Dr. Jessica Venner

They used to grow on the volcano on the side of the vines.

So that's what made Pompeii important.

It was on the River Sarno.

It was right by the sea, which we find very odd now, but the eruption did push it coast out.

And so they were able to connect themselves by the road and the sea and, you know,

to other market centres, including Rome, and it wasn't too far away, relatively speaking.

It was an important part of the operation of Rome itself, one of those towns.

Absolutely, yeah.

And they were all sort of known for their own things.

There was something unique about each of them.

So, of course, we've got Herculaneum.

That was very much on the coast.

That had its own, you know, harbour right, right there.

Pompeii did as well, but this one was characterised by being very sea heavy.

They ate a lot of seafood as well.

We know that from their skeletons.

And it was a much smaller town, but much more posh.

A lot of rich people would live there.

They even had marble sort of lined streets.

So they were a lot fancier than Pompeii, which was very much a market town.