Friends events at the British Museum

The Friends of Herculaneum are pleased to announce a series of lectures that will accompany the upcoming British Museum exhibition, Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum (click) 28 March - 29 September. Because AFoH membership offers reciprocal benefits with the UK Friends, American members are able to claim discounted admission to all events listed below.

The 31 May lecture is sponsored specifically by the Friends of Herculaneum. Some details are still under discussion - ticketing arrangements, the possibility of an associated tour - but we wanted to communicate the date to you so you could put it in your diaries. The lecture is one of a series of four:

Vesuvius: a volcano, its history and legacy.

BP Lecture Theatre

Friday 3 May, 18.30

Three leading experts discuss one of the world's most famous volcanoes: Prof Giuseppe Mastrolorenzo (The Vesuvius Observatory); Prof Iain Stewart, (University of Plymouth and prime contributor to the BBC TV series, Volcano); Dr Clive Oppenheimer (University of Cambridge, author of Explosions that shook the world).   

They discuss the context of Vesuvius' explosion in AD79, looking at previous eruptions, the effect the AD79 explosion had on nearby settlements and the lessons the area has learnt as a consequence.   Q&A chaired by Prof Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, who also shares his findings on the effect of earth movements on the built environment of Herculaneum.

       £5, Members/concessions £3

Bodies of Pompeii and Herculaneum

BP Lecture Theatre

Friday 24 May, 18.30

Archaeologist and social anthropologist, Dr Estelle Lazer, (University of Sydney), has worked extensively excavating and interpreting the human remains that survive at Pompeii and Herculaneum.   She explores what these bones tell us about life and death in this area in AD79, across the social spectrum.

  An evening hosted by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill. £5, Members/concessions £3

**New discoveries at Herculaneum**

BP Lecture Theatre

Friday 31 May, 18.30

Prof. Andrew Wallace-Hadrill, author of Herculaneum: Past and Future (2011), discusses the amazing new discoveries resulting from his experience of working with the Herculaneum Conservation Project, considering how they illuminate our understanding of life in this once vibrant town on the Bay of Naples.

   *Event run in association with the Friends of Herculaneum.

£5, Members/concessions £3

Fictionalising Pompeii

BP Lecture Theatre

Friday 12 July, 18.30

Lindsey Davis, historical novelist, author of the famous series of 20 novels relating to the Roman "detective" Marcus Didius Falco, speaks on the attraction, considerations and processes of writing so vividly on life in the Roman World, particularly on Pompeii, a story to which we all know the end.

   Lecture followed by book-signing by the author.

  Event introduced by Andrew Wallace-Hadrill.

£5, Members/concessions £3