An undeniably emotional experience seeing the other half of the ‘peacock room’ in Oplontis being excavated and meeting their counterparts: the two peahens that graced the facing wall. What a delightfully playful idea by the artist. Compliments to my colleagues, excavators & conservators. Spectacular

For half-term, next Tuesday I’m doing a fun kids’ event at @southbankcentre.bsky.social in London — I’ll be doing a funny talk on the history of Roman Britain, and my ace illustrator @rikinparekh.bsky.social will do a live draw-along tutorial Tix cheap! www.southbankcentre.co.uk/whats-on/tot...

A chink of light falls across the wall of the caldarium (hot room) in the women’s section of the Stabian baths in #Pompeii.

Hello old friend. Good to be back. #Pompeii #Vesuvius

Possibly the most sublime Roman fresco of a temple. The architectural detail of the spiky-topped wooden barrier, the painted relief in the pediment, & the offerings burning on the altar; it’s a symphony of observations. Archaeological Museum of Capri (no provenance) #FrescoFriday

Happy #Halloween! A wonderful 2nd century AD Roman mosaic found near Antioch, Turkey showing a skeleton, cup of wine in hand, reclining on the floor of a dining room in a house reminding guests to enjoy life: ‘ευφρόσυνος’

I particular like the colours of Vesuvius looking as though someone has fashioned it out of a lump of smooshed-together-different-coloured Play-Doh.

Towering research in #Pompeii. Having been continually baffled by the grandeur of the staircase and confused by the high second window, this architectural hypothesis makes a lot of sense. I love the idea of a Pompeian tower! pompeiisites.org/en/comunicat...

Was too busy admiring the bricks & marvelling at the fact cars can drive over the Roman road paving beneath the Arco Felice (Bacoli) this evening to take a photo of the Roman arch but it seems forgivable all things considered. Here’s an 1896 photo instead (fotografia.cultura.gov.it/iccd/item/MP...)

Surprisingly yet pleasingly complex - the tile elements required to reconstruct a Roman roof over the House of the Faun, #Pompeii. Beautiful watercolour, pencil, and ink illustrations by Pasquale Maria Veneri dating to 1843 on display in the National Archaeological Museum In Naples.

That magical moment when the pumice is gently cleared away revealing, for the first time in nearly 2000 years, a white mosaic. #MosaicMonday #Pompeii

The fragments of the Forma Urbis – the marble map of Rome made towards the end of Emperor Severus’ reign – set into Nolli’s beautiful 18th century map of the city is breathtaking. Fun to spot existing monuments but wondrous to see the now missing buildings. www.sovraintendenzaroma.it/content/il-m...

ITALIA! In onda stasera un nuovo e finale episodio di ‘Pompei le Nuove Verità: La Casa dei Tesori’. mediasetinfinity.mediaset.it/video/pompei... È una meravigliosa lettera d'amore a Pompei e ai suoi antichi abitanti, celebrata attraverso le ultime scoperte degli scavi a Regio IX.

#Pompei by night A wonderful initiative by the Archaeological Park of Pompeii inviting visitors to visit a few houses by night. It’s an incredibly evocative experience as from the depths of darkness, light glows from rooms as if someone is at home. Info here: pompeiisites.org/comunicati/i...

‘Below the Clouds’. A beautiful trailer for what looks to be a beguiling film by Gianfranco Rosi about Naples. The title reminded me how Vesuvius somehow heightens the drama of the cloud formations above it. Watch the film trailer here: youtu.be/eF_RPx6CXFw

The Large Gymnasium and the Amphitheatre but mainly the trees #Pompeii

Honouring all the young tesserae that didn’t grow up to be a mosaic. A reused amphora housing thousands of loose white tesserae in the House of the Thiasus, #Pompeii. #MosaicMonday

It’s (one of two surmised dates for) Pompeii Volcano Day! I made this video with @pompei79.bsky.social to explain how the eruption affected the victims and allowed for casts of their bodies to be made. youtu.be/zWXnTsTnGYM?...

Goodness knows how I had never been in the House of the Red Walls, #Pompeii but I hadn’t until today. The two rooms decorated with a rich red background engulf you, spindly architecture lift the space, and the figurative panels are little windows of brightness. Utterly stunning.

If this was the late 18th century I’d be setting up my easel right now. #Vesuvius

Buon #Ferragosto! Fresco from #Pompeii (possibly from Fullonica of Sestius Venustus) and a unique example of a group of just women celebrating in what looks to be a rather wonderfully rowdy dining scene with upturned glassware, music being played and a woman holding aloft a ladle.

