My Inner Section is for my historical and academic pursuits. Here you will find the books I have written as well as the books I have acquired for my collection from other citizens. Please feel free to browse! Here you will also find a collection of post that I have made to historical and academic boards. My particular historical interests in Ancient Rome are....

The walls of of the inner section or the oeci, the adjoining rooms to the tablinum, are decorated with paintings of theatrical scenes.

"I cannot give you a more exact description of its appearance than by comparing to a pine tree; for it shot up to a great height in the form of a tall trunk, which spread out at the top as though into branches. Occasionally it was brighter, occasionally darker and spotted, as it was either more or less filled with earth and cinders."

Pliny the Younger, Sixth Book of Letters, Letter 16.

Pompeii is an ancient city of southern Italy, a port near Naples (Napoli) and at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. Possibly an old Oscan settlement, it was a Samnite city for centuries before it passed under Roman rule at the time of Lucius Cornelius Sulla in the first century BC. Pompeii was not only a flourishing port but a prosperous resort with many villas.

An earthquake in AD 63 did much damage, and an eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79, which was described by Pliny the Younger, buried Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and Stabiae, under cinders and ashes that preserved the ruins of the city with magnificent completeness — down to the fresh colors of the wall paintings.

The long-forgotten site of the city was rediscovered in 1748 and has been sporadically excavated since that time. The habits and manners of life in Roman times have been revealed in great detail at Pompeii by the plan of the streets and footpaths, the statue-decorated public buildings, and the simple shops and homes of the artisans. The houses and villas have yielded rare and beautiful examples of Roman art.