In the Shadow of Vesuvius: A Cultural History of Naples

by Jordan Lancaster

From its origins in Homer's Odyssey and its founding nearly 3,000 years ago, Naples has long attracted travellers, artists and foreign rulers--from the visitors of the Grand Tour to Goethe, Nelson, Dickens and Neruda.  The stunning beauty of its natural setting coupled with the charms of its colorful past and lively present--from the ruins of Pompeii to the glittering performances of the San Carlo opera house--continue to seduce all those who explore Naples today.  In the Shadow of Vesuvius is a sparkling portrait of the city--the definitive companion for anyone seeking to delve beneath its surface.

Genres: History, Italy, Nonfiction, Travel, Art, Italian Literature

266 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2005

Reviews

[Kalliope · Rating 2 out of 5]

The history of Naples is very convoluted. Being in such a beautiful setting, enjoying unequal natural riches, and situated in an unmatched strategic enclave, it has drawn the coveting attention of many nations throughout its history. As a result of this cupidity Naples’s history is often found as an appendix in that of those nations which managed to get hold of it for a period. When I found a book that dealt with Naples’s history on its own, I was thrilled.

I have enjoyed reading it, which I have done two times. It has succeeded in giving me a neatly linear chronology and filling many gaps in my knowledge and understanding. Alas, it has also presented a few problems. There are too many factual mistakes, there are some perfunctory comments, and anecdotes take the place of explanations of complex developments.

Although it is snotty on my part to list the factual errors I found, they irritated me to the point that I would like this review to serve as a sort of ‘erratum’ to the text. I am focusing mostly on the period from the Middle Ages when with the Norman conquest it became a Kingdom until it ceased to be such.

For a start, its name as a Kingdom is confusing but Lancaster should have had it clearer in her mind and in her text. The Kingdom of Sicily (which included Naples) was separated at the end of the 13th Century into two kingdoms called: Kingdom of Sicily and Kingdom of Naples. For over five centuries these two kingdoms were at times ruled separately or together, in different degrees of 'togetherness' under a single monarch. It was not until 1815 that in the Congress of Vienna, the ‘Kingdom of the Two Sicilies’ was formed. It lasted until 1860 when it became part of the new Kingdom of Italy under the Savoy dynasty.

[For anyone interested, in the Spoiler there is a summary of the intervening five centuries.]

The island of Sicily was instituted as a Kingdom by Roger II in 1130. Soon after, he conquered the Southern part of the Italian peninsula. Naples became then part of the Kingdom of Sicily. A few generations later, the King of Sicily Frederick II, became also Holy Roman Emperor and started having problems with the Papacy. This led to Rome calling on the Angevins from France to usurp the Kingdom from the Emperor. The triumphant Duke Charles of Anjou became the new King of Sicily.

At the end of the 13th century the island rebelled against Charles and in their turn called on the Aragonese to help them. The result was the split of the Kingdom into two: The Kingdom of Sicily, under the Aragonese, and the Kingdom of Naples, under the Angevins. Naples remained under the Angevins for one and a half centuries, until in the mid 15thC, when the Angevins run into a dynastic dead end and the the Aragonese King Alfonso the Magnanimous, took over Naples as well. The two Kingdoms were now again sort of reunited under the Aragonese. And I say ‘sort of’ because Alfonso, while remaining King of the whole of Aragon, which functioned as a sort of ‘conglomerate’ of kingdoms, duchies and a county (Kingdom of Aragon itself, Kingdom of Valencia, Kingdom of Mallorca, County of Catalonia, Duchy of Athens, etc…), left the other units of his whole Kingdom to be governed by members of his family.

When the ‘Italian Wars’ began at the end of the 15th Century with the French invasion of the peninsula, Naples and Sicily were again split, since the former fell under the French King. But not for long. King Ferdinand of Aragon, husband of the Isabel Queen of Castile, invaded Naples in 1503. As the two Spanish kingdoms had not united (they had just been governed jointly by the married monarchs) when the Queen died, Naples and Sicily remained under the Aragonese Crown. But now the Italian lands were governed in a more centralized manner.

