Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History Mount Vesuvius & Pompeii: Facts & History By Mary Bagley, Live Science Contributor | June 29, 2016 07:31pm ET MORE Credit: Klagyi | Shutterstock Mount Vesuvius, on the west coast of Italy, is the only active volcano on mainland Europe. It is best known because of the eruption in A.D. 79 that destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Mount Vesuvius is considered to be one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world due to the large population of the city of Naples and the surrounding towns on the slopes nearby. The volcano is classed as a complex stratovolcano because its eruptions typically involve explosive eruptions as well as pyroclastic flows. Vesuvius and other Italian volcanoes, such as Campi Flegrei and Stromboli, are part of the Campanian volcanic arc. The Campanian arc sits on a tectonic boundary where the African plate is being subducted beneath the Eurasian plate . Under Vesuvius, scientists have detected a tear in the African plate.

This “slab window” allows heat from the Earth’s mantle layer to melt the rock of the African plate building up pressure that causes violent explosive eruptions. In the past, Mount Vesuvius has had a roughly 20-year eruption cycle, but the last serious eruption was in 1944 . Vesuvius and Pompeii Mount Vesuvius destroyed the city of Pompeii in A.D. 79. Because the city was buried so quickly by volcanic ash, the site is a well-preserved snapshot of life in a Roman city. We even have a detailed account of the disaster recorded by Pliny the Younger, who interviewed survivors and recorded events in a letter to his friend Tacitus. [ Related: Pompeii 'Wall Posts' Reveal Ancient Social Networks ] Ruins at Herculaneum Credit: deepblue-photographer Shutterstock Pompeii was slowly recovering from a major earthquake that rocked the city in February of A.D. 62. The shallow quake, originating beneath Mount Vesuvius, had caused major damage to the springs and piping that provided the city’s water. Reconstruction was being carried out on several temples and public buildings.

Seneca, a historian, recorded that the quakes lasted for several days and also heavily damaged the town of Herculaneum and did minor damage to the city of Naples before subsiding. The major quake was followed by several minor shakes throughout the following years. [ Image Gallery: Pompeii's Toilets ] Because seismic activity was so common in the area, citizens paid little attention in early August of 79 when several quakes shook the earth beneath Herculaneum and Pompeii. People were unprepared for the explosion that took place shortly after noon on the 24th of August. Pliny, watching from the town of Misenum, approximately 13 miles (21 kilometers) from Pompeii, described the massive debris cloud. “It resembled a (Mediterranean) pine more than any other tree. Like a very high tree the cloud went high and expanded in different branches…. sometimes white, sometimes dark and stained by the sustained sand and ashes.” In Pompeii, ash blocked the sun by 1 p.m. and the people tried to clear heavy ash from rooftops as it fell at a rate of about 6 inches (15 centimeters) an hour.

[ Image Gallery: Preserved Pompeii — Photos Reveal City in Ash ] Bodies preserved in ash at Pompeii. Credit: Alessandro Colle Shutterstock Shortly after midnight, a wall of volcanic mud engulfed the town of Herculaneum, obliterating the town as its citizens fled toward Pompeii. About 6:30 a.m. on the following morning, a glowing cloud of volcanic gases and debris rolled down Vesuvius’ slopes and enveloped the city of Pompeii. Most victims died instantly as the superheated air burned their lungs and contracted their muscles, leaving the bodies in a semi-curled position to be quickly buried in ash and thus preserved in detail for hundreds of years. Far away in Misenum, Pliny the Younger and his mother joined other refugees escaping the earthquakes rocking their city. They observed, “…the sea retreating as if pushed by the earthquakes.” This was probably caused by a tsunami at the climax of the eruption, which gives us the time frame for historical record. Pliny writes of “black and horrible clouds, broken by sinuous shapes of flaming wind.” He describes people wheezing and gasping because of that wind; the same wind that doomed the people of Pompeii.

