This page collects the following materials, resources and links related to the study of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the other settlements buried by the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in AD 79.

Here is the link to the translation blog posts for Pliny the Younger’s Vesuvian letters, in ascending order: PLINY TRANSLATION BLOG

The items below particularly, but not exclusively, relate to The World of Pompeii, a comprehensive handbook edited by John J. Dobbins, Professor of Classical Art and Archaeology in the McIntire Department of Art at the University of Virginia, and director of the Pompeii Forum Project, and Pedar W. Foss, Professor in the Department of Classical Studies at DePauw University.

1. E-book: A. Mau, Pompeii: its life and art, F.W. Kelsey, trans., London, rev. ed. 1907 (in the public domain)
2. Marginalia, meant to enhance the utility of The World of Pompeii for teaching, research and reference.
3. Index/Concordance of individual houses and shops at Pompeii and Herculaneum for The World of Pompeii
4. A Master Bibliography compiled from all the chapters of The World of Pompeii
5. A short list of essential links to other online resources on Pompeii
6. The Table of Contents for The World of Pompeii
7. Publication information for The World of Pompeii
8. Reviews of The World of Pompeii
9. E-version of a Ph.D. dissertation on Pompeii: Pedar W. Foss, Kitchens and dining rooms at Pompeii:  the spatial and social relationship of cooking to eating in the Roman household, University of Michigan, 1994.
10. Pompeii dissertation excerpt: “Age, gender, and status divisions at mealtime in the Roman house:  a synopsis of the literary evidence” (1995)
11. The category of ‘Pompeii’-related posts on the quemdixerechaos.com blog

---

1. MAU and KELSEY’S POMPEII: ITS LIFE AND ART (2nd edn, 1907): e-book

This book has been the standard handbook on Pompeii for the last century, and was the inspiration for The World of Pompeii. Now out of copyright and in the public domain, we reproduce it here as an additional resource for students and scholars of Pompeii. Individual chapters are provided as PDF files, from a grayscale scan of the original. 

2. MARGINALIA (supplementary teaching and reference material) for The World of Pompeii

On this page can be found a series of links to web-pages or references to additional resources that elaborate or illustrate points in the text, organized by chapter and page number. This is a large and detailed page, which we hope provides added value to the book. It is in the process of being updated and expanded.

3. INDEX/CONCORDANCE OF INDIVIDUAL HOUSES AND SHOPS FOR THE WORLD OF POMPEII

A complete list of every house and shop mentioned in The World of Pompeii was too large and unwieldy to include in the printed index. This electronic version also has the advantage of being easily searchable by name or address.

4. MASTER BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR THE WORLD OF POMPEII

A compilation of all the sources cited in The World of Pompeii, in one easily-searchable list, with their short titles. Forthcoming.

5. ESSENTIAL LINKS FOR LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE WORLD OF POMPEII

This is a short list of links to official, reliable and/or useful sites concerning the ancient cities buried by Vesuvius.

• Blogging Pompeii: the place for up-to-date news, by J. Berry, U. Swansea
• The Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompeii
• Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli
• Pompeii Archaeological Research Project: Porta Stabia, by S.J.R. Ellis
• Pompeii Forum Project, by J.J. Dobbins, U. Virginia
• Pompeiana.org: a scholarly collection of resources, by E.E. Poehler, K.R. Cole and S.J.R. Ellis
• Pompeii Bibliography and Mapping Project, by E.E. Poehler
• La Fortuna visiva di Pompei: an archive of images and texts from the 18th-19th centuries
  
• Pompeii on your Desktop: syllabi, bibliographies and websites, by J. C. Fant, U. Akron
  
• Pompeian households: an on-line companion, by P.M. Allison, U. of Leicester
• The Vesuvius eruption, by H. Sigurdsson of the U. of Rhode Island
• Pompeii in Pictures: contemporary photographic catalog of the site by J. and B. Dunn
• Pompeian Bibliography, with links, in Finnish, English and Italian, by A. Tammisto
  
• Herculaneum Conservation Project, by the British School at Rome
  
• Friends of Herculaneum Society
• Restoring Ancient Stabiae Foundation
  
• The Pompeian Food and Drink Project, by B.J. Mayeske, U. Maryland, et al.

6. TABLE OF CONTENTS FOR THE WORLD OF POMPEII

I. Beginnings

Ch. 1: An orientation to the cities and countryside P. G. Guzzo
Ch. 2: History and historical sources J.-P. Descoeudres
Ch. 3: Rediscovery and resurrection P. W. Foss
Ch. 4: The environmental and geomorphological context H. Sigurdsson
Ch. 5: Recent work on early Pompeii P. Carafa
Ch. 6: The first sanctuaries S. De Caro
Ch. 7: The urban development of the pre-Roman city H. Geertman
Ch. 8: Building materials, construction methods, and chronologies J.-P. Adam
Ch. 8 Appendix: A note on Roman concrete (opus caementicium)
and other wall construction J. J. Dobbins

II. The Community

Ch. 9: Development of Pompeii’s public landscape in the Roman period R. Ling
Ch. 10: Urban planning, roads, streets and neighborhoods C. W. Westfall
Ch. 11: The walls and gates C. Chiaramonte Trerè
Ch. 12: The forum and its dependencies J. J. Dobbins
Ch. 13: Urban, suburban and rural religion in the Roman period A. M. Small
Ch. 14: Amphitheatre, palaestra, and entertainment complexes C. Parslow
Ch. 15: The city baths A. O. Koloski-Ostrow
Ch. 16: The water system: supply and drainage G. Jansen

III. Housing

Ch. 17: Domestic spaces and activities P. M. Allison
Ch. 18: The development of the Campanian house A. Wallace-Hadrill
Ch. 19: Instrumentum domesticum – a case study J. Berry
Ch. 20: Domestic decoration: paintings and the “Four Styles” V. M. Strocka
Ch. 21: Domestic decoration: mosaics and stucco J. R. Clarke
Ch. 22: Real and painted (imitation) marble at Pompeii J. C. Fant
Ch. 23: Houses of Regions I and II S. Ciro Nappo
Ch. 24: Regions V and IX: early anonymous domestic architecture K. Peterse
Ch. 25: Intensification, heterogeneity and power in the development of insual VI.1 R. Jones and D. Robinson
Ch. 26: Rooms with a view: residences built on terraces (Regions VI-VIII) R. A. Tybout
Ch. 27: Residences in Herculaneum J.-A. Dickmann
Ch. 28: Villas surrounding Pompeii and Herculaneum E. M. Moormann

IV. Society and economy

Ch. 29: Shops and industries F. Pirson
Ch. 30: Inns and taverns J. DeFelice
Ch. 31: Gardens W. F. Jashemski
Ch. 32: The loss of innocence: Pompeian economy and society W. M. Jongman
Ch. 33: Epigraphy and society J. Franklin
Ch. 34: Pompeian women F. Bernstein
Ch. 35: The lives of slaves M. George
Ch. 36: Pompeian men and women in portrait sculpture K. E. Welch
Ch. 37: The tombs at Pompeii S. Cormack
Ch. 38: Victims of the cataclysm E. Lazer
Ch. 39: Early published sources for Pompeii A. Laidlaw

7. PUBLICATION INFORMATION FOR THE WORLD OF POMPEII

Routledge has published the book. It can be ordered at the Routledge website here:

http://www.routledgearchaeology.com/books/The-World-of-Pompeii-isbn9780415475778

The book, originally printed on 4 July 2007, had a second hardback printing (still available); a paperback was printed on 26 June 2008, available at Amazon, listed at $49.95 and £28.50:

(US): http://www.amazon.com/World-Pompeii-Pedar-Foss/dp/0415475775/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1215456862&sr=11-1
(UK): http://www.amazon.co.uk/World-Pompeii-Pedar-Foss/dp/0415475775/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1215616011&sr=8-1

The book format is a decent size, at 174mm x 246 mm, about 10″ x 7″. In addition, the book includes a CD insert, and a detailed glossary. It has 662 + xlii pages, 234 illustrations, 4 maps and 3 tables for its 39 chapters.

The CD contains the full-size, full-color versions of the maps for the book, at various sizes, and in various (non-editable raster) formats (e.g., TIF, JPG, PDF, BMP), based on a CAD plan provided graciously by the Pompeii Soprintendenza, but with many additions and several corrections. The maps are the most complete available, with all street entrances, gates, towers, and most streets labeled. At the level of individual structures, however, the maps are not precise because of errors in the CAD-digitization process (not under our control) from the original RICA (CTP, Corpus Topographicum Pompeianum) paper basemaps. Users should always consult and compare the RICA, Eschebach, PPM (Caratelli and Baldassarre, eds, Pompeii, Pitture e Mosaici) and other published maps for any particular structure. An accompanying ‘ReadMe’ file contains coordinates for georeferencing the large Pompeii plan for those who wish to use it for making a GIS (Geographic Information System). We think the plans will be a major research and teaching tool.

8. REVIEWS OF THE WORLD OF POMPEII. We thank these authors for their careful reading, their corrections and criticisms, their insightful comments, and their kind words.

• Spivey, N., “Subject Reviews: Art and Archaeology,” Greece & Rome 55 (2008) 144-6. See here.
• Ellis, S. J.R., “A new Pompeian textbook,” JRA 21 (2008) 450-7. See here.
• Mattusch, C. C., Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2009.01.21. See here.
• Kaiser, A., “Review of Dobbins, John Joseph; Foss, Pedar William, eds., The World of Pompeii,” H-Urban, H-Net Reviews. July, 2009. See here.
• Newsome, D. J., “Review Article: new Books on Pompeii,” Rosetta 5, University of Birmingham. See here.

9. E-VERSION OF A POMPEIAN PH.D. DISSERTATION

• Pedar W. Foss, Kitchens and dining rooms at Pompeii:  the spatial and social relationship of cooking to eating in the Roman household, University of Michigan, 1994. Text (1 PDF) and Figures (10 PDFs).
  • Dissertation Text
  • Chapter 1 Figures
  • Chapter 2 Figures
  • Chapter 3 Figures
  • Chapter 5 (Gazetteer) Figures 1-23
  • Chapter 5  (Gazetteer) Figures 24-47
  • Chapter 5  (Gazetteer) Figures 48-73
  • Chapter 5  (Gazetteer) Figures 74-99
  • Chapter 5  (Gazetteer) Figures 100-125
  • Chapter 5  (Gazetteer) Figures 126-151
  • Chapter 5  (Gazetteer) Figures 152-178

10. POMPEII DISSERTATION EXCERPT

• Pedar W. Foss, “Age, gender, and status divisions at mealtime in the Roman house:  a synopsis of the literary evidence” (1995)