The town of Pompeii is widely recognized around the world for its devastating story of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79CE. The enormous volcano that is six miles away from Pompeii and about 4,000 feet above sea level caught everyone by surprise the day it decided to erupt (Mount Vesuvius eruption, 2018). Most of the beautiful artistry and artifacts created by the Pompeiians were destroyed and forgotten from 79CE until the 16th century, where the town was discovered again, by accident. This eruption has proven to be one of the biggest natural disasters in history due to the loss of human life and the damage to the area.
Pompeii was always a very structured and artistic society. This town had villas where people would come together and enjoy time in the pools, bedrooms, dining rooms, and other eating areas with cushioned benches for the residents (Cartwright, 2018). Villas were also decorated with beautiful wall paintings and floor mosaics, showing even more creativity coming from the Pompeiians(Cartwright, 2018). Since Pompeii was so close to Mt. Vesuvius and the volcano had been dormant for many years, the harmless volcanic ash from years before provided perfect, fertile soil to grow crops(Mount Vesuvius eruption, 2018). This gave Pompeii an agricultural advantage, as they were able to produce a surplus of food for themselves and for any surrounding towns that wanted to trade with them(Mount Vesuvius eruption, 2018). Usually, houses were very private and had blank walls and simple doors facing the streets(Corbishley, 2003). Streets were made of big stone rocks, just wide enough to fit horse carriages in, and had stepping stones for civilians to cross the street, without getting muddy (Corbishley, 2003). In short, citizens of Pompeii infused their artistry and intelligence into their town’s structure and design, and ended up with a thriving, prosperous town.
In 62 CE, the first sign of an eruption showed, but as an earthquake. This earthquake was ranked a 7.5 on the Richter scale and damaged many towns, including Pompeii(Cartwright, 2018). Houses, buildings, and even parts of the thick city walls collapsed, so many people decided to leave Pompeii at this time(Cartwright, 2018). The recovery process from the earthquake took long and was most likely very expensive, given the fact that their water supply was affected, and many of their farm animals died due to the release of poisonous gases(Cartwright, 2018). A few years later, strange things started happening, like fish floating dead in the Sarno, wells and springs suddenly evaporating, and the vines on Mt. Vesuvius withering and dying(Cartwright, 2018). Little did the citizens of Pompeii know that 17 years later would mark the death of their beloved town.
The tragic eruption finally occurred in 79 CE, when a sunny day transformed into night in a matter of minutes, due to the volcanic ash taking over the sky. In Pompeii’s neighboring city, Herculaneum, a mud flow sprang from the eruption, encasing the entire city in 66 feet of mud(Corbishley, 2003). The volcano blasted hot ash, lava, and poisonous gases into buildings through small openings in doors, windows, and roofs(Mount Vesuvius eruption, 2018). About 2,000 people from a population of 20,000 lost their lives from being trapped, crushed and mostly suffocated from the ash and debris(Corbishley, 2003). The sky took around three days to clear up completely and the remaining ash fell to the ground, covering Pompeii in around 13 feet of ash(Corbishley, 2003). After this, Pompeii stayed hidden for another 1,700 years.
A man named Pliny the Elder was one of the few eyewitnesses of the 79 CE eruption recorded during this time. He was 56 and suffering from asthma so out of sympathy, emperor Titus gave him the job to look after the Roman fleet(Mount Vesuvius eruption, 2018). Pliny did not go, though because he received a message about a cloud over the bay of Naples that didn’t look normal(Mount Vesuvius eruption, 2018). Since he was a historian, he was hoping to witness a major event but as Pliny got closer to Pompeii in his boat, he could tell that people needed help(Mount Vesuvius eruption, 2018). He saw the volcano erupt and described it as “an immense tree trunk rising high into the air and opening out into many branches”(Mount Vesuvius eruption, 2018,). Eventually he reached Pompeii in his boat but couldn’t get close enough to the shore because of excess volcanic debris flooding the water. He tried to find a place with less debris but sadly, Pliny’s curiosity and urge to save others from the eruption cost him his life, as he too ended up trapped in Pompeii.
Pompeii lay buried until the 16th century when it was discovered by accident once again. Workers were trying to dig an underground irrigation canal and noticed that they were digging through the old buildings of Pompeii(Mount Vesuvius eruption, 2018). They stopped their digging and other people were called to excavate them. Most of the excavation process was very careless in the 16th century and some of the remains were left damaged(Corbishley, 2003). Two centuries later, a man named Giuseppe Fiorelli continued the excavation process with much more care and often preserved whole buildings(Corbishley, 2003). He planned to leave everything in its original place and excavated from the roof down(Mount Vesuvius eruption 2018). Fiorelli is most famous for his discovery of the bodies left in Pompeii that became solidified in ash. Since he didn’t want the cavities left by the bodies to collapse, he used the cavities as a mold and filled them with plaster to create a three dimensional figures of Pompeii’s people(Mount Vesuvius eruption, 2018). This way, people today could see how the Pompeiians looked like.
Pompeii is visited by many people today because they are drawn to its story. The discovery of the hidden Pompeii gives one the ability to imagine the thoughts, hopes, despair, wit, and lifestyle of those who lived long ago(Cartwright, 2018). This event had to be one of the biggest natural disasters in history, as shown by evidence of the city remains and the fact that people were found trapped in ash. The story of Pompeii marked history forever and people today still remain fascinated by its ruins and ancient artifacts.