Just over a decade later, Castile and Aragon joined under a single King, Carlos, the grandchild of Fernando and Isabel. The two Italian Kingdoms, Naples and Sicily now belonged to the newly formed Spain. This situation remained so until the war of the Spanish Succession about two centuries later. The result of that European war is that Sicily fell under the House of Savoy and Naples under the Austrian Habsburgs. But when the next Succession War in Europe, Poland’s, broke out, one of the sons of the newly established Bourbon dynasty in Spain, managed to conquer back both Italian Kingdoms: Naples and Sicily.

Like many other countries in Europe, with Napoleon the situation of these two Italian countries changed. His general Murat, who became also his brother-in-law, became the King again of both. The fall of Napoleon and the Congress of Vienna gave back to the Bourbons both Naples and Sicily, now called, for the first time, “Kingdom of the Two Sicilies”.

Lancaster, however, from very early on, already when she is dealing with the middle ages, insists on calling Naples the “Kingdom of the Two Sicilies”. She even says, incomprehensibly, “.. in common parlance, the official name of the kingdom was transformed into ‘Kingdom of the Two Sicilies’ (p. 49).” (is 'common parlance' 'official'?)

Then there is a list of simple errors: Thomas Aquinas birthplace was not Naples but Roccasecca in Lazio (p. 60); in one page Charles II is said to have had three sons but five pages later there is a discussion on the fourth son (they had five - pp 61 & 66); after talking about the Duke Louis of Anjou, brother of the King of France (Charles V), she says that King Louis (!!) died unexpectedly (p 69); she gets confused with the Aragon crown and thinks Barcelona was its capital--when it was the capital only of Catalonia, one of the components of the Crown of Aragon; the heading of chapter three has the year 1422 instead of 1442; she thinks Madrid was the capital of Spain in 1503, when there was no Spain yet and Madrid was not its capital until 1561 (p. 87); she confuses the name of the painter Battistello Caracciolo calling him Annibale, clearly mixing him with the more famous Annibale Carracci (p 106); actor Silvio Fiorillo is called Fiorello in the next sentence (the latter is correct – p. 112); the family of cellists was Gagliano, not Galliano (p. 137). There are possibly other similar errors.

I also found that some aspects she discusses in a cavalier manner and she uses anachronistic terms. Humanism is declared a ‘philosophical movement’. Later Lancaster says that Bourbon Carlos was ‘denied’ succession to the Spanish crown – he was not ‘denied’, the heir was his older brother. I also had difficulties with the notion that the contrapuntal ‘avant-garde’ (!!) style of composer Carlo Gesualdo paralleled his violent personality (he assassinated his wife and her lover).

Also irritating is when a particularly complex period is at stake (there are several of these in Naples’s history) she resorts to anecdotes or derives into gossip. My eyebrows rose when I read that Napoleon’s sister was the model for Ingres’s nude ‘Odalisque’ -- which Lancaster first states it as fact and then says ‘it was said’.

Anyway, in spite of all that, it was a worth while read. It just needs a great deal more editing and a wider and sounder knowledge of the history of the rest of Europe.

Naples cannot be understood in isolation, even if one wishes to focus temporarily on her with greater attention as I did.

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this book was dreary and mediocre - it had all the banality of a travel guide without the convenience.

