Gabriel Zuchtreigel, Director of Pompeii: archaeology is the most democratic form of history

‘Archaeology has this focus on material evidence so it's in a way more democratic, because texts are often written by the powerful and represent their idea of how things should be remembered’

Michael Berkeley speaks to Gabriel Zuchtreigel, Director of Pompeii in Southern Italy, one of the world’s most important archaeological sites.

History, he says, comes alive through archaeology, helping us to appreciate our shared humanity with those who lived thousands of years ago, and providing a more democratic way of learning about the past. Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that erupted and buried Pompeii in ash and pumice, did not distinguish between the wealthy and the poor in its victims.

Gabriel Zuchtriegel was appointed Director of Pompeii in 2021, and has since begun a major excavation, and made a number of significant finds. But it is walking around the site at night, emptied of the crowds, that he feels the ancient city come alive. It is as if, he says, the inhabitants only left a few minutes ago.

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Presenter: Michael Berkeley
Producers: Clare Walker and Lucy Sheppard
Editor: Justine Lang

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(Image: Gabriel Zuchtreigel Credit: Ivan Romano/Getty Images)