L'Aquila The Historical Town That Was No Match For a Mild Earthquake

Article: Myths and Realities About The Recovery of L’Aquila After The Earthquake

 

On April 6th 2009, an earthquake with a magnitude of 6.3 Mw hit the town of L’Aquila the capital city of the province Abruzzo. The earthquake's epicenter was 3.4 km south west of L’Aquila and considered to be low magnitude compared to other earthquakes worldwide. The downtown section of L’Aquila was full of old historical buildings so when the earthquake happened many buildings fell or were damaged. The total damage was estimated to be over 16 billion euros. Of the 72,800 population of L’Aquila, the earthquake injured 1,500, seriously injured 202, killed 308, and left 67,500 homeless. With over 100,000 buildings destroyed, the government decided to build 284 housing units in 19 new settlements. L’Aquila after the earthquake has been called the “Pompeii of the 21st Century” because of the amount of damage done and the slow progress it has taken to rebuild the town. 

The article compares the amount of progress the town has made in restoring its buildings from 2009 to 2012. The article mentions that it was hard to see the changes between 2009 and 2012 and mentions how rubble was still being removed even in 2012 as it was in 2009. The slowness of the recovery has been blamed on administrative and bureaucracy issues and not the construction itself. Historical buildings can take up to ten years or more to be restored which is a possible reason why the authors did not see much change from 2009 to 2012. The town of L’Aquila faces the struggle of not having a major tourism industry to help push the reconstruction to move faster.

When we visited the town of L’Aquila I was surprised to see how many of the buildings were still under major construction. It seemed like the earthquake could have happened a year ago because of the amount of construction and the progress of the buildings. We were given a private tour of a church that was in the process of being restored and the damage the church had experienced was shocking. When trying to get coffee after lunch we had a hard time finding a store that was open which led me to believe that the town had not quite recovered. Since so much of the population has moved away it can be hard for the town to sustain many businesses. It will be interesting to see in a few more years after the construction is done how many people will live in the town and how the economy will do. So many of the current jobs are tied to reconstruction so when that is all done, people will need to find work in new industries. 

Pictures are from the tour of the town and the church we went in. You can see the amount of damage that was done and how they are restoring the buildings.

The Invention of The Purgatory Doctrine

*Crystal and Chaney read the same article so see Crystal's blog for more information on this hot topic. 

The purgatory doctrine was invented in the 12th century and has no scriptural basis of origin. The Protestants rejected the doctrine in the 16th century. According to the doctrine, purgatory is another world where people who have died go before entering into heaven. They have already been forgiven for their sins, but they still need to atone for them. They have to be cleansed of their sins before they can enter heaven. This ties into the the idea of indulgences where you could pay money to have your sins forgiven or the amount of time spent in purgatory reduced. If a family member died then the family could buy indulgences so their relative could move from purgatory to heaven faster. The medieval Catholic church needed to innovate in order to gain more market position in a time when many religious ideologies challenged christianity and purgatory was one way of doing that. With the new doctrine of purgatory the Catholic church could now increase its revenues while also increasing the satisfaction of its members.

The author of the article is writing about the Catholic church as if it was simply a firm in the market of religion. The Catholic church, with its ideology of purgatory, can be compared to the business and legal proceedings of bankruptcy. When someone files for bankruptcy in the business world they are given a second change and can start over. This is similar to purgatory because now sinners have a chance to enter heaven if they died without their sins being atoned. With the new hope for sinners that purgatory brings, the price for sin now costs less and the demand curve is downward sloping. Now a church member can commit more sin and still make it into heaven and pay a cheaper price for sin. Purgatory also lowers the transaction cost to sinners with a high opportunity cost. The Catholic church was the main supplier of ideology at the time and it had a monopolistic advantage over other ideologies. They used price discrimination because the price they put on indulgences was always the member’s maximum willingness to pay. 

During our time in Rome we toured the Vatican and the Sistine chapel. Michelangelo was commissioned to paint the Sistine chapel and in his work shows a depiction of souls in purgatory waiting for their sins to be atoned before entering heaven. Also on the Vatican tour we entered into St. Peter's Basilica which is the largest Catholic basilica in the world. The basilica is full of large statues of saints and gold paintings of scenes and people from the bible. The grand scale of church took over 100 years to complete and is big enough to have the Coloseum fit inside of it. The Catholic church built it so large in order to make its visitors feel small and to show how powerful the church was. The purgatory doctrine was a way for the church to increase its market share and retain its power in the religion market. 

