Sunday, February 9, 2020, 3:00pm
Pedar Foss, Professor, Classical Studies, DePauw University, Indiana
Title: When Did Vesuvius Explode?

It has long been held, on the basis of a letter of Pliny the Younger, that Mt. Vesuvius erupted on 24 August, AD 79. But after excavators began to work at the sites of Herculaneum at Pompeii, some scholars expressed doubts, suggesting a date later in the autumn of that year. Debate has increased with recent paleo-environmental research and the find of an inscription last year. Scholars have divided over a topic that might appear trivial—after all, most archaeological sites never enjoy such a precise date. But it is an excellent case study for testing our methods of historical and archaeological research, and I will lift the lid on those methods.

As part of a book project (Pliny and the Destruction of Vesuvius, Routledge 2021), I have collated, for the first time, every manuscript and printed edition of Pliny’s Letters 6.16 and 6.20, in order to track and analyze the literary tradition of the date through its surviving evidence. I have also compiled a reconstruction of the pre-eruption landscape and coastline, and collected all recent volcanological and archaeological research about the event. Having made a multidisciplinary reconstruction of what happened over the two terrifying days of the eruption, I can now offer an answer to the question of when Vesuvius exploded.

Pedar W. Foss is Professor of Classical Studies at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he has worked since 1999. As a teacher, he conducts courses in Latin, ancient history and literature, and art and archaeology. He received his B.A. in Chemistry and Classics from Gustavus Adolphus College, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Classical Art and Archaeology from the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor; he subsequently taught at the University of Cincinnati and at Stanford. His research concerns domestic life at Pompeii, landscape archaeology, and Geographic Information Systems. He has edited for the Journal of Roman Archaeology and was co-editor of the book reviews for the American Journal of Archaeology from 2008-2011. He has lived, studied, and worked for extended periods in Greece, Italy, Tunisia, Turkey, and England. He is a fanatical follower of football/futbol/soccer.

https://aia-milwaukee.uwm.edu/lectures/

This Saturday, December 7th is the next lecture in the AIA series. In this lecture Dr. Landau addresses the questions of how political leaders come to power and why others choose to follow. This talk examines the dynamics of political integration between the neighborhood of San Lucas and the central government of Copán, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Honduras. The ancient city of Copán is unique for its 200 years of intensive research on temples and tombs, and the decipherment of Maya hieroglyphic writing. This extraordinary work has revealed a wealth of information about the history and politics of Maya royalty. However, archaeologists understand much less about everyday life for the majority of people living outside of the city center. Mapping and excavation in the urban neighborhood of San Lucas reveals how ancient residents actively negotiated with the top-down power strategies of Copan elites. This bottom-up approach has also inspired grassroots collaboration with an indigenous high school to teach a year-long introductory anthropology course; which highlights how major anthropological questions are relevant for past and contemporary people.

Kristin Landau (PhD, Northwestern University) is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Alma College. Since 2005 she has conducted community-based archaeology at the ancient city of Copán, Honduras, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Specifically, she investigates the dynamic relationship between centralized power and everyday life within Copán’s urban neighborhoods, providing a bottom-up perspective to questions of state formation. She also works collaboratively with local indigenous leaders to promote science and heritage education. By linking past and present, she highlights how archaeology is relevant for contemporary people.