Pompeii Essay, Research Paper

Pompeii was a city on the South West Coast of Italy. Herculeum and Neapolis where by Pompeii.

Pompeii comes from a word in the Oscan Language. The Oscan people built a city around 800 ? 700 B. C. . Oscan language was used up to 80 B. C. .

The Ionia Greeks took over the Pompeii around the 8th century. They didn?t change the city name

Pompeii was a fairly large city for that time. Pompeii was built on a ridge of volcanic rock.

Vesuvius is near the present Day City of Naples.

62 A. D. 1st sign of something wrong. A major earthquake caused by magma destroys the city. Early August of 79 A. D. wells and springs dry up. August 20 a minor earthquake causes giant wells of steam shout up from near-by bays. Late august birds and animals flee.

Only around half of the people of Pompeii had left. Some stayed because they survived the earthquake of 62 and thought they could survive anything. Others stayed because they didn?t want to leave behind there luxuries, and still others stayed because they had no where to go.

In the morning on August 24 a series of steam explosions burst through the top of Mt. Vesuvius.

At 1:30 PM on August 24 79AD Mt. Vesuvius erupted. Pumice, ash, superheated gases and sharp pieces of rock were blasted 12 miles into the air. The rich smell was in the air. At mid-afternoon there was so much ash in the sky it looked like night. Piles of ash where up to 6feet in height and the eruption wasn?t even over yet. Most roofs collapsed under the great pressure of the ash on them. Ash was still falling two days after the eruption.

Pumice and ash was lain all over the city of Pompeii. The trees and vineyards that were on Mt. Vesuvius where gone. Anywhere from ten to twenty feet of ash was all over the city. Since Pompeii was closer to the volcano than any other city it was affected more than any other city. Late August some of the people who have escaped return to find their belongings.

Pliny the Younger made in most people?s minds a spectacular account of what happened from twenty miles away where he was at his home. All people agreed this happened because a god was very angry.

At 202 AD Vesuvius erupts again. The eruption lasts a full week. 306-533 Vesuvius erupts at least 4 times.

In 1594 AD workers digging a tunnel to supply water to a near-by village find a stone that say Pompeiis.

In 1631 Vesuvius erupts again this eruption is by far the worst since 79 AD.

1707 Prince d?Eboeuf starts digging up the ancient cities. 1860 Guiseppe invited to lead the explorations of the ancient cities. Forelli heads the digging in 1860-1875 using modern techniques. The objects they find are placed in a near-by museum in Naples.

Then in 1913 ? 1944 Vesuvius erupts several times finishing the eruption cycle started in 1631.

All that is left of the ancient city now is ruins, but the ruins help to teach us about the ancient roman world. The horrible disaster of 79 AD preserved a treasure of the past forever.