STABIAE

ancient town of Campania, Italy, on the coast at the eastern end of the Bay of Naples. It was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. The modern city on the site is Castellammare di Stabia (pop. [1995 est.] 66,985). The town was originally settled by Oscan-speaking people, the native inhabitants of Campania. It entered the Social War (the war of the allies against Rome) in 90 BC and was destroyed by Sulla in 89, its territory given to Nuceria as a reward for loyalty to Rome. The area was noted for the medicinal properties of its waters, and the neighbourhood became a popular locality for villas. During the eruption of AD 79, the Roman fleet commander and naturalist Pliny the Elder perished at Stabiae, near the villa of his friend Pomponianus. Stabiae's inhabitants were spared from the rushing nues ardentes (a type of pyroclastic flow) that overwhelmed the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum; nevertheless, the town was buried in heavy ashfall. Subsequent settlement was of minor importance. Excavations, begun in the 18th century, were recommenced in 1949. The extent of the pre-Roman town (oppidum) was assessed. The layout of the later town (89 BCAD 79), unlike the insula (grid) planning of many Roman towns, appears to have been adapted to the needs of a spa. One of the more striking discoveries of the later excavations was a number of wall paintings, which compare favourably with those of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Additional reading Christopher Charles Parslow, Rediscovering Antiquity: Karl Weber and the Excavation of Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Stabiae (1995), examines Weber's excavations from 1750 to 1764.