Experience the splendor of ancient Pompeii and its suburbs through surviving homes and villas filled with frescoes, sculpture, mosaics and furniture. The lifestyles of Pompeii’s elite are revealed through this lecture that focuses on imperial Roman art and objects featured in the exhibition.

Opening Day Presentation
So What Did You Find? Excavating Insula VI,1 in Pompeii
Sunday, October 14, 4pm

Jennifer and Arthur Stephens have been on the staff of the Anglo-American

Project in Pompeii for the last six years.  The project has been excavating a complete city block, Insula VI, 1, below the 79 AD level to better understand the dynamics of this ancient urban community. They will discuss what the project has learned about the lives of the people who lived there two thousand years ago by studying the places that they lived and worked, the food that they ate and the objects that they used.

The Stephens also provided many of the photographs in the exhibition, including enlargements of images from their own Via dell’Abbondanza Project (www.pompeiiperspectives.org).   They are recording the building facades on both sides of the 900 meter-long street that was once a major thoroughfare through ancient Pompeii.

Pagan Holiday: On the Trail of Ancient Roman Tourists
Tony Perrottet, Author
Wednesday, October 17, 6pm
Author and world traveler Perrottet recreates travel from ancient Rome. Romans embarked on the original Grand Tour, journeying from the lost city of Troy to Eygpt, for the obligatory Nile cruise to the very edge of the Empire. Perrottet has written for The New York Times, Esquire, National Geographic Adventure, Civilization, and The Sunday Times (London), among other publications. A native of Austrailia, he now lives in Manhattan.

Family Lecture
Bodies from the Ash: Life and Death in Ancient Pompeii
James Deem, Children's Author
Wednesday, November 7, 6pm
James M. Deem, EdD, will discuss the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A.D. and the subsequent excavations that allowed Pompeii to live again some 1,700 years later. He will show how the discovery of human remains enabled scientists and historians to piece together the lives of individuals and tell their tragic stories on their final day in Pompeii.  His presentation includes many rarely seen images of the discoveries made by treasure hunters and archaeologists in the last 250 years.

A former college professor, Deem began his writing career in 1988. He has published more than 20 books, including his most recent award-winning Bodies from the Ash. He has researched a range of subjects from the fantastic (ghosts, UFOs, ESP) to the historical (Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, the American Revolution) to the scientific (bog people and Pompeii).

Are We Rome?
Cullen Murphy, Author and Editor
Wednesday, January 9, 6pm

Cullen Murphy discusses his popular book, Are We Rome? The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America. The rise and fall of ancient Rome has been on American minds from the beginning of our Republic. Depending on who’s doing the talking, the history of Rome serves either as a triumphal call to action, or a dire warning of imminent collapse.

Editor and author Cullen Murphy draws nuanced lessons about how we might avoid the fate of Rome. Working on a canvas that extends far beyond the issue of an overstretched military, Murphy reveals a wide array of similarities between the two “empires.”  Most pressingly, he argues that we most resemble Rome in the corruption of our government and in our arrogant ignorance of the world outside—two things that are in our power to change. In lively, richly detailed historical stories based on the latest scholarship, the ancient world leaps to life and casts our own contemporary world in a provocative new light.

ARTBREAKS

30 minute noontime gallery talks led by curators, art historians, and local experts in their field.   

Flowers and Botanicals of Ancient Pompeii
Tuesday, September 11, Noon
Verna Gates, ethnobotanist, storyteller, and photographer will discuss and give illustrated examples of the plants and flowers that thrived in Pompeii before the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D. Great for a garden club outing!

Eighteenth Century Neoclassical Paitings
Tuesday, October 9, Noon
Jeannine O'Grody, Curator of European Arts, Birmingham Museum of Art
Note: "Classical Influences" with Bill Crowe is rescheduled for Tuesday, November 13

Classical Influences
Tuesday, November 13, Noon
Bill Crowe, Birmingham Museum of Art docent
Note: "Eighteenth Century Neoclassical Paintings" with Jeannine O'Grody is rescheduled for Tuesday, October 9

Classical Jewelry Making
Tuesday, December 11, Noon-3pm
Connie Ulrich, Jeweler and Goldsmith

Vases and Volcanoes: Sir William Hamilton and Archaeology
Tuesday, January 8, Noon
Jasper Gaunt, Curator of Greek and Roman Art, Michael C. Carlos Museum, Emory University, Atlanta, GA

ANTIQUITEA
Tuesdays at 2pm
October 23, November 20, December 18, January 15
Redeem your Pompeii: Tales from an Eruption ticket stub for free coffee, tea and sweets at this informal exhibition discussion led by Guest Curator Robin Meador-Woodruff, who will relate the process of installing and organizing the exhibition, and answering general questions.

BROWN BAG LECTURE SERIES

This series is a popular mainstay at the Downtown Birmingham Public Library on select Wednesdays at noon. Each program lasts approximately 30 minutes and will focus on different aspects of the exhibition. To learn more about these events on October 17, November 14, December 12 and January 9, please visit our cultural partners.