Pompeii Thesis

On August 24th in 79 AD at approximately 1300 a cloud appeared over the Roman city of Pompeii. This was all the warning the residents had before the nearby volcano, Mount Vesuvius, erupted. Huge quantities of scalding hot ash, pumice and lava pebbles were thrown into the sky. This then cascaded down across an extensive area. Pompeii was buried under 14 to 17 feet of ash and pumice, and the nearby seacoast was drastically changed. Herculaneum was buried under more than 60 feet of mud and volcanic material. Some residents of Pompeii later returned to dig out their destroyed homes and salvage their valuables, but many treasures were left and then forgotten. The remains of 2,000 men, women, and children were found at Pompeii. After perishing

Pompeii used to exist in Italy, in the colony of Naples. Establish on the Italian Coast. It rests on a stimulus conceive by a lava issue, fair north of the Sarno River. Present-day, it is detected more interior land, before, it was nearby to the coast. In addition to was a bigger city Campania.

Mount Vesuvius one day erupted in the city of Pompeii and destroyed it. Mount Vesuvius left behind ash and stone that covered Pompeii. The daily life of Pompeii is similar to our daily life today. Their similarities are their jobs, gadgets, and interests.

In the geological world, Mount Vesuvius’ eruption, and consequently the destruction of Pompeii, is one of the most discussed and debated of history. Pompeii was a large Roman town, which was located on the island of Campania. Pompeii is no longer the same as it used to be. Pompeii was a normal town until 79 CE. On this day Mt. Vesuvius erupted and covered the town in ash. Some people believed the universe was being resolved into fire. The ash filled in the air, seas, and land. Ash fell into ships, the closer the ship’s went, the darker and denser.

Over 2,000 years ago, Mount Vesuvius chose the city of Pompeii to be its next victim. August 79 A.D was the fateful day that would destroy thousands of lives, and their beloved homes. When Mount Vesuvius erupted it sent ashes, rocks, and volcanic gases to rain over Pompeii and cause complete chaos. After Mount Vesuvius’ first attack on Pompeii, a tower of debris drifted to earth. Buildings collapsed and ash clogged the air. Then a surge of poison gas and rock poured down the side of the mountain, destroying everything that laid in its path. Pompeii was done for.

Every day natural causes contribute to the slow demise of Pompeii. For example, seasonal temperature fluctuations damage ruins and artifacts, sunlight bleaches wall frescos, and torrential rains potentially flood and collapse buildings. The interiors of buildings are vulnerable to dampness, especially the walls and floors that house ancient artifacts, frescoes, and mosaics. Besides the effects of weathering, inadequate excavation, restoration and conservation practices have contributed to the slow demise of Pompeii (Amery 8).

This is not true, for Vesuvius is one of the smallest active volcanoes in the world (Barnes, 42). In fact, the eruption in 79 was not even Mount Vesuvius’s most colossal eruption. Vesuvius was an active volcano both before and after it demolished Pompeii. There have been over 70 eruptions in the last 17,000 years, notably altering the recovery of the historical site (Brilliant, 31). Eight of these major eruptions are alleged as even more severe than the one that demolished the Pompeii. The reason that the 79 AD eruption is acknowledged so highly is the fact that it created a natural time-capsule of the Roman Empire, allowing archaeologists a glimpse into the

Pompeii was a city of ancient Rome. Pompeii as well as Herculaneum and many other villas were destroyed and buried in 4 to 5m of ash and pumice due to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. This happened in 79 AD. Osci found the town in the 6th or 7th century BC. Rome then later on conquered it and made it a colony by 80BC. Approximately 160 years after the eruption, the population rised to 11,000 people, they had a complex water system, an amphitheatre, and a port. The eruption destroyed everything and buried it all under ash making it difficult to find any remains. This evidence was provided from Pliny the Younger who saw the whole thing from a distance and wrote a letter. His uncle was in the city at the time trying to help people make it out. He

“ I heard an ear piercing kaboom!” In 79 A.D., Mount Vesuvius erupted causing chaos among the busy city of Pompeii. Layers upon layers of volcanic ash fell on Pompeii, freezing it in time. Because it was well preserved, some information was able to be found. The daily life in Pompeii is similar to our lives because of household items, jobs and duties, and advanced technology.

Breaking news, Pompeii and many other cities within a close proximity of Mt. Vesuvius was hit with several meters of ash on August 24 79 A.D and almost no one survived this destructive disaster. Pompeii is by the Bay of Naples in Italy and was one of the closest city to Mt. Vesuvius. That eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was caused by the African and the European plate colliding together. This city was thriving and the destruction of this thriving city made the economy weaker and humans were affected dramatically too. There was also dramatic changes the landscape. Mt. Vesuvius was one volcano on the rim of a volcano chain. The proximity of the volcano and the city of Pompeii was a disaster waiting to happen.

When Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. many people were killed from the volcanic eruption. Archeologists believe that 12,000 people lived in Pompeii and 2,000 remains have been found. Scientists and archaeologists along with the European governments want to find out more of how they lived and died. “Pompeii may soon attract even more visitors. An ambitious $125 million effort sponsored by the European Union and the Italian government is unlocking more secrets of the city” (Brown pg. 19). The governments wanted to find all of the hidden secrets.

Neoclacissim in Europe was largely indebted to the discovery of Pompeii. Why then in europe’s imitation of the artifacts found was there not a strong focus on the paintings of Pompeii? Surely it was the most easily reproduced medium. Far easier than the sculptures Johann Joachim Winckelmann proflieferated. Or the arcitecturale grandeur etched into books by Giambattista Piranesi and later emulated by European arcitects. What a marvel it must have been to find frescoes, fully intact nonetheless after decades of entombement in layers of ash. Perhaps the disinterest in the majority of these miraculously preserved paintings could boil down to one word, Erotocism. These erotic artworks were treated with outrage and shock and largely dismissed as

Would you want to be in the city of pompeii or mt. st. helens, when the volcanos erupted? Mt. St. Helens erupted in 1980, and vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. They were both the same kind of volcano, stratovolcano. The Volcano’s both spewed ash, and pumice. The cities could feel the tremors the “Mountains” were causing. The Volcano’ s caused huge eruptions, that buried homes, and the whole city.

The signs of an impending eruption began to appear long before it actually occurred, the first major sign being earthquakes. Earthquakes are a common indicator of the possibility of rising magma, which is required to occur for a volcano to erupt. These Earthquakes were reportedly occurring as far back as 62 AD, as they continued sporadically all throughout the 17 year period leading up to the eruption. (History of Pompeii book) One such quake caught the attention of the residents of the region when it occurred in 63 AD. The quake was large and rocked the nearby towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum, doing extensive damage that would take years to repair. Due to the limited knowledge of geology at this time, Roman scholars were unable to make the connection between the earthquakes and the possible peril of a Mount Vesuvius eruption.(BBC) Some even argue that the people didn’t even know Vesuvius was a volcano. (Pompeii unplugged)

Mount Vesuvius developed inside the caldera of an older volcano. This volcano was known as Monte Somma. Monte Somma became active around 400,000 years ago. Only the northern side of Monte Somma is left, creating a wall-like ridge around the northern edge of Mount Vesuvius. This feature can be observed today at the site of Mount Vesuvius. The development of Vesuvius produced a volcanic complex consisting of the two volcanoes. (De Boer and Sanders, 2002)