Pompeii is an unrivaled time machine that takes us back 2,000 years. But the machine is breaking down. And what is lost cannot be recovered. Pompeii's death is not in one blow. Wild dogs roam the ancient city, snapping and snarling at tourists.
Weeds dislodge paving stones and mosaics.
Rotting boards prop up crumbling walls and barricades block off much of the city. Most of the wall paintings, the colonnaded houses, the statues and mosaics are now off-limits. Many of Pompeii's treasures are not even at Pompeii anymore. Pompeii's own museum, the Antiquarium, was closed after thieves looted it of coins and jewelry in 1975. Two years later, someone hacked 14 frescoes out of the House of the Gladiators.