NAPLES, ITALY—The Guardian reports that another small bedroom uncovered at the villa at Civita Giuliana may have been occupied by enslaved people. The villa, located to the north of the city of Pompeii, was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79. Two beds, two small cabinets, and several urns and containers were found in the bedroom. Just one of the beds had a mattress, while the remains of two mice and a rat were recovered from the vessels. No traces of grates, locks, or chains were found. “It seems that control was primarily exerted through the internal organization of servitude, rather than physical barriers and restraints,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. The room had been damaged by a looter’s tunnel. To read more about the archaeological exploration of Pompeii and its environs, go to “Letter from Vesuvius: Digging on the Dark Side of the Volcano.”
