This strengthened nature of the Pompeii urbanites is also mirrored by the tufa city walls that guarded the settlement. In any case, reverting to history, by the 6th century BC, the local Italic inhabitants and the Greek colonists had merged into a single community of Pompeii. ![]() Yet another hypothesis states that the name is derived from gens Pompeia – the Romanized family name. However, on the academic side of affairs, many scholars believe Pompeii is possibly derived from pompe – meaning ‘five’ in Oscan, thus once again alluding to the original five villages on the site. ![]() Thus the nearby town of Herculaneum may have been named after this mythical narrative of Hercules.įurthermore, according to one ancient Roman account, Pompeii comes from pumpe – the procession that commemorates the hero’s victory over the giants. In terms of etymology, it appears that Greeks already observed the potent nature of Vesuvius, as can be discerned from their myth (interpreted by the Romans) that describes how Hercules defeated earth giants in the Phlegraean Plain (or ‘plain of fire) on route to Sicily. Over time, Pompeii, with its advantages of a favorable climate and rich volcanic soil, was transformed into a safe port used by maritime powers like the Greeks and the Phoenicians. And it was the Greeks who probably endowed Pompeii with its first urban character, by building a Doric Temple that later became the focal point of a forum and introducing the cult of Apollo. Fast-forwarding to centuries later, a juncture close to the mouth of River Sarno was occupied by five villages of the Oscans, an Italic people from the 8th century BC.īy Circa 740 BC, the area came under the influence of the Greeks – who were known to have established their trading colonies in the Campania region. Credit: Monopthalmos (Flickr)ĭelving into the origins of Pompeii, the first known evidence of proper habitations in the area (southwestern part of Italy) possibly harks back to the Bronze Age. ![]() Pompeii, Italy: Stone Stele with Oscan inscription.
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