was both destroyed and then preserved from the ash of the so called ‘Plinean eruption’. Pliny the Younger wrote in his later years a description of the eruption from his personal observations of the disaster. Vesuvius is a smoking gun and, still emitting ominous fumes, it is currently considered one of Europe’s most dangerous active volcanoes.

It is estimated that about 1600 of the 12,000 people living in Pompeii stayed and perished. It is unclear why some stayed, perhaps because they had nowhere else to go or there were no more boats left, or perhaps because there had been many earthquakes and minor eruptions prior to the disaster in 79 AD, that they had developed a false sense of security. In fact 76 years earlier there had been an earthquake with a magnitude of between 5 and 6 that tumbled some buildings. Many of these buildings were still being repaired in 79 AD.

Scientists have determined that the thermal energy released in this eruption was likely 100,000 times that of the Hiroshima bomb. In just 19 hours from the first alert, those who remained were trapped in Pompeii and tried desperately to hide under covered areas. They died under the rain of rocks, ash and gas in a pyroclastic flow with temperatures around 1,000 degrees Fahrenheit, making any survival impossible. That flow killed everything in its path within a ten mile radius.

We saw the remains of a dog that was tied up who likely had sensed the disaster but couldn't escape. We were told that gas had burned its lungs. All but three, a dog and two children encased in plaster remains, are left here in protective cases, the rest of the remains have been taken to a museum.

Pompeii was a well organized town with a classic Roman Forum and amphitheater. The Pompeii amphitheater is the oldest surviving amphitheater in the entire Roman world, and being Romans, the gladiators entertained the the people here. The games were free to all, funded in large part by political organizations. Up to 10,000 spectators sat cheering the Gladiators on. The noise must have been deafening. Gladiators were slaves and were locked inside doors beneath the amphitheater until summoned. All gladiators could buy their freedom if they won enough battles and made enough money. Many rich women chose a gladiator as a lover in fact it is thought that the remains of some of these couples were found together.

Because Pompeii was a port, and an important Roman trading center, this bustling community enjoyed many of the expected cultural and social activities such as restaurants, public baths, and brothels. Theaters, comedies and music were also an attraction in the amphitheater, and many notables graced the stage including Emperor Nero, and in recent times, Elton John and David from Pink Floyd. Quite a lineup.

Water was plentiful and throughout the city fountains appeared as a public gathering place spouting water from sculpted faces of basalt or travertine. As in Herculaneum there was no sewage system so everything went in the streets but water chariots frequently came by to flush the streets clean. The public baths also made good use of the waters creating hot and cold baths as well as steam rooms. The hot steam came from terra-cotta columns from below. Men and women were separated, the men having the more luxurious rooms for their baths, including a middle room for massages. The spa was used during daylight hours, from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Graffiti on street walls was like ancient texting and common for political propaganda but it was also used for advertising. We passed a sign on the wall that read Cornellia. We were told she was a Jew and likely a love slave. A phallic symbol on the street pointed to the red light district where slaves (who could be from all walks of life) were forced to perform these duties. Although the work of slaves was usually the worst of all enterprises, they all had the opportunity to work for their freedom. I can’t imagine life here as a slave, especially one with laundry duty where they stomped on dirty clothes barefooted in fermented urine to remove grease from clothing.

Located on the sea, fish, rather than meat, was the food of opportunity. Food was kept hot in terra-cotta containers which also served hot sour wine. We saw original lead pipes that were likely used to keep wine hot as well as piping water throughout the wealthy homes and spas. If the volcano didn’t kill them the lead pipes would have!

Sadly Pompeii was so crowded that I wasn't able to get the emotional connection here as I did in Herculaneum. We left Pompeii in the mist of Vesuvius for Sorrento looking forward to our Italian family-hosted traditional lunch at 2 p.m.

Eight of our GCT family (Jonathan and Deborah from California, Susan and Deborah from Massachusetts, Donna, John, my husband Dave and I from Florida), were separately shepherded up into the hills high above the city of Sorrento to enjoy a home hosted Italian lunch at Anna's (the matriarch's) house. To get there Angela, one of Anna’s daughters, picked us up at the hotel in Sorrento for our “2 p.m.” lunch at the family's farm. Angela's tiny car bounced and climbed up over narrow winding roads along wild pink cyclamen growing amidst high stone walls. We finally arrived at the top of the hill where their cement block farmhouse with a corrugated metal roof was nestled. Turkeys, chickens and a pig were housed in a small barn like structure opposite their front door. Inside was a long table set for eight including the delightful and vivacious Daniella (the only daughter who spoke English) and her husband Salvatore. Salvatore's brother Antonio, who makes the wine and owns a bakery in town, was not there.

