All you need to know about Pompeii

All you need to know about Pompeii

1. Location and History

   • Fertile Area
   • Natural floodplains and harbours
   • Produced 3 or 4 crops per year
   • Olive, grape, spelt, wheat and millet were grown
   • Wine and rose perfume
   • Good road network
   • Sarno river and sea were close
   • Vesuvius associated with prosperity and festivity (Bacchus)
   • Looted since eruption
   • Walls 6th century BCE
   • Rome colony and Sulla's veterans settle 80BCE
   • First influenced by Oscans, Etruscans and Greeks
   • Founded 8th century BCE
   • City 6th century BCE
   • Samnite control 5th century BCE
   • Roman 'ally' 290BCE
   • Loyal in Punic Wars 3rd century BCE
   • Rebels in Social Wars 91BCE
   • Besieged by Sulla 89BCE
   • Prospering 1st century CE
   • Amphitheatre riot 59CE
   • Large earthquake 62/63CE
   • Earthquakes then eruption 79CE

2. The Eruption

   • Recorded by Pliny the Younger
   • Pliny the elder died during the eruption
   • The Plinian Stage
     • Day 1
       • Started (around midday) with a column of hot gas and pumice 30km high emerged from Vesuvius accompanied by a loud bang
         • Described by Pliny as like an 'umbrella pine'
           • Pompeii was downwind and was plunged into darkness
             • Ash and rock fragments began accumulating at a rate of 15cm p/h
               • Many people chose to escape whilst some sheltered in their houses
                 • By evening, roofs were starting to collapse under the strain of the debris
   • The Pelean Stage
     • Day 2
       • During the early morning there was a lull in the eruption
         • Some Pompeians made their escape believing that the worse was over
           • This was actually a sign that the volcano was running out of energy
             • As the column could no longer be supported it started to collapse
               • This began the stage of pyroclastic flows and ground surges
                 • These are flows of hot volcanic material travelling between 100 and 400 kilometres per hour at a temperature ranging from 100 to 300 degrees celcius
                   • The first and second pyroclastic flows buried Herculaneum whilst Pompeii's walls were hit by the third and it was buried by the other three
   • Pliny the Elder's story
     • Pliny was interested in nature and was in the process of writing an encylopedia
       • He was also in charge of the Bay of Naples navy
         • When the eruption began he led a rescue party by sea
           • On being blocked by floating pumice he ordered the fleet towards the house of his friend situated in Stabiae
             • There he bathed and slept
               • During the night he was woken as the house was struggling under the weight of the debris
                 • They decided to flee with pillows tied to their heads for protection
                   • He was killed by the poisonous gas cloud pushed by a pyroclastic flow
   • The Aftermath
     • Titus was the (relatively new) emperor at the time
     • He journeyed to the Bay of Naples and organised relief efforts
     • Survivors moved into nearby cities which were given special rights to help them settle
     • Anyone who died without making a will had their wealth donated to the relief fund
     • Pompeii was looted yet was then soon forgotten
     • Around 1,150 bodies have so far been found (1/3 of the city has been excavated)
     • This suggests that a majority of the 10,000 inhabitants escaped
     • 345 of the 394 bodies discovered in the pumice layer were indoors
     • 48 bodies have been found near the Sarno river
     • 319 of the 653 people discovered in the pyroclastic flows layer were buried outdoors
   • The initial blast had the power of 500 of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima

3. Rediscovery

   • Alcubierre
     • First person in charge of Pompeii's excavation
     • Military engineer
     • No clue about archaeology
     • Worked for King Charles VIII
     • Careless and clumsy in excavations
   • Karl Webber
     • Alcubierre's deputy
     • Swiss architect
     • Didn't get on with his boss
     • Brought innovations to process
     • Kept records
   • Giuseppe Fiorelli
     • Most famous archaeologist of Pompeii
     • Worked when Italy was reunified in 1860
     • Insisted no walls were destroyed
     • Protected buildings
     • Introduced system of mapping
     • Stopped items being removed unless neccessary
     • Opened part of site to public
     • Invented the plaster cast process
       • This is the technique where any holes found are filled in with plaster (today we use a resin) to re-create the body's dying moment

4. Layout

   • Learn gates
   • Learn key streets
   • Learn key features