Pompeii
Topic: The Roman Empire · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 2 "An Empire Across Three Continents"
Meaning
Pompeii was a Roman town in Italy. It was buried by the eruption of the volcano Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. The ash kept the town almost as it was. Its walls tell historians a lot about how ordinary Romans lived. They also show that "casual literacy" was widespread: everyday reading and writing used for simple, practical things.
Example
Excavated walls at Pompeii are covered with shop advertisements and graffiti (words scratched or painted on walls by ordinary people). This suggests that many townspeople could read. In Egypt it was different. Formal documents there were written by professional scribes, who often noted that the people involved could not read.
Don't confuse with
- Literacy in Roman Egypt: Pompeii shows widespread everyday literacy. In Egypt, many people who signed contracts could not read, and literacy was higher mainly among soldiers, army officers and estate managers.