The ancient city of Pompeii has occupied popular imagination of the world since its rediscovery in 1748. It is often described as a "city frozen in time." The true nature of the site that survives to us, however - the result of its development and destruction, discovery and disinterment, preservation and presentation - is far more complex. In each of four class meetings, we will examine a different period of the site's history and how each has revealed and reshaped the ruins into what we see today.