The social context, aid to the population and the reconstruction phase

To come to the aid of the local population, the Intendant of Basilicata, Achille Rosica, appointed a central commission and a number of municipal commissions (comprising the parish priest and the mayor) to organise relief efforts on the ground, provide food to the affected communities and arrange for the recovery of the dead.
The bodies lay for a long time beneath the rubble or were buried ‘just below the surface’, ravaged by pigs and wild animals, as Roller recounts with regard to Saponara (now Grumento Nova), where priests played cards amidst the stench of the corpses.
The living conditions of the population, already battered by the earthquake, became even more dire. The stench of the corpses rose from the piles of rubble; the onset of the rains led to the spread of infectious fevers and malaria; and looters arrived from neighbouring villages to plunder homes. Beyond the measures and proclamations, the municipalities and the population experienced a period of insecurity, including from an economic perspective.
The provincial funds made available were largely depleted; the damaged municipalities were authorised to draw on the coffers of neighbouring ones that had not suffered damage, or to seek loans from wealthy feudal lords.
Among the charitable activities, the work carried out by Roller and Major is historically documented; they collected aid from merchants in Salerno and England to distribute it to the population but suffered both private and political persecution. The two were behind one of the few initiatives undertaken to revive the local economy, namely the construction of a brickworks in Saponara.
A year after the earthquake, upon returning to the affected villages, they realised that nothing had changed and that nothing had been added to the charitable work they had initiated. The owners of the collapsed houses continued to pay taxes to the authorities and were forced to sell what little they had left.