You can almost hear the crowd roar as the gladiator fells a fellow combatant who looks at him in mercy from the sandy arena floor. A graffito etched into the wall of a room in the House of Obellius Firmus, #Pompeii

Dramatic end to the day. Fire on the slopes of Vesuvius lit by the setting sun. #Pompeii

AMERICA! The new and final episode of ‘Pompeii The New Dig’ airs tonight on PBS! It follows the progress of the excavation team and all the spectacular and poignant discoveries made in the last year. It’s a beautiful love letter to Pompeii. www.pbs.org/video/traile...

AUSTRALIA! I gather that the final episode of the excellent documentary ‘Pompeii: The New Dig’ that followed the latest excavations in #Pompeii has arrived on your shores and is available to watch on SBS. www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-...

What a privilege to see the wild boar mosaic up close. The blood spot in the eye, the redness in the mouth and the blueish tesserae making up the diffused shadows. Quite the welcome in the entrance hall of the recently conserved House of the Boar, #Pompeii

Even Vesuvius wears a little hat in this hot weather. #Pompeii

Late evening of work in Pompeii yesterday but the reward of an empty site bathed in glorious warm light was a privilege.

The BBC series ‘Pompeii: The New Dig’ just won a Gold Tower at the New York Festivals TV & Films Awards!🏆 Well deserved honour for all who brought the wonder of an excavation to life through those who worked on site & the incredible stories they unravelled tvfilm.newyorkfestivals.com/Winners/Winn...

UPDATE: PBS will air the new 4th episode of ‘Pompeii: The New Dig’ on Wednesday 6th August. America, please forgive us Europeans who write dates day-month-year and not month-day-year…. You see the confusion? Oooops!

Just a pleasing bit of geometry. #Pompeii #BarOfAsellina

Taking the mic(k)turition. Spotted in the decoration of the shower pool of the frigidarium in the Sarno Baths, #Pompeii: a pygmy on the banks of the Nile urinating. #FrescoFriday

Honouring the ancient plumbers, mosaicists, builders, and painters in an insula in #Pompeii (Region IX) who were tragically interrupted in their work. #LabourDay #MayDay

You can buy the ebook & audio of #AmarantusAndHisNeighbourhood, a story written for middle school kids about a real Pompeian slave who became a freedman, but you can also read (& listen) for free: www.cambridgeamarantus.com/story @greekmythcomix.bsky.social @pompei79.bsky.social

A Roman funerary scene (from just-post the Pompeiian earthquake of 62CE, hence the rubble) that’s appropriate for today. From ‘Amarantus and his Neighbours’, illustrated by me for CSCP and @carolawrence.bsky.social, based on research by @pompei79.bsky.social and others.

The colours of Italian liberation spotted in the Temple of the Genius of Augustus, #Pompeii 🇮🇹 Wishing all Italians a very happy #FestaDellaLiberazione

Happy Easter! Celebrating with eggs: the glorious fresco from the Praedia of Julia Felix in #Pompeii and the astonishing remains of eggs from #Herculaneum. #Easter #Eggs

End of the day in #Pompeii

America, PBS has just confirmed that the brand new episode of ‘Pompeii: The New Dig’ documentary that lovingly follows the current excavations of a large and sumptuous house in Region IX will air on Sunday 8th June 2025.

Pompeii has been excavated for hundreds of years, and in that time techniques, practices and philosophies have changed. In the new Emperors of Rome podcast we speak to Sophie Hay @pompei79.bsky.social and Steven Ellis @stevenellis.bsky.social podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/e...

One of the most remarkable objects in #Pompeii is a marble table support with P. Casca Longus inscribed on it. Longus was the 1st assassin to stab Julius Caesar on the #IdesOfMarch (today in 44 BC). On his death Longus’ possessions were auctioned & this table was bought by a Pompeian

A beautifully elegant mosaic threshold to a corridor painted in the same colour palette as the mosaic. The central motif of the hexafoil warded off evil (apotropaic) for those who crossed it. Found in the excavations of the House of Thiasos (Region IX, 10) #Pompeii #MosaicMonday

Celebrating Women’s Day with a fresco from #Pompeii. #WD2025

Back at it today in #Pompeii 🎥

I do love wry sceptics on #ValentinesDay. Below the famous graffito on this fresco in the House of the Lovers in #Pompeii —‘Lovers, like bees, enjoy a honeyed life’— two responses were added ‘Lovers, lovers, why do you need them?’ and ‘I wish’.

Good morning from the Forum in #Pompeii

@timeteam.bsky.social podcast day 🎙️ - listen to @pompei79.bsky.social Dr Sophie Hay, discussing the latest discoveries at Pompeii - And also @megsdigs.bsky.social who shares how archaeology runs in the family. Be afraid @durotrigesdig.bsky.social ?!? podfollow.com/time-team

Double take! #Pompeii #Vesuvius

Spotted this lively party of colours and textures in #Pompeii. Red bricks mingling with Sarno limestone, a shy red lava and yellow brick about to get their coats, and hogging the dance floor the exuberant grey and yellow tuffs with grey lava throwing some (reticulatum) shapes.