Pompeii

HISTORY

The town of Pompeii was founded near modern Naples, in the Campania region of Italy, around the year 600 BC. It was established by a group of people from central Italy, the Osci in a location which was already important location for trade by both land and sea.

Pompeii, Italy. Pompeii - Forum and Vesuvius. Brooklyn Museum Archives, 

Pompeii came under the domination of Rome in the 4th century BC, and was conquered and became a Roman colony in 80 BC after it joined an unsuccessful rebellion against the Roman Republic.
While under Roman control, aqueducts were built, which provided the citizens with water.

On February 5, 62 AD Pompeii was severely damaged by a strong earthquake. It may have been a precursor to the eruption of the nearby Mount Vesuvius that destroyed the town 17 years later, killing its inhabitants and burying it under tons of ash.

POMPEII IN AD79 

By the time of its destruction, Pompeii's population was estimated at 11,000 people, and the city had a complex water system, an amphitheater, gymnasium, and a port.

Some shops in the ruined city bore the signs of primitive pizzerias. Colanders and saucepans, strainers and skillets were being used in Pompeii at the time of its destruction.

Homes were decorated with brightly painted walls, statues, furniture, and colorful mosaic floors.
Residents of Pompeii used water-supplied closets hidden in a niche next to the kitchen.

The victims of the Pompeii eruption had excellent teeth. This was linked to both a healthy diet and high levels of fluorine in the air and water near the volcano, Mount Vesuvius.

The earliest permanent amphitheater of which remains exist is one from about 80 BC at Pompeii, in which the arena is sunk below the natural level of the surrounding ground. It is built of stone 445 by 341 feet (136 by 104 meters) and seated about 20,000 people.

Amphitheatre of Pompeii

Pompeii's walls testified that successful gladiators were among the major celebrities of the day. Some of the graffiti read: "Celadius is the hearthrop of all the girls". "Severus-55 fights- has just won again". "The unbeaten Hermiscus was here". "Crescens, the net fighter, holds the hearts of all the girls".

ERUPTION OF VESUVIUS 

Mount Vesuvius began stirring, on the feast day of Vulcan, the Roman god of fire, on August 24, 79. The volcano ejected a cloud of stones, ashes and volcanic gases to a height of 21 miles (33 km), spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 7.8×105 cubic yards (6×105 cu metres) per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima-Nagasaki bombings.

The Last Day of Pompeii. Painting by Karl Brullov, 1830–1833

The Italian towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae were buried in rock and ash. Over 2,000 people were killed.

Some people hid in Herculaneum's boathouses for shelter. When pyroclastic flows reached them, they were hit with a heatwave so intense that it instantly boiled and vaporized their brains, making their skulls explode.

Lawyer and author Pliny the Younger wrote a graphic account of the eruption, which killed his uncle.

Although the date of the eruption has long been thought to be August 24, there is much evidence that it may actually have been September 24.

Pompeii was rediscovered in 1748 and the systematic excavation began in 1763. Pompeii is now considered one of the world's most important historical sites because of the way the volcanic ash preserved the city and its people. This gives historians and archaeologists a vivid picture of life in the Roman Empire around 2,000 years ago.

When Pompeii was finally excavated, searchers found evidence of a dog lying across a child, apparently trying to protect the youngster.

Pink Floyd played a concert with no audience at the ampitheatre in Pompeii in 1971. It was the first performance to occur there since the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79AD.

Sources Europress Encyclopedia, Comptons Encyclopedia