Pompeii Rises From The Ashes By Rejecting Its History Of Crime And Corruption - Forbes

With 30 newly restored buildings, improvements made to increase the accessibility of the site for those with disabilities and even wifi in place, the €105 million euros dedicated to the "Great Pompeii Project" appears to be paying off. By rejecting the long history of corruption and crime that has plagued the site in the past, Pompeii is returning to its former splendor.

Sophie Hay

A road in Pompeii shows the work in progress fences to either side. Photo by Prof. Sophie Hay, used with permission.

€105 million euros is a lot money, and many in and around the area of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples have wanted to get their hands on it. Since the “Great Pompeii Project” was first begun in 2012, there have indeed been problems with siphoning of money and shoddy reconstructive work, but overseers on the site have a new plan in place that targets corruption, keeps a watchful eye over any possible looting and underscores the significance of keeping Pompeii intact through careful oversight. In March, a whistle-blower website for reporting crime and questionable activities was even set up by Luigi Curatoli, the Director General of the Great Pompeii Project.

Wellcome Library

The discovery of the temple of Isis at Pompeii, buried under pumice and other volcanic matter. Color etching by Pietro Fabris, 1776. Image via the Wellcome Library under a CC-Attribution 4.0 International License.

The site's struggle with crime and corruption has lasted centuries. Excavations at Pompeii and neighboring Herculaneum commenced in 1738 and 1748 and brought a flood of antiquities to the market. Some had been sanctioned for sale, but many had not. It was at this time that many newly excavated pieces were sold to wealthy Europeans hungry to buy classical antiquities. Sir William Hamilton, the British Envoy to the court of Naples from 1764–1798 and an amateur volcanologist, acquired numerous pieces from Pompeii and then later sold his collection to the British Museum in 1772. Hamilton’s popular book, Campi Phlegraei (Naples, 1776), exposed British audiences to the volcanic terrain near Naples and the treasures to be found at the freshly uncovered site.

The popular demand for valuable pieces of Pompeii and Herculaneum continued well into the 19th and 20th centuries. The opening of a railway that served the site in 1844 meant that it was more accessible, and people from Pope Pius IX to author Henry James would make pilgrimages to see it. The pope walked away with a number of donated antiquities for the Vatican Museum; a donation not repeated when Pope Francis visited Pompeii briefly in 2015.

Sophie Hay

Pompeii Porticoed garden of the House of the Golden Cupids after conservation.

With the demand also came the development of a black market for looted antiquities that continued into the 21st century. In 2003, two frescoes were stolen and then almost immediately recovered before they could be shipped—in part thanks to the half-eaten pizza crusts left in a villa called The House of the Chaste Lovers. Police went to the local pizzeria where the pizza had been sold and asked around as to the people who had ordered takeout that night. Now that is good Italian police work.

The hunger for Pompeii antiquities was in part fed by museums and private collectors in the U.S. In 2015, a number of fresco fragments, ceramic vessels, and bronze figurines were repatriated to the site. The frescoes had initially been taken in 1957, but were eventually returned after investigations into U.S. acquisitions by a special Carabinieri force put together to target cultural heritage acquisition. In 2016, the frescoes were even put on display in Palazzo Barberini for the “Carabinieri: For Art And Legality” exhibit. As The Telegraph reported, “Some of the 25 items had been put up for sale by the auction houses Sotheby's and Christie's after traffickers lied about their provenance, claiming that they had been exported legally.”

Carole Raddato

One of the stolen frescoes depicted a young woman with a cupid on her shoulders. Image by Carole Raddato.

There was an obvious profit to be made in the illegal looting of Pompeii, but, in the past few years, there has also been money in securing contracts connected to archaeological projects funded by the EU and the Italian government. In the area of Naples, archaeology has long been an area of influence for the mafia. The Casalesi cartel, an infamous offshoot of the Camorra, the Neapolitan mafia, in particular. Already in March of this year, there were 69 arrest warrants issued in a sting operation meant to stymie corruption and the bid-rigging of contracts. One of the principal targets was Guglielmo La Regina, the owner of a construction company who was under suspicion for fixing 18 public contracts. He had been put in charge of building a crematorium near the site of Pompeii and was also connected to the contracts for the building of new archaeological museums elsewhere in the area.

On site at Pompeii in the past years, there has also been a tightening of the proverbial belt and more intense oversight of how the money granted to the site is being used. Reconstruction projects have brought it back to life and 30 buildings have been restored and reopened. As archaeologist and Pompeii expert Professor Sophie Hay told me, "Four previously closed regions of site have been opened too. [It is the] best it's looked since I started working there 20yrs ago." On July 3, there was even an unveiling of a new lighting system for night visits to the archaeological park. At the inauguration of the new light itinerary for nocturnal visitors, the Director General of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, Massimo Osanna, spoke about the new LED lights and a revamp of the audio system along the path—which is meant to create a more immersive atmosphere for visitors.

Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei

The new Pompeii at Night exhibit encourages visitors to have a night tour with a newly lit pathway. Part of a program of improvements on the site.

A press release about the new improvements disseminated by the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Napoli e Pompei noted that, “The sounds, repeated in the background, reproduce the voices of everyday life of the ancient Roman era: within places such as the market or in sacred places such as the Temple of Apollo.” Archaeologist Donna Yates, who was on site for the unveiling last week, noted the improvements in accessibility for those with disabilities; a persistent problem at many Italian archaeological sites: “They have a series of new pathways to provide better accessibility to the site for visitors with mobility issues, with some actual wheelchair access. They've been trying to use the site for plays which has been popular, and now the piece de resistance: opening the forum area of Pompeii to visitors at night.”

Professor Yates also remarked that, according the Minister of Culture Dario Franceschini, the creation of the Pompeii by night experience is meant to highlight the various improvements to the site. Franceschini even told the gathered crowed that the week after he took office, a wall had fallen down at Pompeii which then inspired him to revamp how the site was run. The Minister said he wants Pompeii to be a “beacon for good practice” for other sites in Italy and beyond. While he may not have cited the charges of corruption and mismanaged money explicitly during the new unveiling, for most, he didn't have to. The improvements to the site speak for themselves and communicate that Pompeii is ready for its resurrection.

A picture taken on November 16, 2016 shows a fresco in the Vettii's House that re-opened to public after its restoration in the archaeological area of Pompeii. (Photo credit: CARLO HERMANN/AFP/Getty Images)

Sarah E. Bond is an Assistant Professor of Classics at the University of Iowa. For more on ancient and medieval history, follow her @SarahEBond.

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