WWII eruption On March 18, 1944, a two-week-long eruption began with lava from the summit of Mount Vesuvius. Soldiers and airmen of the 340th Bomber Group were stationed at the Pompeii Airfield just a few miles from the base of the volcano. Diaries record the awesome sights and sounds they witnessed in this latest major eruption. Guards wore leather jackets and “steel pot” helmets to protect themselves from rains of hot ash and small rocks. Tents collapsed or caught fire when hot cinders were blown over them. On March 22, they were forced to evacuate, leaving behind 88 Allied aircraft. After the volcano subsided, they returned on the 30th to find the planes were a total loss. Engines were clogged by ash, control panels were useless tangles of fused wire, canopies had holes from flying rock or were etched to opacity by wind driven ash. One airman of the 489th Bomber Squadron complained in his diary when Axis Sally broadcast a radio show dedicated to the “survivors” of the Vesuvius eruption (actually the most severe human casualty was a wrist sprained during the evacuation).

She told all of Europe that “Colonel Vesuvius” had destroyed all of them. The diarist was justifiably proud of the work he did with his fellows in recovery. By April 15, the planes had been replaced and the 340th Bomber Group was back to full strength and ready to fly missions from their new base. “We are still the best damned Group there is. Hitler, you self styled ‘Great Rebuilder’ take note!” Current status Since 1944, there have been hundreds of minor earthquakes in the region around Mount Vesuvius. The most serious earthquake rocked Naples in October 1999. The magnitude-3.6 quake was felt as far as 15 miles (24 km) from the base of the volcano and was of the same magnitude as a quake that occurred 17 years prior to the last truly major explosion that devastated Naples in 1631. In 2016, excavations on the outskirts of Pompeii revealed more victims of the volcanic eruption.

Archaeologists discovered the remains of four people , including one teenage girl, in the ruins of a shop, according to a statement from the Soprintendenza Pompei , the Italian authority in charge of managing the ancient site. Editor's Recommendations Pompeii and Herculaneum POMPEII and HERCULANEUM How to reach and visit them from Rome Pompeii was a resort town inhabited by wealthy Romans who were known for lavish spending on their homes. The fertile, volcanic slopes of Vesevius provided an ideal climate for grapes and olive groves. Since the mountain had last erupted long before anyone alive at the time had been born, people thought that living near the most recognizable landmark looming over the bay of Naples was completely safe. The town had imposing temples, a beautiful forum, a perfectly built theater and a stadium. It was lunch time in August 79 AD when Vesuvius began 19 hours of spectacular eruptions. All the people in the 700-year-old town of 20,000 could have escaped. There was time to flee. But no one recognized the inherent danger of the mountain's warnings. (Right): Map of the bay of Naples.

Pompeii and Herculaneum are 2 hours' drive from Rome By the time Vesuvius stopped belching poisonous gas, the bustling city of Pompeii was silent, completely buried by volcanic ash and debris. It remained silent for 1700 years. Herculanum underwent the same destiny, although it was immediately destroyed by hot toxic gasses, and only later covered with layers of lava. The eruption was the first ever to be described in detail. From 30 km (18 miles) west of the volcano, Pliny the Younger witnessed the eruption and later recorded his observations in two letters. Volcanologists now use the term "plinian" for the first stage of devastating volcanic eruptions, as the one occured in the Pompeii eruption, in which dust, ashes, cinders, and rocks erupt high into the air, and in time settle back to earth. This stage may last for hours or even days. No lava flows occur during the plinian stage. In areas near the eruption, the amount of these materials can be enormous.

During the first eight hours of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD they fell on Pompeii to depths of 2 to 4 meters (8-10 ft.). The heaps of small rocks that landed on the houses caused many roofs to collapse, although the process was relatively slow, allowing most people to excape. (Left): Aerial view of Pompeii, with the Vesusius in the background. In the next stage of the eruption, a superhot cloud of steam and mud (called "pyroclastic") flowed down the side of Vesuvius. At the speed of 30 mt. per second (nearly 100 Km or 60 miles per hour, as the bird flies), it took less than four minutes for the boiling mud to flow from Vesuvius to both Pompeii and Herculaneum, a sea port distant about 7 kilometers (4 miles). As mentioned, up to 4 meters (13 ft.) of ash and rocks fell on Pompeii, burying everything except the roofs of some buildings. The city was abandoned and its location forgotten. In 1595, excavations discovered artifacts at Pompeii and centuries of pillaging followed.

