One of the foundations of the empire of the Romans I saw on my visit to Pompeii. We rode in a bus from Naples for what seemed like a long time on local transportation through small towns, narrow streets. This was not a direct route and the trip offered many opportunities to sight see both the countryside and the passengers on the local transit. The driver was very expressive with the horn of the bus a major means and tool of communications with the “others”. At one point, to my amazement we sat in a narrow street at a standstill while the driver played a solo on the horn, a double parked car blocking the way. The driver ran from the bus knocked on nearby doors until he found the culprit and the car was moved.
It was a summer day and with what seemed like a morning of riding we got to Pompeii at about lunch time. Outside the site the vendors were selling. I noticed a small man, the vendors always seemed to be small thin men, selling little bottles of orange juice drink, 10 percent orange juice and 90 percent water. These same little bottles we had seen on a store shelf in Naples, and sold by street vendors in Naples and now here at the archeological site on a dry hot day. The price of the juice here was more than ten times what it was at the store in Naples. The little man had found his niche. The “price utility” principle here was as old as the Empire even older than Pompeii.
My few hours at the archeology site left a lasting impression on me, it seemed to be a place of spirits, the artifacts, streets and excavated houses welcomed me into a time almost 2000 years ago. I hope to return there with a broader knowledge of the place.
