Appendix C: The Pompeii Model at the Naples Museum

The National Archaeological Museum of Naples houses a remarkably detailed model of the entire city of Pompeii, developed during the late 19th century. Figure C.1 shows an overall view of the model.

Figure C.1: Overall view of the Pompeii model, viewed from the north. The Forum is visible in the distance (photo courtesy of Larry Ball)

The model is important because it documents the state of the city in the late 19th century, and inspection of the Macellum reveals some notable differences with the current state of the building. Figures C.2 through C.4 below show various views of the Macellum in this model.

Figure C.2: The Macellum viewed from the southwest (photo courtesy of Larry Ball)

A key feature of the model is that the walls are at a nearly consistent height around the building, in contrast to the current state of the building, where the wall height steps down adjacent the north gate.

Figure C.3: The Macellum viewed from the west (photo courtesy of Larry Ball)

Figure C.4: The Macellum viewed from the north (photo courtesy of Larry Ball)

Although the model includes significant detail concerning the configuration of the walls and the areas of painted plaster, the reliability is uncertain. This study assumes that the large scale features, such as the missing patch of plaster in Area A shown in figure C.2, are reasonably accurate.