Archeological excavations began in the mid-nineteenth century. Now, much of Pompeii has been excavated and it has revealed much about how people lived during that time (and how they died during the eruption). Herculaneum was buried under 23 mts. (75 ft.) of lava. Once a seaside resort with 5,000 inhabitans, the former town became inland, and is now surrounded, actually surmounted by the modern city of Ercolano. (Right) Pompeii, Venus Villa Surprisingly sophisticated, Pompeii had a grid lay-out (right photo). It had a three-stream running water system. One stream went to public fountains, another to public baths, and a third traveled to homes of wealthy residents. People in Pompeii even had a version of indoor plumbing, but they did not have a good sewer system. Flowing through lead pipes from a central water tower (called the Castellum Aquae), the water delivery system was ingegnious for its day. When water supplies were low, the town stopped the flow of water streams in order of priority. First the wealthy homes were without water, then the public baths. Public fountains were shut down last.

Silent for thousands of years, Pompeii and Herculaneum are now living museums of life in the Roman Empire during the first century of the Common Era. The sacrifice and horrendous sufferings of its inhabitants resulted in a generous gesture, as they donated us the means to understand not only the architecture of their houses, buildings and infrastructures, but also their paintings, the furniture, and even the ordinary objects for everyday use. We know their habits, their customs, even their political graffiti, or their love messages. We are thus able to understand their culture, having an insight of the ancient world otherwise impossible. Mills and baker's oven People in ancient times used mill wheels to grind flour, and they stored food in large terra-cotta jars. To maintain the food at constant temperatures, all but the top of a jar was buried in the ground. Pompeii had outdoor food taverns where its citizens could enjoy a snack and a cool drink. Shops were clearly marked with carved signs: a goat for the dairy, grapes for the winery, bread for the bakery. In the bakers house one could find a fresco of a man selling bread.

(Right): a tavern In the taverns food was stored in jars built in the counter, to keep them warm, and to be served. This is why in Italian up till now a snack bar is called tavola calda (hot table). A paved street, with shops The amphitheatre Streets were paved with cobblestone, shops and private houses would overlook them. Because there was no sewerage system, organic waste and water would run through the steets. Large steps were placed at steet crossings, enabling pedestrians to avoid contact with the waste, while on the other hand carriages could pass through them. The town was endowed with a huge amphiteatre and large training facilities. Gladiator's fights were the highlight of the shows. Gladiators were very popular, and their fans would write graffiti on walls to boast their exploits. Typical upper class residences usually included fresco wall murals, a fountain, private baths, mosaic floors, an atrium with and inner garden (called a peristyle), and a shrine.

(Right) Pompeii: Villa of Venus: painting of Venus In the 1860s, Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli discovered that mounds of ash often contained the moulds of those who perished in the catastrophe. Casts of the victims of the eruption The cast of a poor chained dog This method of retrieving the shapes of Vesuvius' victims, now known as the "Fiorelli method", was even extended to recreating the forms of furniture, doors and shutters on Pompeiian buildings. The casts show the shapes of the victims in their final moments, trying to filter the noxious fumes of the eruption, and to breathe, as the terror-filled faces reveal. The mold of a dog is shown in the right. The poor animal was chained to a post and struggled for hours before finally succumbing to the ash. Herculaneum: a wine shop, complete with jars Herculaneum: mosaic in villa The excavations of Herculaneum stretch over a smaller area, yet they are no less interesting. The once sea town as mentioned was destroyed immediately by a super hot cloud of steam and mud, and only later covered with lava.

