Eric called me a few days ago to say the Pompeii exhibit, Life And Death In The Shadow of Vesuvius, is now up near him in Boston, and that he was planning to take his not-girlfriend to see it. I said that Harold and I had seen it while it was in New York, and the show was interesting in a History-channel documentary sort of way, lots of pretty things to see but a little vague with descriptions. Not false information, just a bit vague, saying, for example, that the Romans had rules against excessive jewelry when a more accurate statement would be that the Lex Julia limited jewelry, since excessive jewelry was worn and owned by wealthy Romans before and after Augustus’ reforms.
“I can’t believe you warned me about underwhelming wall text,” Eric said, after he went to see the show. “But you didn’t tell me about the plaster casts of the bodies.”
“Oh, yeah, people died at Pompeii.” I said. “I thought you knew. So, how was your date?”
Sometimes I wonder why Eric even talks to me.
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