This Pompeii victim was likely a doctor trying to help survivors
Popular Science...
The Garden of Fugitives is one of Pompeii’s most haunting sites. Discovered during archaeological excavations in 1961, the former vineyard quickly became a gravesite for over a dozen people who perished amid the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and its choking, burning hot pyroclastic cloud that enveloped the city in 79 CE.
Although the victims’ bodies eventually decomposed underneath the pumice and ash, the unique burial conditions at their time of death presented a remarkable opportunity for future archaeologists. Shortly after their identification, researchers created chilling, highly detailed casts of their final moments by carefully pouring plaster into the hollowed spaces they left behind. These echoes of the ancient Roman catastrophe have taught historians a lot about life at the time of the eruption, even if much of the Pompeiians’ personal information is lost to time.
However, modern diagnostic imaging technology has yielded unexpected evidence that points to one of the Garden of Fugitives’ professions. Based on recent findings highlighted in the E-journal of the Pompeii Excavations, a man who died fleeing the volcanic destruction carried a bag of tools that indicate he was an ancient Roman doctor, or medicus.
Experts peered into a nearly 2,000-year-old encasement using both X-ray and computer tomography techniques. The images revealed that the plaster mold contained a cloth bag filled with bronze and silver coins, as well as a small container made from organic material and metal fittings. Inside this container was a slate tablet and delicate metal tools. Similar tablets were often used by Roman medical professionals to prepare various treatments and cosmetics. Meanwhile, the metal accessories resembled surgical equipment.
Archaeologists acknowledged that while the cumulative evidence isn’t conclusive, it strongly suggests the man was a medicus in the futile process of attempting to outrun Mount Vesuvius’ pyroclastic cloud. While subtle, the details offer poignant, extremely humanizing context for one of Pompeii’s thousands of otherwise anonymous casualties.
“As far back as two thousand years ago, there were those who did not merely practice medicine—confined to specific office hours—but simply were physicians at every moment,” park director Gabriel Zuchtriegel said in a statement translated from Italian. “This man brought his tools with him to be ready to rebuild his life elsewhere…but perhaps also to help others.”
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