When we think of Pompeii, we immediately imagine the city "frozen" by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, forever crystallized under ashes and lapilli. But the story is much more complex and fascinating: among those same ruins, for centuries, there was life.
Who were the inhabitants of the "second" Pompeii?
After the catastrophe, some former residents returned among the ruins. Perhaps they were trying to recover what was left of their homes or cultivate the surrounding land. Others were rootless migrants, attracted by the opportunity to settle at a low cost in a place now forgotten by the Roman authorities.
There were also treasure hunters: men and women who rummaged under layers of ash in search of valuable objects, a risky profession but, for some, the only one possible.
A life among ruins and ingenuity
Daily life in this "Pompeii rebuilt as best as possible" was tough.
The streets were still full of debris.
The buildings, half collapsed, were readapted as residences or shops.
Public water no longer flowed: the fountains had been replaced by makeshift cisterns.
Instead of large markets, there were small domestic spaces where bread was baked or wheat was ground. Between precariousness and resilience, a community developed with its own rhythm, made up of manual labor, neighborly relationships, and a survival economy.
Pompeii inhabited for four centuries
Archaeological studies confirm that this reoccupation was not temporary.
Pompeii continued to be inhabited until the 5th century AD, when a new eruption, that of Pollena, led to its definitive abandonment.
This means that Pompeii was not only an archaeological site "frozen" in 79 AD, but also a place lived in, transformed, and adapted by generations of men and women forgotten by history.
