Robert Harris's Pompeii follows the story of an engineer named Marcus Attilius Primus rebuilding the aqueduct that stretches across the Bay of Naples after the discovery of sulfur in water, taking place over the two days leading up to the eruption of Vesuvius. Because this piece is historical fiction, Harris uses current information from what historians know about Pompeii today, rather than the true factual events of the eruption. Two things that Harris focuses heavily on are the relationship between freedmen and freemen, as well as how the Romans viewed the gods. Harris's examination of the social relations between freedmen and freemen seeks to comment on the hierarchy in Rome, and how access to freedman status became a struggle to gain power by any means possible, and how those with the power react to it, as seen through the interactions of Numerius Popidius Ampliatus and Lucius Popidius; Harris's emphasis on the perception of the gods shows different positions on how Roman religion is understood, placing a seemingly modern understanding of religion, rather than an ancient one, through the attitudes of Attilius, who believes in science first and then in the gods. , and Pliny the Elder, who believed in the gods, but still sought to find other solutions before turning to them. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The relationship between the freedmen and the freemen is portrayed quite negatively through the interactions of the freedman Numerius Popidius Numerii libertus Ampliatus and his former master Lucius Popidius, and the other magistrates of the city. Freedman refers to a man who was once a slave and then freed by his masters, giving them a higher status and allowing their children to become free citizens, but they could not vote or run for political office. While free people refers primarily to male citizens who were able to vote and hold office. This story primarily focuses on Ampliatus, a freedman obsessed with power and boasts that he single-handedly rebuilt Pompeii after the earthquakes of 62 AD. Ampliatus proves to be very powerful throughout the story, although he plays a more antagonistic role in this story. He is first seen executing his own slave, despite the slave reporting a problem with the water. “And when one of his slaves also destroyed something of rare value, the precedent naturally came to his mind... this was how he thought an aristocrat should behave... Ampliatus had immediately uttered the phrase: “Throw him to the eels.” !'”. He immediately tries to rise to the level of free men, trying to show his power in every possible way. Because of his freedman status and wealth, he hosts a dinner in celebration of Vulcanalia, to which he invites Popidius and other freemen citizens, nodding even though he he is a little ridiculous at the freedman Trimalchio's dinner. “Popidius almost burst out laughing. Trimalción! Alright! The monstrously wealthy freed slave in the satire of Titus Petronius, who subjects his guests to such a meal and fails to see how vulgar and ridiculous he is showing himself. The fact that it is directly referenced shows what freemen, and particularly Popidius, thought of Ampliatus. They treat him as a joke and don't take his power seriously, nor the fact that he rebuilt the city. Later in the book, the cityorganizes a public massacre in the spirit of the Vulcanalia festival and specifically addresses the structure and hierarchy of public events. This comment on the hierarchy in Rome is later commented on by Ampliatus, where he recognizes his own statues, but rejects them to show his belief in the status and power he has proclaimed for himself. “He was not in a good position. The leaders of the city, as tradition dictated, were gathered on the steps of the Temple of Jupiter: the magistrates and priests at the front, the members of the Ordo, including his own son, grouped behind, while Ampliatus, as a freed slave, without official recognition, was invariably banished by protocol to the rear. It didn't bother him. On the contrary. He appreciated the fact that power, real power, had to remain hidden: an invisible force that allowed the people these civic ceremonials…” (Harris p.162). This shows how free male citizens gain more rights, by being at the front, because of their status and wealth, while women, slaves, freedmen and everyone else are forced to stand down. Harris aims to reverse this, by having Ampliatus strengthen his own power in order to show the freedmen's state of mind, even asking Ampliatus to go far enough to state that Popidius and the other magistrates knew he was responsible for the reconstructions that took place, and that this should be recognized. This remains true to the actions of other freedmen known in history, particularly that of the owners of the Pompeian house of Vetti, which belonged to two freed slaves, and who covered their house with the god of wealth and prosperity Priapus , displaying phallic images. in a declaration of their own power with no other way of describing it (Beard. p102). Harris' depiction of freedmen and their relationships with freemen appears to be based on factual depictions of freedmen throughout the story of Trimalchio, as well as the House of Vetti which shows the struggle for power in the Roman world. Harris displays two main understandings of religion. , characters who focus more on science and logic have a different attitude towards gods than ordinary people. Attilius the engineer and Pliny the naturalist both share similar attitudes toward the gods in that they are not the only answer to their problems, although they differ on how they express it. Attilius shows that although he believes in gods, he does not think they are the answer to all problems, believing that stories are for children. “The old man had maintained that the spirit of Neptune, god of water, lived there. Attilius had no time for the gods. Boys with wings on their feet, women riding dolphins, gray beards throwing lightning bolts from mountaintops in fits of anger - these were stories for children, not men. By outright stating that he has no time for the gods, it shows that he is more focused on solving problems on his own. His thoughts are heavily based on logic and use his engineering knowledge to try to make things better for others, so his sort of "disdain" towards the gods makes sense. He later refers to the laws of engineering his father employed in a ceremony with the aqueduct, where the priests believed it was the work of the gods, although he knew his father had opened the conducted at a specific time. This is significant because, once again, he rejects gods instead of cold, hard facts. Perhaps Harris is trying to display a more modern thought process towards religion in.