Pompeii Lecture Program
Learn more about Pompeii and Imperial Rome from experts who will be speaking at the Exploreum during the A Day in Pompeii exhibition. Join them as they share their knowledge about life in the ancient world.
Saturday, February 3, 2007, 11 a.m. Museum of Mobile Auditorium (Note special time and place)
The Remarkable Professional Army of the Roman Empire.
Daniel Peterson. Museum director and historian for the U.S. Army. With photographs and “living historians” wearing faithfully reconstructed armor and equipment, Peterson will recount what we have learned about the Roman military and explain the thousand year evolution of the Roman soldier from the origin of the city state to the fall of the empire.
Tuesday February 27, 2007
A Tale of Two Plinies: Vesuvius and its Aftermath.
Dr. Connie Rodriguez, Associate Professor and Department Chair, Classic Studies, Loyola University New Orleans. The lecture presents the final hours of Pompeii as told in letters of Pliny the Younger, who watched events unfold from a safe distance. Also introduced is Pliny the Elder, who was in charge of the Roman fleet stationed on the Bay of Naples and who met his death in the disaster.
Tuesday, March 6, 2007
Archaeology in Pompeii: A “behind-the-scenes “ account of the major discoveries and new directions in the rediscovery of an ancient Roman city.
Dr. Steven Ellis, Lecturer in Classical Archaeology, University of Michigan. This lecture charts the most important and latest discoveries made at Pompeii and the logistics of digging up an entire city and the plaster casting of the victims. It describes how the work at Pompeii helped forge archaeology as a new science for the past.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Analyzing the Design and Decorations of Pompeian Houses.
Jason Urbanus, Institute for Archeology and the Ancient World, Brown University. This lecture examines in detail the plan and decoration of the Pompeian house and its greater role within the fabric of an ancient city.
Tuesday March 20, 2007
The Roman Dinner
Lisa Holcomb-Blair. A Mobile resident and culinary historian and practitioner of the art of ancient cooking. An informative and mouth-watering glimpse into the culinary history, dining habits and cooking techniques of classical Rome.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
The Gardens of Italy.
Dr. William E. Barrick, Executive Director, Bellingrath Gardens and Home.
Gardens were very important elements of Pompeian homes. This lecture uses photos and illustrations to take audiences on a stroll through the gardens of ancient Rome and Italy and to explore their biota and form.
Note all Tuesday lectures are scheduled for 7 to 8:30 p.m. at the Gulf Coast Exploreum IMAX Theater, 65 Government Street, in downtown Mobile. Seating is limited to 177. Tickets on sale at the Exploreum Box Office. Tickets are $10 per person, 18 years and older, or $5 for children and youths under 18. Exploreum Members $8 and $4 respectively.
