A PUB crawl around every bar in ancient Pompeii has revealed that they were not the dens of iniquity we tend to think they were. Instead, taverns played a vital role in the lives of most residents as a place to eat, drink and socialise.
Steven Ellis of the University of Sydney, Australia, started off by identifying which buildings in Pompeii had been bars. Broad entrances and counters usually indicate shops rather than houses, so he studied these buildings closely for evidence that they had been used to prepare and consume food and drink. Also, from the 2nd century AD,…
