The History of Pompeii and Its Fall

The story of Pompeii is sad with over 1,200 people dying when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D. However, Pompeii has provided one of the only glimpses into the past where you can literally walk through town and can imagine what life was like. In this report, I plan to discuss what happened to Pompeii, how it happened and why it happened. Additionally, I will discuss what life was like as well as what technologies are being used today to improve conservation efforts and go over what the future looks like for Pompeii.

In 79 A.D. Mt. Vesuvius erupted sending molten rock, gases and gigantic clouds of ash miles into the sky which quickly reached the city of Pompeii. This toxic gas, ash, and stone rained down on Pompeii and ended up covering Pompeii in about 20-32 feet of ash (Bianchini). August 24, 79 A.D. has been the date that most researchers agreed on for the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius however researchers are starting to question the timeline because of new factors such as clothing they found on the bodies as well as an item found that was dated the 16th day before the first of November. These discoveries conflict with the timeline of the letter that Pliny the Younger wrote about the disaster. It is important to note that in 2012, a new project was started called the “Grande Progetto Pompei” or Great Pompeii Project (GPP Website) which is a restoration project that has $140 million dollars set aside for conservation (Lidz). Massimo Osanna is the director and leader of the GPP and he believes that these clues reinforce the idea that the eruption occurred in Autumn, however, we will discuss this project further into the document.

In 8th century B.C., Pompeii was a port town, it was a vacation resort that was popular to the many people of Rome. At that time, 'Pompeii was a city in crisis and flux,' says archaeologist Stephen Kay of the British School at Rome (Leonard). This was due to the earthquake that Pompeii had two years prior to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. The residents of Pompeii were rebuilding their lives, homes and the infrastructure of their town (Leonard). Many people think that Pompeii existed the way it was found, however, Pompeii had been a bustling city for over 1,000 years and the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was one of the deadliest in history (Leonard). Prior to its eruption, Mt. Vesuvius had been dormant for over 700 years and the earthquake that occurred was a precursor to the upcoming eruption. There was one documented witness to the eruption, his name is Pliny the Younger, he wrote a letter that described what he saw. To date, it is the only eyewitness account that has been documented. In his letter, he said, “broad sheets of fire and leaping flames blazed at several points, their bright glare emphasized by the darkness of night.” 

For many years’ researchers thought the people of Pompeii died suffocating on the ash that rained down on them. However, archaeologists determined that pyroclastic surges, which are super-heated toxic gasses, brought instant death to the people of Pompeii. In Regio V (an area not open to the public), archaeologists unearthed a balcony called the “Vicolo dei Balconi” and found ancient dust on it. In this same area, it was discovered that there were many houses, some of which still had intact balconies and terra cotta containers that were used to hold oil and guram which is a sauce that is made from fish intestines that have been fermented. When the people died their bodies were encased in hot ash and they eventually decomposed leaving hollow shells where the bodies once were. Giuseppe Fiorelli figured out a way to create a plaster mold of the people and the animals who died by the volcano and that method is still used today. Fiorelli would fill the hollow capsules made of ash with plaster, allow it to dry, then chip away the outer casing which would reveal the plaster cast inside. Through this process, he was able to capture the actual moment in which the person died with extreme detail including facial expressions. Many of the famous plaster casts are on display in the Archaeological Museum of Naples and the Museum of Boscoreale in the Antiquarium, which is part of the Pompeii archaeological site.

Pompeii was discovered in the late sixteenth century (around 1748) by Renaissance architect Domenico Fontana while he was working on the construction of an underground water tunnel. The king of Naples, Charles Bourbon started actual excavations at the site and in 1763, excavators found an inscription marking the site as Pompeii. Traces of digs were found all over Pompeii but largely the excavations of Pompeii were haphazard and full of looters. Pompeii was covered in ash and hidden for 1,500 years, it’s important to note that due to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius it altered the landscape of Pompeii. Pompeii was closer to the coastline and after the eruption, aside from Pompeii being covered in ash and debris, the city was cut off from the Samo River. Excavations of the site have continued consistently for more than two and a half centuries. For many decades these excavations were disorganized, poorly documented and were more like treasure hunting expeditions (Leonard). Eventually, after decades of mismanagement, Giuseppe Fiorelli took over excavations in Pompeii in 1860. Under his leadership, artifacts were documented and eventually the entire site was mapped and was divided into 9 sections which are Regio I-IX. The site map and sections are still in use today and as of 2018 only about 1/3 of the site has yet to be excavated additionally, only about 2/3 of the site is open to the public. Recently, an unexplored part of Pompeii (Regio V) began to experience issues with parts of the areas collapsing under its own weight. New excavations were required to address the issues of mud, erosion and figure out a way to start conservation efforts for Pompeii. This work led to discoveries of new items in Pompeii, such as new paintings and frescos on walls that hadn’t been seen before, these discoveries gave archeologists an opportunity to explore Pompeii in a way similar to past archaeologists who did excavations 200 years ago (Leonard). Another interesting fact is that through paleobotanical studies we have determined that Pompeii most likely had orchards, cultivated fields and was surrounded by fir tree forests. As work continued to happen under the GPP, archaeologists found more skeletons, mosaics of mythological figures and other Roman artistry. Recently, through the GPP in section Regio V, skeletal remains were found of women and children in one of the innermost parts of the villa. The house had rooms with frescos that were preserved by ash this home had frescos, one of which had the fertility God Priapus, and in the fresco, he was holding his penis and it was incredibly large. Throughout the house, garlands were found painted along with an explicit fresco of a Spartan queen with Jupiter disguised as a swan. These frescos were meant to show the homeowner as having elevated status.

