Thousands of years ago, Pompeii was considered one of the largest cities in ancient Rome. But in 79 AD, he, like many nearby settlements, remained under the frozen ash of the erupted Vesuvius volcano. At the moment, the territory of this city is an open-air museum, where archaeological excavations are still being carried out. In 2019, researchers discovered the remains of a counter there, which also looked like some kind of bar counter.
Recently, excavations on a small part of Pompeii have been completed. It turned out that the counter is part of a full-fledged diner where the ancient Romans went to grab a bite. Inside the establishment, there was a frozen figure of the owner and a man who clearly stole food from him. Let’s talk about the find in more detail and take a look at photographs from a historically important site.
Food in Ancient Rome
The diners of ancient Rome were called thermopolias. The name is formed from two Greek words: “hot” (thermos) and sale (poleo). They were very popular establishments, as evidenced by the number of remains found. In Pompeii alone, there were about 80 of them. Many of them have already been excavated, but the recently discovered Thermopoly is very different from the rest. Inside it were found the remains of animals, dishes, drawings and even the owner with one of the visitors. Thanks to all this, scientists were able to recreate a picture of what happened in the diner during the eruption of Vesuvius.
According to the director of the archaeological park Massimo Osanna, during the disaster, the owner of the counter hastily tried to close it. It was an elderly man who could not escape from the building and died almost at the very beginning of the volcanic eruption. In addition to him, there was also a man in the room who was about to open the lid of one of the pots. Researchers believe that they were a thief who did not manage to steal anything, as he was shocked by a strong roar.
The surface of the counter was decorated with drawings of a rooster, duck, dog and other animals.
Also, the researchers found clay pots, in which wine was usually kept. But at the bottom of some of the vessels were crushed grains. Most likely, they were added to wine to change taste or color. Therefore, eateries existed even in ancient Rome, about 2000 years ago. Scientists already knew about this, but the finds described above helped to learn much more about thermopoly.
Excavations in Pompeii
The eruption of Mount Vesuvius is considered one of the worst disasters in human history. Between 2,000 and 15,000 people remained under the hot lava. Thanks to the frozen ash, buildings and human bodies have been perfectly preserved to this day. Today the city of Pompeii is a museum, but it also has closed areas. For example, in the fifth region (Regio V), researchers managed to find a wooden box with witchcraft items. Among them were mirrors, necklaces, amulets and even a figurine in the form of a man.
