Roman pizza, the Black Room, and renovation: 4 incredible things we learned from Pompeii: The New Dig

Roman pizza, and a mammoth bread oven

Today, we might view tomatoes as a quintessential Italian ingredient and a staple of the country’s cuisine, not least because of their association with pizza. However, tomatoes only arrived in Italy (from South America) in the 16th century, meaning that pizza (at least as we know it) was first consumed long after the fall of the Roman Empire.

But, as Pompeii: The New Dig highlights, a wall painting newly unearthed by the archaeologists shows that Romans in Pompeii did make – and eat – something remarkably similar to what we would, today, describe as ‘pizza’.

Discovered in what seems to be the hallway of an impressive home, a still-life wall mural depicts a 2,000-year-old (but no less delicious-looking) plate of food, including a baked circular flatbread with raised crusts, adorned with a number of enticing ingredients including fruit and vegetables.

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It is, to most, recognisable as a pizza, albeit possibly with the omission of cheese, and without any hint of tomatoes (an offering you would certainly find today in any pizzerias).

Adding to this gluten-based bake uncovered in the dig was the discovery of a huge, 265cm x 220cm oven (large enough for an archaeologist to climb inside) which almost certainly would have produced bread in huge commercial quantities.

Working the oven would likely have been the preserve of a group of enslaved people under the control of a wealthy, influential citizen of Pompeii. It would have been physically exhausting work, and a brutal production process.

In the documentary, Dr Nicolas Monteix explains: “We have to imagine that life in the bakery was not easy. Being in front of the oven all day meant suffering temperatures up to 500 °C.”

The ‘Black Room’ of Greek myth

In the days before the release of Pompeii: The New Dig, the team behind the series revealed a glimpse of one of the most beautiful and impressive discoveries of the recent archaeological excavation: a banquet hall – dubbed the ‘Black Room’ – decorated in astonishing floor-to-ceiling art formerly owned by a wealthy Pompeiian.

This room, with jet-black walls, is covered in frescos depicting moments from Greek history and mythology for attendees to marvel at. Fresco is an ancient technique of mural painting and the results here, seen in the documentary, are truly staggering.

"These frescoes are astonishing for so many reasons – and it's not just their immediacy, the sheer quality of the painting,” says Dr Emily Hauser of the University of Exeter, who has worked on excavations in Pompeii. “One of the most incredible features is that we're seeing women grouped together from one of the most powerful ancient Greek myths – the legend of the Trojan War.”

“We see Helen of Troy meeting Paris for the first time,” she continues, “the fabled most beautiful woman in the world, whose abduction by Paris started the Trojan War.” The fresco also shows “[Helen’s] mother Leda, grappling with Zeus in the form of a swan; and Cassandra, approached by the god Apollo.”

Part of the discovery’s allure is that it’s so easy to imagine standing in the room, dimly lit and abuzz with evening conversation, and being entranced by the fantastical tales of Greek myth immortalised on the walls by the immense talent of the artists. Evidently, Pompeiians were just as enthralled by these Greek legends as we are today.

"The Black Room is not merely a relic of the past; it is a portal to a bygone era of opulence and intrigue," explains Professor Michael Scott of the University of Warwick. "Its walls, adorned with vibrant scenes from Greek mythology, would have been illuminated by the flickering glow of oil lamps, igniting lively discourse among its guests."

Collapsing ceilings

Food and art are exciting reminders of how, in its pomp, the bustling Pompeii was brimming with life. It makes it too easy to forget that the buried city is also a site of catastrophic death.

However, the image of Italian archaeologists huddling around a sprawled collection of flattened bones, delicately brushing away the loose soil to analyse the remains, quickly brings that knowledge back to the fore.

Analysing the shattered pelvis and other fractures of three skeletons (two women and a young child) in a particular room, the archaeologists quickly realise that these Pompeiians died in a building, huddled together, desperately seeking shelter. They weren’t killed directly by the eruption itself, but instead by the destruction of their roof, which collapsed under the weight of mounting pumice.

“The roof wasn’t strong enough [to protect them],” says Dr Alessandro Russo, who helped to assess the bones, adding that the falling weight would have amounted to “approximately 300 kilos per square metre.”

The discovery reinforces that for every wonder-inducing find, there are countless tragic ones.

Remarkable renovations

Have you ever had the feeling when looking around your home that, perhaps, it might need a little TLC – only to discover that said renovation takes far, far longer than you ever anticipated? Don’t worry, the residents of Pompeii could relate.

While excavating the central reception area of a large home, the team of archaeologists made a pair of confusing discoveries. When analysed together, they pointed to the idea that, when Vesuvius erupted, the building was in the midst of a never-to-be-completed renovation.

The first was a mill stone which was effectively brand new, sat in the reception area of the building. The archaeologists deduced that the stone was new, as it still had discernible chisel marks along its edge from when it was made – marks which are quickly worn away when the stone is first used.

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It seemed like an odd piece of the puzzle. Why was this new stone waiting in the building’s reception area?

Then, the discovery of a stack of new roof tiles not far away, in the same room, suddenly revealed a possible answer: the building was being renovated after an earthquake from years earlier, and these new materials were being stored in the reception area, waiting to be fitted.

The earthquake in question had occurred in AD 62, hitting Pompeii and causing damage to buildings right across the city. Seventeen years on, the reconstruction – including the renovation of this grand house – was seemingly still underway.

Now, almost 2,000 years later, these otherwise inconspicuous artifacts have become astonishing evidence for delayed domestic renovation.

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