Pompeii in brief
Pompeii was a prosperous Roman town of about 10,000 to 20,000 people (estimates vary) on the Bay of Naples, in the shadow of Vesuvius. In 79 CE the volcano erupted, and the town was buried in pumice and ash, to a depth of 4 to 6 metres. The layers sealed it for almost 1,700 years. Pompeii and its neighbours, such as Herculaneum, were listed as World Heritage Sites in 1997.
The eruption
Traditionally the eruption is dated to 24 August 79 CE, from a letter by Pliny the Younger, who watched it from across the bay and later described it for the historian Tacitus. In 2018 archaeologists found a charcoal inscription, a graffito, on a wall, with a date in October, which may suggest it was later in the year. The date is debated.
The eruption lasted for about 18 hours. It began with a huge column of ash and pumice that rained down on the town for many hours, so that roofs collapsed. In the early morning of the second day, surges of superheated gas and ash, called pyroclastic flows, swept over the town and killed those who remained. Many people had left, but about 1,150 bodies have been found in Pompeii, and probably more than 2,000 people died in the area. Pliny the Elder, the admiral and naturalist, died on the other side of the bay during an attempt to rescue people.
Rediscovery
Parts of the site were found by chance in the 16th century, and digging began in 1748 under the Bourbon king of Naples, mostly as a hunt for treasures, though the town was not identified as Pompeii until 1763. The work of Giuseppe Fiorelli, who directed the dig from 1863, made it more scientific. He realised that the ash had hardened around the bodies, which later decayed, leaving hollows. By pouring plaster into these, he produced casts of the victims at the moment of death, which became a symbol of the town.
What was found
- Houses and shops. More than 1,000 buildings, including grand houses such as the House of the Faun and the House of the Vettii, and shops, bakeries, bars and workshops. A street food counter, a thermopolium, with painted pots, was uncovered in 2020.
- Wall paintings. Some of the best-preserved Roman paintings, such as those in the Villa of the Mysteries.
- Graffiti. Thousands of scratched messages: election slogans, love notes and insults.
- Public buildings. The forum, temples, a theatre, an amphitheatre that held about 20,000 people, and baths.
Why it matters
Pompeii is a snapshot of an ordinary Roman town at one moment, with its streets, trades and the traces of its inhabitants, in a way no other site is. It has also been a case study in the problems of conservation, since exposure to rain and visitors damaged it, and Italy has been running a large conservation programme since 2012.
Visiting
Pompeii is about 25 kilometres south of Naples and can be reached by train. It is among the most visited sites in Italy, with several million visitors a year. Herculaneum, smaller and better preserved in some respects, is about 15 km closer to Naples. Many finds are in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. See also Troy.
Sources
- Pliny the Younger. Letters 6.16 and 6.20, to Tacitus.
- Beard, M. (2008). Pompeii: The Life of a Roman Town. Profile Books.
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre. Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata.