British Academy: The UK's National Academy for the Humanities and Social Sciences

 

BA PDF Symposium 2004: Abstracts

21 April 2004

Dr Damian Robinson

The Development of Inequality in Pompeii

In AD 79 the urban neighbourhoods of Pompeii were places of diverse social and economic contrasts. Wealth, poverty, power and dependency nestled together in these heterogeneous regions of the city. Insula VI.i was one such neighbourhood. Inequality was rife here: in the House of the Vestals lived some of the wealthiest people in the city, while in the small workshops, bars and upstairs rental apartments lived some of Pompeii’s most disadvantaged.

In this paper the development of the northern end of Insula VI.i will be traced, using the results from recent archaeological excavations, to reveal the processes behind the temporal growth of inequality in this Pompeian neighbourhood. Using evidence from the House of the Vestals, the paper will illustrate processes behind the development of an urban elite and show how the rich lived in space and luxury while the independent poor were marginalized.

The paper will also demonstrate that social differentiation and economic development are conjoined. The drive to enlarge the House of the Vestals was not only concerned with obtaining sufficient land upon which to create a lavish house, but was also designed to secure valuable economic space. The shops and workshops and the efforts of those who toiled within them would have helped to pay for the lavish decoration and opulent lifestyles of the inhabitants of the upper class property.

The excavations in Insua VI.i have revealed the long-term history of only a restricted section of Pompeii. Although they suggest some intriguing conclusions, if the analysis is to progress beyond the specifics of a single insula to more general social and economic trends it is necessary to widen the scope of the inquiry. Consequently the final aspect of this paper will be to contextualise the archaeology of Insula VI.i into the wider picture of the final phase of urban life in Pompeii.

Damian Robinson is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of Archaeological Sciences at the University of Bradford. He is a classical archaeologist, undertaking research into the social and economic development of the Roman and pre-Roman city of Pompeii. This research integrates spatial studies of the final phase of urban life with evidence provided by the excavations, which he directs, in Insula VI.i.