Amalfi coast tour

The city gradually expanded towards the north and east. Two centuries after the Romans established themselves, the Italians rebelled, and Pompeii, Stabia and Herculaneum joined the revolt. The Roman general Siila, however, reconquered the three cities. Stabia was destroyed and Pompeii became a Roman colony. Many of her inhabitants were forced to leave to make room for the new settlers. Most of the ruins of Pompeii date back to the period after the establishment of the colony 80 B.C.. The Forum was the politicai, economie and religious centre of the city. Grouped around it were the main temples, the buildings, the law courts, the Macellum and the Mensa Ponderano. It is difficult, however, to see how the city, which is a marvellous example of a rational urban system today, was originally. At the ti’me of its destruction, in fact, the Forum was completely isolated from the surrounding area by a large arcade which encircled it on ali sides, apart from the northern end, which was occupied by the Capitoline and two honorary arches. The roads of the city differed in width, but most of them were quite narrow. They were generally between 2.4 and 4.5 metres, the widest being a little more than 7 metres, and they were all paved with large, polygonal blocks made from the lava of Vesuvius. Almost all the roads had pavements too, generally about 30 cms or more high.