Morgan Fritz – Junior Civil Engineer

As Grant said we were able to see the ancient city of Pompeii at the base of Mount Vesuvius. Our tour guide took us back in time to the days when Pompeii was a bustling trading hub for those traveling from around the world buying and selling goods. Many things stood out along side the amphitheaters Grant discussed including the housing, activities, and plumbing used in the ancient city. The dining rooms were large rooms full of color that could host up to 15 people at a time, the kitchens used terracotta bricks to evenly heat the food, and there were personal gardens in each house we went were able to see today. The Romans are known for their excellent knowledge in water resources and they used pipes that would get smaller in diameter to clean the infamous dirty streets of Pompeii, something I found very interesting! They also used lead pipes, as we know today these pipes were actually slowly poisoning the aristocrats of Pompeii and explains why they were shorter than their servants and didn’t have a long life expectancy. We also walked through the red light district of Pompeii and discussed the use of pictures instead of language in this area because of the merchants coming from around the world without a common language to speak. Lastly we were able to see Mount Vesuvius from the Forum where we were also shown preserved human and pottery remains.

The class in the Forum with Mount Vesuvius in the background.