Pompeii

Where is Pompeii and what was it like?

Pompeii was built at the foot of the volcano Mount Vesuvius. This volcano had been
quiet for hundreds of years and the people of Pompeii did not even know that it
was a volcano. At the time of the eruption 20,000 people lived in Pompeii and it
was a busy city.
The Eruption
At midday on the 24th August AD 79 Mount Vesuvius
erupted with force, blowing off the top of the volcano. The
peak of the volcano flew 15KM into the air eventually
crawling across the sky and plunging Pompeii into darkness.
Then volcanic ash, pumice and rocks began to rain down on
the citizens of Pompeii. Within this big cloud big rocks
from inside the volcano also fell on the people of Pompeii.
Death and Destruction
The people of Pompeii did not know what was
happening and a lot of people watched the
eruption rather than fleeing to safety.
Approximately 5,000 people died, some were
scalded by the super heated ash from the
volcano. The majority of people in Pompeii were
suffocated by the poisonous gases, these people
simply dropped to the ground and died where
they lay. Buildings and people were crushed by
the huge rocks thrown from the volcano. Volcanic ash and pumice continued to rain
down on Pompeii until the city was completely covered.

A forgotten buried City

After the eruption, Pompeii was buried under meters
of volcanic debris and forgot about. In 1594 Pompeii
was re-discovered by chance by workers trying to
build a water tunnel.
It was not until 1748 that serious excavations began
and revealed streets and buildings. Archaeologists
have managed to piece together an outline of the city
and a plan of what Pompeii would have been like. During
the excavations of Pompeii everyday objects that the Romans used were
discovered allowing historians to understand more about what life was like in
the Roman Empire. Much of what we know about the Romans comes from the
excavations at Pompeii.
Another important discovery
Perhaps the saddest finds at Pompeii were the
remains of humans. The volcanic ash covering the
bodies had burned away the skin and the bodies
rotted. But when the ash hardened it left a body
shape hole. These holes were then injected with
plaster to perfectly recreate body like forms of
Pompeiis victims. These plaster casts allowed
historians to work out what sort of people died
and what they were doing when they died