The town of Pompeii overall was a wealthy one with a large shopping center, paved streets, bakeries, stadiums, along with private villas and public buildings (Bianchini). What’s exciting is that even today many private buildings still have their original décor and there are also several public buildings in fantastic condition. For example, the Teatro Grande (the large theater), the Odeion, the Large Palaestra, and the Basilica still have significant decorations and detail. Some of the famous fresco paintings have inspired artists from the 18th and 19th centuries. Religion was also an important part of daily life in Pompeii. The House of the Enchanted Garden was discovered in Regio V, and it is believed this house was a shrine to household gods (Lidz). This house has a raised pool with lots of decoration and under the shrine is a painting of snakes going towards the altar, the wall of the garden was red, and the decorations were intricate, and it had a specific space for worship inside the house (Lidz). Venus was the deity of Rome and in Pompeii, they had created a temple in her honor. Because Venus is the Goddess of love and beauty, she was the most important Roman deity (Leonard). The temple has been dated to the late seventh century B.C. Another discovery that shed light on the life of the people of Pompeii was the unearthing of the Stabian baths. Baths were a place for socializing, pampering, and exercising and these were one of the oldest of the 5 bath areas in Pompeii. The Stabian baths were located in a prime location and had running water from an aqueduct additionally the renovations that the Stabian baths had after the earthquake in 62 A.D. included new amenities such as a hot bath, running fountains, heated walls, floors and it was updated with new decorations that matched the standards of the Central Baths (Leonard). Another amazing thing about Pompeii is by the first century A.D. the city had modernized its bakeries which included larger scale bakeries although poor people still struggled with the availability of bread. It is also believed that hydraulic systems for soaking grain allowed for Pompeii’s bakers to make higher quality bread and sell them to the wealthier residents of Pompeii.

As I stated earlier, in 2012 a new project the GPP was funded to ensure the conservation of Pompeii through extensive efforts that involve new technology and a large team of people looking to ensure the survival of Pompeii. Through this new project, we are able to finally explore Pompeii in a way that has never occurred before. This project ensures that the decline of Pompeii is diminished and, in some cases, repaired. It has also led to the opening of the Schola Armaturarum which showed that Pompeii was finally properly being taken care of. Osanna, “assembled a vast team of more than 200 experts to conduct what he terms 'global archaeology,' including not only archaeologists but also archaeozoologists, anthropologists, art restorers, biologists, bricklayers, carpenters, computer scientists, demographers, dentists, electricians, geologists, geneticists, mapping technicians, medical engineers, painters, plumbers, paleobotanists, photographers and radiologists”. In their work, they have used a variety of tools and techniques that range from “ground sensors and drone videography to CAT scans and virtual reality”. Currently, satellites are used to asses the risk of flooding, in addition, drones can produce 3D imagery of houses and can document the excavation progress. Laser scanning has also enabled us to understand their diets better, we now know they had excellent teeth due to a fiber-rich, low sugar diet. Genetic research, such as DNA has allowed us to determine sex, age, ethnicity as well as disease. However, a big threat to Pompeii is the number of visitors that go through it annually but ultimately, researchers know one day Mt, Vesuvius will erupt. One way that they are looking to preserve Pompeii is through the creation of a 3D model of the city. Raffaele Martinelli is an architect who is working with a team to construct this virtual 3D model of the city. The goal is to document every area within the city. By documenting the site in this manner, they can spot potential issues and prepare for them by prioritizing maintenance or restrict access to fragile areas. Taking the scans, applying a data model, and combining them with pictures they can get an accurate picture of what Pompeii looked like. Technology has made a huge difference in archaeology because they are able to scan an area without disturbing it. Professor Eric Paylor, a professor from the University of Massachusetts has been working to understand the structures with the use of a portable handheld structure sensor, and it captures 3D details of the site. Using a beam of infrared light, it captures the space, geometry and the imagery of the space that it scans. These types of technologies help us to discover more about Pompeii without disturbing it.

The future of Pompeii is dependent on conservation and our ability to anticipate possible natural disasters. For example, environmental risks are huge to the city of Pompeii, there are seismic, volcanic and hydrogeological issues, these naturally occurring events pose some of the main risks to Pompeii and these are problems conservationists run into. Being able to predict those events through seismic sensors is key to anticipating future problems. The GPP has multiple areas of focus for their conservation work, such as, “reduction of the hydro-geological risk by securing the unexcavated embankments; securing the insulae (apartment buildings); consolidation and restoration of masonry; consolidation and restoration of decorated surfaces; protecting buildings from weather exposure, with a consequent increase in the number of areas that can be visited; strengthening of the video-surveillance system”. The work that these conservationists help to ensure that Pompeii will exist in some form for future generations.