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Herculaneum was re-discovered thanks to the acquisitive nature of an Austrian general, Prince d'Elboeuf. Quite why he was there is one of those strange stories of European politics. Suffice it to say that Austria had gained sovereignty over that part of southern Italy centred on Naples. And so, in 1707, it became Prince d'Elboeuf's not unpleasant duty to take command of the local cavalry unit. He bought an estate and built a villa in nearby Portici.
Over the years relics of Roman times had been occasionally recovered from the surrounding fields. However, in 1709, the digging of a well in the orchard of a neighbouring Franciscan monastery brought to light some exceptional finds. Hearing of this, the prince purchased the land and proceeded to tunnel out from the bottom of the well. It quickly became clear that he was excavating the site of an ancient marble building. Soon dozens of statues, marble plaques, columns, inscriptions and bronzes were unearthed.
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* This 18th century engraving shows a rather romanticised view of the early excavations, as they were not open cast, but underground.
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'The Excavations of Herculaneum' by J.C.R. de Saint-Non
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Once the building had been stripped of its finery, interest in the site diminished. It wasn't until 1738 that excavations restarted, this time under Spanish control (don't ask!). The excavations were led by Cavaliere Rocco de Alcubierre under the auspices of Charles de Bourbon.
The precise location of Herculaneum had been lost in antiquity - the outflow from Vesuvius had completely engulfed the town and reshaped the surrounding coastline.
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On December 11, 1738, however, an inscription came to light that identified d'Elboeuf's building. The inscription read Theatrum Herculanensi. They had re-discovered Herculaneum. It was about 7km southwest of Vesuvius, hidden from the world by 17m of rock beneath the town of Resina.
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The excavations continued with renewed enthusiasm, causing irreparable damage to the Roman remains. Tunnels were dug randomly; whole building were ransacked; frescoes were cut from walls; locations of artifacts were left unrecorded.
Alcubierre, who was in charge until 1765, was later described as 'knowing as much of antiquities as the moon does of lobsters' by Johann Joachim Winckelmann, a German antiquarian later to be called the father of archeology.
However, Winckelmann's charge is not strictly accurate or fair. Alcubierre had the wisdom to make Karl Weber, a Swiss officer, his assistant. In time a semblance of order was imposed, due mainly to the efforts of Weber. He mapped all the tunnels and the buildings they led to, and logged details of the finds. This methodology is clear on his plan of the Villa of the Papyri (see opposite).
Since the publication of that teams notes in the late 19th century, some archeologists now consider Weber, not Wincklemann, to be the true father of archeology.
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Part of the Plan of the Villa of the Papyri
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*It clearly shows the tunnels, the layout of the
building(s) and annotation of features.
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