Starting Thursday 12 August, the ancient hot table of Pompeii opens to the public for the first time. An extraordinary discovery, the result of excavations in an unexplored area and testimony of the city's disobedience to Nero.
The ancient hot table of Pompeii
Tourists and onlookers can visit the ancient hot table of Pompeii: the thermopoly of the Regio V. And, the credit goes to the excavation, consolidation and study of the finds and architecture conducted by a multidisciplinary team during a month-long work. Actually, the "hot tables" of Pompei they were about eighty. It is therefore not unique: the lower classes of the population, but also the middle ones, generally ate lunch outside the home with the traditional "pandrium”(A light dish, which was prepared in the middle of the day). However, the Regio V's thermopoly is truly sensational. The its counter has beautiful decorations, with a Nereid astride a hippocamus and animals all around. His studies then revealed how the inhabitants of Pompeii ate. What surprised the scholars most? The disobedience of the city. Which, in disagreement with what Nero imposed, he served and ate meat.
How to visit the site to discover the habits of Pompeii
Starting from the settlement of Nero, the taverns were forbidden to serve cooked food. Legumes and edible herbs were exceptions. In the ancient Pompeii diner, however, they were found duck and pork bones. How to visit the site? The entrances will be limited, and will also allow access to the construction site of the house of Orion and garden house. The first is distinguished by the mosaic floor, with the Orion design that ascends to the sky. The second, on the other hand, has a splendid frescoed portico and an exceptional historical significance. Thanks to a charcoal writing found on one of its walls, scholars have established that the eruption took place in October 79 AD and not in August as previously believed. To visit the ancient hot table of Pompeii it is necessary to have the Green pass, the site is open from 9.00 to 19.00 and the cost of the full ticket is 16 euros.
What were thermopolies?
I thermopolis, or thermopolium, were the refreshments of ancient Rome. You could buy and consume hot drinks here, and often hot food (with the various restrictions established from time to time by the emperor in power). Architecturally, they were small rooms whose counter boasted holes for inserting terracotta amphorae. Their name derives from “termos” (hot) and “poleo” (for sale) and they were, to all intents and purposes, the ancestors of our bars. Hence, the ancient diner of Pompeii was a sort of pub in which to drink and eat, while its "twins" can also be visited in Herculaneum and Ostia Antica.
Cover photo taken from the Musei Italiani Facebook page
