① Among the ruins of Pompeii is a large villa known as the House of Thiasus. This year, excavations revealed the stunning frescoes (湿壁画) that adorned its banquet hall. Now, researchers are trying to unravel more of the house’s secrets: They’ve created a digital reconstruction of a tower that may have once been attached to the structure—“possibly offering sweeping views of the surrounding city and the historic Bay of Naples,” writes Hyperallergic’s Diba Mohtasham.
② According to a statement from the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, archaeologists were initially intrigued by the villa’s “monumental staircase,” which appears to “lead nowhere.” Led by Gabriel Zuchtriegel, the park’s director, and Susanne Muth, an archaeologist at the Humboldt University of Berlin, the research team turned its attention upward.
③ Through a project called Pompeii Reset, researchers are building virtual models to learn more about Pompeii’s taller structures.
④ “‘Lost Pompeii’ consists of the upper floors of buildings which are essential to understanding life in the ancient city,” Zuchtriegel says in the statement. “By putting together the data in the form of a 3D digital model, we can develop hypothetical reconstructions that help us to understand the experience, the spaces and the society of the time.”
⑤ The researchers scanned Pompeii’s ruined buildings and built “digital twins” of the structures. Next, they identified features like staircases, ceilings and holes in the walls that once supported floor beams. They then “virtually reinserted” these missing beams and digitally tested their integrity, reports the Art Newspaper’s James Imam.
⑥ Finally, the team digitally reconstructed what the villas might have looked like with their upper floors attached. According to a recent study published in the journal Scavi di Pompei, the reconstructed House of Thiasus features a 40-foot tower with two stories.
⑦ Inside, a wooden staircase leads to the upper level, which has an elite dining room filled with windows. Lavish meals may have been prepared on the lower level.
⑧ “The interior of the lower part was simple in its furnishing,” write the researchers, per a translation by Artnet’s Richard Whiddington. “This is contrasted by the monumental external staircase that leads to the upper floor, suggesting a living space of a more elegant and representative character.”
⑨ The reconstruction matches frescoes found elsewhere in Pompeii, which depict multistory buildings featuring balconies and towers. Written descriptions also allude to such features, according to the statement. Pliny the Younger wrote of two towers in his villa, Laurentina, suggesting that they were important parts of the comfortable residence.
⑩ These structures would have likely been symbols of wealth and influence. For instance, researchers think the House of Thiasus may have been owned by a first-century politician.
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