Pompeii

Pompeii was incredibly interesting mainly because we had a very knowledgeable guide who was able to teach us not only about the remains of the city but also about the culture. It is especially hard to visualize an ancient society in Rome because important cultural places such as the forum are nothing more than broken capitals.Pompeii having been buried by the volcanic ashes was fairly complete including gardens, graffiti, and paintings. Our guide helped to paint a picture of a culture not totally unlike our own with bars, restaurants, sporting events, gymnasiums, thermal spas and even brothels. Of all the things we saw in the city, one of the things I found the most interesting was that the residents of Pompeii prayed not only to the Gods of any religion that was brought into the city such as the Greek, Roman, and Sicilian but also to personal deities of their ancestors. Our guide told us that a part of the residents day each day if they were wealthy enough to own their own house was to pray to their ancestors in a special shrine to keep them healthy and fed. This practice reminds me of that of Asian and Hispanic cultures who even celebrate with a holiday for ancestors. I think our country today could learn from the culture of Pompeii to honor our ancestors more and keep them in mind each day. Our ancestors who have passed on help to ground us and remind us where we have come from.