Pictures are from the Vatican tour and show the basilica. 

The Saepinum Inscription and Trashumance in the Abruzzi

This article is a historical interpretation of the inscriptions found on the Saepinum and what this tells us about how transhumance was regulated in the Abruzzi region. The inscription is in three parts; the first is a report form the imperial freedman Septimianus to his superior, the second is a note to the freedman Cosmos on the alleged maltreatment by the contractors of the flocks to the Prartorian Prefects, and the third is a warning letter to the magistrates of Saepinum. This collection of writings gives us a glimpse into the management of the imperial flocks and also that there was a governance of the transhumance that was most likely related to the Prartorian Prefects. One claim made from these inscriptions is that Cosmos may have been head of the bureau and that is why he was supposed to address the problem of the maltreatment. We can also see that either the sheep were lost, or the contractors weren't willing to pay as much as they had in the past which led to a decrease in the fiscus, or the personal treasury of the emperors of Rome. Historian A. Grenier argues that based on these inscriptions the imperial sheep's transhumance was done by the same shepherds as all of the other sheep in the Abruzzi region. The days we spent in Abrusso walking the ancient transhumance path gave us a little perspective on the complexities of this industry. The castles controlled by the nobility served as watchtowers to survey the land and manage transhumance. There was also a scarcity of resources which led to the common property problem and questions of privatization. 

Natural Decline of the Greeks and Romans

When I look around Italy now, it's hard for me to grasp all of the history that the land has seen. Especially in Rome where random ruins are mixed into the city, it's crazy to imagine what life was like hundreds of years ago in this area. However, this land was not all peaches and cream as it appears to me today.

The Greeks and Romans were very unaware of the damaging effects their actions were having on the environment. Deforestation and erosion were two of the biggest pitfalls of these groups of people. Most of the Mediterranean forests were removed and this led to an eventual shortage of wood with a following increase in the price of wood. Erosion led to extreme salinization of the soil which in turn forced the Greeks and Romans to plant only crops that could grow in such salty soil. Wheat was their crop of choice, but they had to begin growing barley instead which also went for a lower price. In some cases, even being smart about which crops could be planted where was of no use because the soil was plain exhausted to the point where agriculture ceased entirely in some sections of the land.

The treatment of animals in Greek and Roman civilizations was also a factor in both of their downfalls. Animals were killed in excess and sometimes for entertainment as was the case at the Collosseum in Rome. I was able to visit the Collosseum and see where the slaughterings took place. I remember being told that on one occasion, over nine thousand animals were killed in the arena. With numbers like that, it's no surprise to me that these people greatly depleted their animal populations, sometimes almost to the point of extinction. Depletion of the animals was not only for the sake of sport, however. Certain predators were killed to save crops and other animals that they were eating, but this led to staggering numbers of animals that the predators hunted, such as mice.

Pollution was also an issue that humans were largely responsible for. In those times, there was hardly any way to treat air pollution besides chimneys that dispersed noxious smoke into the air. Many harmful chemicals went untreated because of this. Water pollution from sewage and garbage in the streets led to the spread of diseases within the population.

The carelessness with which the Greeks and Romans treated their land eventually played into the decline of their civilizations. It's easy to say that they could have prevented all of this, but they did not have the technology and knowledge that we do today about the environment.

I've probably said it a million times by now, but it's true that Italy is the best place I have ever traveled to. There's no doubt in my mind that I will be back in the future and I already can't wait for that day.

Below is a picture of the Collosseum.

The Economics of Natural Disasters

After about three weeks of exploring Italy from the big city of Rome to little Fontecchio, it is clear to me that Italy is a special place. Deciding what to take a picture of here is extremely difficult because just about everything is picture-worthy. When we visited the town of L'Aquila, however, I finally didn't have this problem.

L'Aquila was hit with a huge earthquake a few years ago and suffered devastating damages. Construction workers, piles of dirt and rubble, and abandoned homes were everywhere. It was hard to find a place to get a coffee because a lot of places were closed or had moved locations.

Our article described the economics of natural disasters. Over the years, natural disasters have increased but deaths per disaster have decreased along with the number of people affected. Research has found that geography dictates the probability of a natural disaster and the effect a natural disaster will have on a region. This means that places near fault lines are most likely to have earthquakes and areas near the coast are most likely to have windstorms or tsunamis than other natural disasters. Foreign aid programs have greatly reduced the deaths that occur due to climatic natural disasters such as drought. It has been found that the GDP of a country may decrease up to 2% after a natural disaster, but an increase in new capital may help remedy this loss.