[Ava Mattis · Rating 4 out of 5]

originally purchased as a gift for dad from Daunt books. still convinced that reading about a place while you’re in it is the coolest feeling ever.

a LOT of text was focused on Naples’ storied past with political takeovers, different rulers, and instability. as a reader looking to learn more about the stories and myths that shaped neapolitan (or pathenopean) culture, all this historical information became a bit overwhelming, though still imperative to the story of Naples.

here are my main takeaways that I want to keep with me:
- to find Persephone (who had been taken by Pluto to Hades while she was playing in the fields of Campania), her mother Demeter transformed the “siren sisters into birds so that they might fly over land and water in their search. to help the sirens find their way, Demeter created light sources on the mountains & in the sea, which survive today as the volcanos of Southern Italy: Etna, Stromboli, Ischia, the Phlegrean Fields. the largest volcano, Vesuvius, was created to illuminate Campania”
- “the best known of the siren sisters was Parthenope, who had come to symbolize the legendary combination of beauty and danger, attraction and repulsion, which defines the essence of Naples.” when she fails to lure Odysseus with her siren song, she was “so devastated that she threw herself into the sea and drowned. her lifeless body washed up on the rocks of the island of Megaride, on the Bay of Naples.” what Lancaster leaves out here is that many locals say her mermaid shape is what gave the Bay of Naples its unique shape
- there are three obelisks (guglie) in Naples that represent the Baroque period and were originally constructed to give thanks for deliverance from the plague
- Metastasio’s witticism: “a bore is a man who deprives you of solitude without providing you with company”
- the Getty Villa in Malibu is based entirely off the Villa dei Papiri at Herculaneum
- the entire Opera House (cushions, chairs, and curtain) were re-upholstered in red when the power shifted from the Bourbons to the Savoys
- Nietzsche on Naples, “when for the first time I saw the evening come up over Naples with its satin grey and red in the sky, this thought suddenly overwhelmed me: you might have died without seeing this.” me today when I stood in awe of Bernini’s Apollo e Dafne in the Borghese Gallery
- before Antonio Bassolini became mayor, Piazza del Plebiscito was basically the camorra’s unlicensed parking lot

[Solor · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is good work from the Canadian born young author. In a remarkable small amount of pages, she manages to deliver a thorough and well organized biography of the city with an entertaining, well informed and witty narrative.
Highly reccomended.

[Georgie Wardall · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the history and culture of Naples! In the Shadow of Vesuvius is clear and remarkably succinct, and still packs in many intriguing facts which I am going to be telling people at random for a long time to come. I started out knowing nothing at all about Naples’ nor Italy’s history, and this book has formed a great basis for recognising the morphology of the city, understanding its culture and customs, and learning more about Italy as a whole.

Four stars rather than five as some of the text was confusing. This tended to be the case in sections delineating the (complex) succession of the dynasties. But as I am a cultural tourist without a specialist interest in the geopolitical history of Naples this is not a big problem. I got exactly what I wanted from this book - an overarching synthesis of the art, philosophy, politics, and civilisation that have formed Neapolitan history.

[Arjen Taselaar · Rating 4 out of 5]

This cultural history of Naples is a very fine introduction for a visit to the city. Only I bought it there and read it afterwards. It puts the city in context and is an enjoyable read. Although it contains a bit too many inaccuracies (Tischbein painted Goethe on the Roman Campagna, not in front of the Vesuvius; and it is none too certain that Virgil's tomb is in Posillipo, too mention a few that caught my eye), Lancaster's account is coherent and well structured. It makes me long for another visit!

[Jota Houses · Rating 2 out of 5]

Un libro adecuado para leer ANTES de viajar a Nápoles. DESPUÉS, como es mi caso, resulta interesante pero añade un punto doloroso descubrír cosas que no viste A PESAR DE ESTAR AL LADO Y/O PASAR JUNTO A ELLAS CADA DÍA.
Por lo demás los errores (algunos de traducción) son de bulto y se acumulan. Las burradas que leo en aquello que conozco me hacen dudar de lo que dice. Démeter ha sido rebautizada como Demetria, la autora parece tener problemas para distinguir un teatro de un anfiteatro y, en lo que se refiere a la dominación aragonesa y española, demuestra a las claras su ignorancia sobre los asuntos de los reinos españoles.
Muestra una inusitada credulidad respecto a mitos y leyendas del abundante santoral napolitano y, en general se quía por el principio expuesto en "El hombre que mató a Liberty Valance":

"...When the legend becomes fact, print the legend.”...

