The Forum and its surrounding buildings were excavated in 1813—1824. The excavation reports of this period are particularly patchy, with whole periods remaining unaccounted for. This was a time of considerable political upheaval, with the Bourbons being driven into exile by Napoleon, followed by the Napoleonic rulers of Naples being ousted in their turn by the return of the Bourbon monarchy from exile in 1815. It is especially difficult to judge, therefore, whether absence of evidence can be taken to be evidence of absence (J33—39). ‘Nothing to report’ does not necessarily mean that nothing was being found, merely that nothing thought worthy of attention at the time was being uncovered (compare the dismissive attitude even to sizeable blocks of dismembered architecture: J38—39). On the other hand, the tiny handful of workers engaged in this demanding task must have found it difficult to make much headway in their digging. As soon as fragments of statues and significant buildings start to be found, however, the reports contain more details (J40—44). Presumably the earlier reports relate to the clearance of the open piazza.
As a result of these reporting techniques, scholars today hold diametrically opposed views about the state of the Forum in AD 79. Some argue that the town’s citizens neglected to
Repair the Forum following earthquake damage in AD 62 (compare C1—5) and that this is indicative of changing attitudes to public space, with the Forum receiving less attention than the Amphitheatre, for example. Others, however, contend that the Pompeians were actually engaged in executing a lavish building programme, not realizing that their plans would go unfinished.
The apparent lack of material in the Forum is not just the result of reporting techniques. It is likely that much material was salvaged from it in antiquity, both in the immediate aftermath of the eruption and in the centuries following it (J32).
Possible signs of salvaging in antiquity (J32)
(PAH I, Part 3, p. 158)
Compare C17—19.
World History