As we saw in L'Aquila, natural disasters may also force many people and businesses to relocate. Former homes were adandoned and broken into and businesses had notices on their storefronts that they had relocated due to the earthquake. The article talked about a particularly devastating natural disaster that happened in Florida where the housing prices post-disaster decreased by 19%. The effects that natural disasters have are real and terrifying.

L'Aquila is still a beautiful place even with all of the construction and ruin. All of the time and effort being put into restoring the town to its former glory is inspiring and it'd be great to visit the town again sometime in the future when it is fully restored.

-Chaney and Crystal

Below are a few pictures of the damage in the town of L'Aquila from the earthquake.

Wildlife Depletion in the Roman Empire

Hunting has long been relied on for obtaining food and the Romans were no different. Families often hunted deer, boar, and goats for food as well as a means of support. Small scale commercial hunters also supplied markets in towns. In addition to food, animals were also hunted for other purposes such as using their skin for clothing, uniforms, and costumes. During this time there was also a large demand for fish that came from all parts of the Mediterranean. The demand was so high that a commercial fishing industry emerged to keep up with the need. Another common use for animals was during warfare. Elephants were often captured, trained, and used in battle which resulted in a strain on the wild elephant population. 

Eventually, Romans became interested in using animals for entertainment. Animals that were rare and exotic were commonly used for exhibitions and some animals were even taught tricks (bears and lions). The first mock hunt was held in Rome in 186 B.C. Augustus held a mock hunt where about 3500 animals were killed. Mock hunts were popular among Romans so emperors who wanted to gain popularity held many mock hunts. In the first 100 days after the Colosseum opened, they celebrated with many events where 9000 animals were killed in total. This obviously created a large demand for animals and supported a whole industry for the hunting and transportation of exotic animals. For the most part, people didn't really object to the killing of animals because watching gladiators get killed in the Colosseum was a common occurrence as well. These practices exhausted the hunting grounds of North Africa and the Romans were well aware of it. There are still irreversible effects from the Romans such as extinction and impoverished ecosystems. 

I was very excited to visit one of Rome’s most iconic landmarks because the Colosseum is one of the things that comes to mind when I think of the city. While it is definitely amazing to see in person in its current state, it would have been even better to see its original form when it was the center of Roman entertainment. The Colosseum used to include many large elevators that were used specifically for transporting large animals to the arena floor. Around 50,000 people could fit in the Coloseum to watch the bloody battles take place. Spectators even carved pictures of the action into the stone of the building. It is hard for us to understand watching thousands of innocent exotic animals die but in Roman times there was no better form of entertainment.

Evidence for a Market Economy in the Roman Empire

There is some debate over what the economy of the early Roman Empire looked like. Some believe the Romans relied on a system of reciprocity where they tried to give the same value of goods as the value of goods they received. Others argue the Romans had a market economy (less sophisticated than today’s market economy). One indicator of a market economy is if the prices are allowed to fluctuate. In a market, prices react to things like availability and demand. Romans commonly used coins for payment which is another possible indicator of a market economy. Tenants in Rome had to pay rent and travelers had to pay for food, drink, and feed for their animals. 

The author of this article argues for the presence of a market economy in Rome during the early Roman Empire. Some evidence of a market is the use of capital markets. Both urban and agricultural loan companies existed as well as maritime loans that were very common during this time. There are also many examples of farmers selling their produce in a market. The prices were allowed to fluctuate instead of being fixed by the government. In A.D. 33 a liquidity crisis hit the area and land prices collapsed which also indicates prices fluctuated with the market. Cities located near water were more engaged in economic activity because trade was much easier for them to participate in but evidence of a market economy still exists for inland populations. While it is true that people who are engaged in economic activity are more likely to keep records, it also shows that participating in the market was a dominant activity among Rome’s literate population. These are just a few examples of how the early Roman Empire was engaged in a market economy. 

One of the most interesting sites we visited in Rome was the Roman Forum. For many hundreds of years the Roman Forum was heart and soul of the empire. Around a million people lived in Rome during the height of the empire and the main square of the Forum was a popular gathering place. Many economic exchanges likely took place in the Forum. This place was also the political center of Rome. The senate met in the Curia and likely made decisions that influenced the economy. Visiting the Forum was fascinating because it is like stepping back in time. While pretty much only rubble remains, there is enough remaining that I could picture what it must have been like over one thousand years ago. It is truly hard to fathom how old the Roman Forum actually is.