Anna, who cooked all of our food, sat at the head of the table while Angela worked in the kitchen bringing out plate after plate for us to devour. We started with a basket of home made bread and red wine then a huge plate of rigatoni with an eggplant and tomato sauce arrived followed by two large pork meatballs in tomato sauce with a cold side of cooked eggplant zucchini and tomatoes and a delicious tomato salad all fresh from their farm. After lunch we were served espresso and home made limoncello. the limoncello was so strong I was grateful for the espresso! At the same time Anna proudly displayed her powdered sugar cake to finish our repast.

Overladen with food I staggered outside for a short tour of their farmland built into the steep hillside. Like a pre-choreographed movie, Anna picked some grass and fed their horse then pointed to the ostrich whose huge eggs had been decorated and displayed indoors on their sideboard. A couple of Ducks rounded out the menagerie. It was interesting to see that, although the zucchini was at the end of the growing cycle, they already had new starts of vegetables growing in the garden. It started to sprinkle in earnest so we all thanked our hosts and piled into the two cars to be taken back to our hotel.

At 5 p.m. Ben arranged for a professor from Naples, to give a lecture on the Mafia (the Camorra in Campania, Cosa Nostra in Sicily and ‘Ndrangheta, the worst, in the boot of Italy). Protection (illegal tax) money is the new form of the mafia organizations scheme for making their money. The Mafia, mostly in the south or in the poorer part of Italy, controls political votes and is the first type of organized crime to be in politics. These crime syndicates are connections similar to those in families, but not with blood ties. Still, a “family connection” is for life.

The mafia controls with intimidation and silence (omertà). They commit crimes to control profit and power. Everything is based on violence and that becomes the investment capital. Violence is a strategy yet open violence (something that can be reported in the papers) is no longer used, instead fear and intimidation has proved more effective. Enter the protection tax which, by the way, lowers the national economy. If you have a small business, it is not such a big deal, but refuse to pay for protection you will be ostracized by friends, threatened, and if that doesn't work, you and your family will be killed by the mafia.

The mafia forces people to buy and sell what the mafia says to buy and the profit goes to them. But worse, the mafia gets their hands on government projects and reaps the profits. They are a ‘private state’ doing business with a public state. The mafia claims it is not an enemy of the state, they just want the freedom to do what they want to control politicians and statesman to benefit their businesses. Mafia in general is a global business and is the biggest Italian company, with 7-10.9% of Italy's GDP.

We learned about Raffaele Cutolo who was the most powerful Mafia Camorra boss in the 60s and 70s. He is now living in jail. Naples was the most important city long ago where Camorra clans, different from other mafia groups, worked independently of one another. Because there was no leadership there was more conflict. War broke out in the 80s between the Cutolo families and many people were viciously killed but after a very public bombing the mafia put an end to the mass murders realizing it was bad for business, and difficult to control from jail. Today most of the old bosses are in jail and there is a different form of control. Berlusconi, Prime Minister of Italy, although looking pure and innocent, is known to have mafia connections but he never went to jail, (yet).

The Mafioso is a culture and a member is perceived as someone to be admired coming from a low class to get a high social position. People easily identified with the men who rose from their low class allegedly wanting to help their own regional people rather than a distant tyrant from a wealthy class and, thanks to violence, this person becomes a respected man.

Author and journalist Roberto Saviano wrote the non-fiction investigative book Gomorrah (also a movie and tv series) denouncing the mafia. In this book he wrote: "In the Camorra system murder is necessary; it's like depositing money in the bank,
purchasing a franchise, or breaking off a friendship. But killing a priest, one outside the dynamic of power, pricks your conscience.” Saviano, a native of Naples, has been honored by Nobel Prize-awarded authors and was given an honorary degree at the University of Genoa for his work. His life is in danger but he continues to write. I will look with open eyes as I stroll the cobbled streets in the lovely cities in Italy.

It began to rain with a chilly wind so we dropped into the closest restaurant to our hotel for a quick dinner. I rather thought that a German Hofbrau Munchen Restaurant was a bad idea, especially since the restaurant was empty when we arrived. Sadly my premonition proved to be true. On the same day as one of the best meals in brilliant sunshine, we found this sad little German restaurant with a terrible meal. Oh well, I guess you need the bad to know how good good actually is.

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