Pompeii wardrobe found untouched since 79CE holds keepsakes, coins, and two mice

xyzzy_plugh

It really says something that a 404 can get to the front page in 20 minutes.

callahad

Looks like similar coverage is available at https://www.ancientcontent.com/p/the-wardrobe-in-house-ix-11 , which also has links to some primary sources (in Italian) at the bottom of the page.

dodger-dog

So that was a mouse in your pocket, you weren't just glad to see me.

vintagedave

What does the following mean - are they saying that, respecting this law, the property found should be used for the benefit of Pompeii today? (From callahad's link [0].) > Both the report and the Park’s press release invoke Tacitus and the rules for property left without heirs. The report adds that this reference needs philological and legal-historical study before it is tied to the owners of this house. The measure I could trace is in Suetonius, Life of Titus 8.4, which assigns the property of those who died at Vesuvius without heirs to restoring the buried towns. 'Restoring the buried towns' - what a wonderful idea, that Pompeii's treasures were, and by tradition and respect today are, used for the benefit of the site! The press release, Google-Translate-d, has only speculation about what happened to the residents: > But perhaps they didn't make it, and they could be among those who, as the historian Tacitus recalls, died without an heir, and whose assets were supposedly used for the refoundation of Pompeii, which ultimately never materialized. ...which is considerably less romantic than the thought that the artifacts and property would have have the ancient law respected today. [0] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50304156

vintagedave

I love that two small mice were found in a jar. Sad for the mice, but it's such a normal slice of life. At home I sometimes find a dead spider fallen and trapped in a drinking glass. Since moving to the countryside, mice in winter have become a reality. Recently for kitchen repairs, I found several dead ones that had fallen into the cavity around our range hood, which was built apparently once, not made to be opened. Here I am, two thousand years later, experiencing in my kitchen something similar to those Romans in their wardrobe.