Ancient Life: A Venerable Keepsake

This souvenir vase from a Roman resort suggests that even the ancients knew how to make a buck off a tourist. Purchased by an Italian traveler sometime in the third century A.D., the vase depicts the once popular vacation spots of Baiae and Puteoli (modern day Baia and Pozzuoli), neighboring communities about 8 miles north of modern Naples.

The 7-inch-tall, 5-inch-wide vase is engraved with the words Anima Felix Vivas (roughly translated “May you live happy in spirit”). One side shows the main attractions of Baiae, including the city’s Imperial Palace, bathing pools dating from the reign of Nero, and oyster beds (labeled ostriaria); the other side shows the shoreline (ripa), stone piers and majestic stallion-headed arches of Puteoli.

Baiae and Puteoli were the hot tourist destinations of the ancient Roman world; even members of the imperial family sometimes vacationed there.

Despite their proximity, the two towns were quite different in character. Big, bustling and extremely cosmopolitan, Puteoli was one of the major port cities of Rome. Its splendors included an enormous central market, the Temple of Serapis and the third largest amphitheater in the empire. (The amphitheater boasted an ingenious elevator system, which lifted caged animals directly from the basement to the arena floor.)