Allison Emmerson began her new book, Life and Death in the Roman Suburb with a question, 'If the Romans feared pollution that radiated from the dead why do so many buildings for the living turn up in necropolis?' However pursuing this question turned out to give both surprising, challenging and even enlightening results.
 
Her investigations have shown that tombs were not passive memorials, but active spaces that facilitated and furthered the social and economic life of the city, where relationships between the living and the dead were an enduring aspect of urban life.
 
Allison's research also discovered that Roman cities, such as Pompeii, had areas where they collected reclaimed materials for reuse. We would now consider these to be reclamation yards. Materials found include tiles, wood, glass, metals, marble and stones, bricks, mammal bones, complete amphorae and broken pottery reused in their new building projects. Reused material was found in walls, larger pieces of amphorae used as pipes and smaller pieces such as ceramics ground up and reused in plaster. Nothing was wasted. So if it could not be reused for building works it was recycled as filler for roads. Previously archaeologists had viewed these areas to be just for urban garbage or rubbish similar to our modern landfill sites. Allison writes the waste deposits found in the suburbs, 'were not abandoned heaps of unwanted materials, but active sites in an intense economy of use, reuse and recycling.' The Romans understood the value of reclaimed materials so they were collected, sorted and sold for reuse.
 
She concludes, 'With some exceptions in the capital, patterns of reuse highlight the temporary nature of suburban waste deposits. The majority of Roman garbage did not settle permanently in a suburb but merely passed through on its way to a new life.'
 
Roman values of nature in harmony with design can be found in the series of books, 'On Architecture', by Vitruvius, a Roman architect and engineer. He wrote a detailed account of how Romans planned and built their great buildings and cities, still valued today. 'His discussion of perfect proportion in architecture and the human body led to the famous Renaissance drawing by Leonardo da Vinci of Vitruvian Man. He was also the one who, in 40 BCE, invented the idea that all buildings should have three attributes: firmitas, utilitas, and venustas, meaning: strength, utility, and beauty.' (Wiki) The principles adopted by the Romans. In his books Vitruvius supports the idea of reuse and considers, 'walls built of fired brick taken from old roof tiles, especially, will have great strength.' Their durability having already been tested by winter storms and summer heat.
 
The Ancient Roman civilisation would have spread this sustainable reuse philosophy throughout their Empire. Evidence of reclaimed materials can be seen in Roman buildings still standing today. Allison's book has added significantly to our knowledge of Roman life and will provide inspiration for further academic research and hopefully even inspire construction professionals to embrace reuse like the Romans.
 
Allison L. C. Emmerson is Assistant Professor in Classical Studies at Tulane University. Her area of specialisation is Roman archaeology, particularly urbanism, marginal areas, and the role of tombs and the dead ancient cities. The book published the results of her fieldwork at Pompeii and Isthmia.
 
Life and Death in the Roman Suburb by Allison L. C. Emmerson
Published by Oxford University Press 2020
 
Note: On Architecture by Vitruvius, translated by Richard Schofield with an introduction by Robert Tavernor. Published by Penguin 2009
 
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Accompanying photos are by Salvo and are not part of the book, but show some of the terrazzo floors made from reclaimed marble in Pompeii