Herculaneum

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40° 48' 22" N, 14° 20' 54" E

Herculaneum was a Roman municipality . It was an independent member of the Samnite league until around 89BC. Oscan civic institutions were replaced by Roman ones in 89 bc. Its origins are obsure but its street plan resembles the Greek depemdency of Naples of the 6th C BC.

The streets (whose plan is more regular than that of Pompeii) show little sign of heavy traffic (nor are there stepping-stones for pedestrians); shops and workshops are unobtrusive. As the centre of a resort-coast, however, renowned for its beauty and climate, and close enough to Naples to be a kind of luxury suburb, the town benefited from the wealth of local proprietors (including Roman senators). The grandest property (known from its rifling in 1750–61), the Villa of the Papyri, north-west of the town, on terraces overlooking the sea, was embellished with gardens, waterworks, and statues.

The town was damaged by the earthquake of ad 63 and obliterated by the eruption of ad 79. Deeply buried by ash which solidified to form a tufaceous rock, the remains (especially organic material such as wood or papyrus) are better preserved, but much more difficult to excavate, than those of Pompeii. The first explorations, using tunnels, date from the early 18th cent.; some 12 acres; have since been completely uncovered (representing only about a quarter of the urban core and inner suburbs). The houses appear less atrium-centred and generally more varied in plan than those of Pompeii; they preserve considerable evidence of the upper storeys and recent work has uncovered the skeletal remains of many dozens of the inhabitants killed at the harbour while attempting to escape the eruption.


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It is referenced in the following articles

 
Pompeii
Pompeii - A City Frozen in Time?
Pompeii - Agriculture
Pompeii - Cultural Buildings
Pompeii - Early Origins
Pompeii - Entertainment
Pompeii - Religious Life
Pompeii Excavations
Pompeii Residential Architecture
Facts about HerculaneumRDF feed
Has coordinates40° 48' 22" N, 14° 20' 54" ELatitude: 40.806
Longitude: 14.3482
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