[Jordan De Luca · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an excellent introduction to the complicated and unwieldy history of Naples. Although succinct (245 pages) the book does a good job at synthesising the political, economic, cultural and social aspects of the city’s history. Lancaster does a fantastic job at contextualising events against the broader backdrop of European history and I appreciated her efforts in recuperating the city’s reputation by demonstrating how beloved it has been to visitors since the arrival of the Ancient Greeks.

4 stars as the final chapter on Naples in the 20th century rushed through events post-WWI with little background context and skimmed over the postwar period leading up to the 2000s.

[Nigel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following a recent stay in Naples, I wanted to find out more about this amazing bustling city. This book was a breezy, accessible and readable introduction to its convoluted story. There was enough political and dynastic history to keep me satisfied though obviously there's an emphasis on music and the arts. Intriguingly and surprisingly, Naples was one of the big four capitals of Europe in the centuries before unification sent it into a decline. It's nice to see its revival in recent years into a major tourist destination.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

A pretty thorough history of Naples ahead of a trip there in a few weeks. As is probably to be expected covering 2,700 years of history in 300-odd pages it is pretty break neck but a good overview nonetheless. It may have been good to focus on more of the people of history rather than a non-stop conveyor belt of events but for an overview ahead of a 3 day visit I would recommend. For a scholar, probably better to break it up by era.

[Rebecca Amen]

Interesting. I picked this up on my trip to Pompeii because the city of Naples and the legend (and very real trauma) of Pompeii and San Gennaro completely allured me. Additionally, I was reading the Neapolitan novels at the time, and knowing the history, the myths, the mysticism of Naples helps ground and contextualize that story. I do hope to return to Naples someday because it almost seems like a magical (literally) place.

[Carrie R · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting history of the diverse and wide-ranging historical peoples and rulers of Napoli.

[Marianna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I learned a lot from it.

[vedravidra · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're planning to visiting Naples and you want to know something more about the city, its history and people, this is definitely the book you should read.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nothing incredibly novel, but great background reading for a trip to Naples or its surroundings.

[Jeff J. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A history of Naples. The author does a great job of distinguishing Naples from the rest of Italy.

[Kim · Rating 3 out of 5]

More than just a pretty place, Naples had significant influence on culture, science and philosophy. The book sheds light on the storied past of this capital city. The chronological narrative is peppered with colorful anecdotes about rulers and revolutionary thinkers and quotes from ancient writers and Grand Tour travelers. Bonus features: Author has translated La Smorfia Napoletana, the guidebook for interpreting dreams into lottery numbers. She also provides guidance regarding the delicious legacy of Swiss pastry chefs hired by the Bourbon court. She recommends the riccia (curly) sfogliatelle from Pasticceria Scaturchio in Piazza San Domenico Maggiore (p. 214)

[Matteo Cordero · Rating 3 out of 5]

In the Shadow of Vesuvius is a fair account of the history of the City of Naples and its neighbourhood, from the early citing in Homer's Odyssey and its foundation 3000 years ago. Naples had been an attraction since foreign rules and the travellers of The Grand Tour. The city for centuries, before the unification of Italy in 1861, had been one of the most technologically advanced and culturally rich cities all over the European continent.
I am always fascinated by the historical chronology and development of places of my interest such as in this case is Naples. This book, in my view, is a fair and discrete account of the mystic and culturally rich City of Naples and its region.

[Daniel Hadley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is not a dry history book. Lancaster has a penchant for telling the weird stories from Neapolitan history, like King Ferdinande's obsession with his own bowel movements, or the prominence of certain prostitutes. She also described the mundane in clear, readable prose. A lot of things that I observed while I lived in Naples make more sense now that I've read this book. For instance, Lancaster did a good job of explaining why Napoli did not attract its fair share of industry. I better understand the economy, culture, urbanism and even diet of Napoletani.

[Maridee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gread information about the history of Naples!