Generally, the archaeological relics are in better shape than in Pompeii, and many objects of everyday like were found. The libraries of Herculaneum: Not quite destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius? - CSMonitor.com The libraries of Herculaneum: Not quite destroyed by Mt. Vesuvius? Latest News Save for later Saved Workers reinforce a column with scaffoldings near Porta Marina entrance at the ancient Roman town of Pompeii, near Naples, Italy, Jan. 23, 2016. The discovery of lead in the ink of papers found in Pompeii could eventually enable researchers to read the ancient documents. Cesare Abbate/ANSA/AP/File View Caption of It may require a particle accelerator, X-ray vision, and a highly toxic metal, but researchers believe they could soon be reading from the libraries of Herculaneum, an ancient Roman town destroyed by a volcano to the benefit of archaeology. Scientists have discovered that ancient scholars in the town which, along with its more-famous neighbor, Pompeii, was destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mt.

Vesuvius used a lead-based paint, which they may be able to read using X-ray technology, Sonia van Gilder Cooke wrote for the New Scientist. “This really opens up the possibility of being able to read these scrolls,” Graham Davis, a reader for 3D X-ray imaging at Queen Mary University of London, told New Scientist. “If this is typical of this scroll or other scrolls, then that is very good news.” Recommended: Are you scientifically literate? Take our quiz Archaeologists found about 800 ancient papyrus scrolls when they began digging through a private library, dubbed the "Villa of the Papyri," in Herculaneum in 1752, but 200 remain too delicate even to open. Discovering lead among the ink's components surprised physicist Vito Mocella of the Italian National Research Council and his colleagues, who published their findings in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Photos of the Day Photos of the day 01/19 Classicists had believed the ancients did not use lead in their ink until at least the fourth century. The volcanic eruption from Mt. Vesuvius destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii in 79 AD.

"Metallic ink was used several centuries earlier than previously thought," researchers wrote in the study. "In particular, we found strong evidence that lead was intentionally used in the ink of Herculaneum papyri." This is not the first creative attempt to read the preserved scrolls of Herculaneum. Early researchers who tried to unroll the scrolls usually destroyed them in the process, so researchers began looking for technological solutions , Tia Ghose wrote for LiveScience. "They poured mercury on them, they soaked them in rosewater — all kinds of crazy stuff," Jennifer Sheridan Moss, a papyrologist at Wayne State University in Detroit told LiveScience. X-ray technology was tried, but early efforts failed because the charred paper and the carbon-based ink were too similar chemically. Researchers, including Dr. Mocella, then tried a technique known as X-ray phase-contrast tomography. Because the letters written on the papyrus are slightly raised, scientists could measure the height difference as the rays that reflected back, and they painstakingly deciphered Greek letters and words on six of the scrolls. "The papyri have been burnt, so there is not a huge difference between the paper and the ink," Mocella told Live Science.

The process was difficult and limited to scrolls with specific properties, so researchers continued to search for new methods. Some had wondered whether lead might be a possibility, but researchers became convinced only after they applied the most modern of physics to the ancient documents. Researchers tested the particles from the scrolls in the particle accelerator at Grenoble, France, Esther Inglis-Arkell wrote for Gizmodo. "From a historical point of view, [the presence of lead] is a surprise,” Mocella told the New Scientist. A highly sensitive X-ray machine with the proper calibration can detect the lead, and Mocella and his team plan to test the idea in Naples later this year. Next up Get the Monitor stories you care about delivered to your inbox. Daily Mount Vesuvius, Italy: Map, Facts, Eruption Pictures, Pompeii Article by Jessica Ball Mount Vesuvius Introduction Vesuvius is the only active volcano in mainland Europe, and has produced some of the continent's largest volcanic eruptions. Located on Italy's west coast, it overlooks the Bay and City of Naples and sits in the crater of the ancient Somma volcano.

Vesuvius is most famous for the 79 AD eruption which destroyed the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Though the volcano's last eruption was in 1944, it still represents a great danger to the cities that surround it, especially the busy metropolis of Naples. Map: Where is Vesuvius? Map showing the location of Mount Vesuvius on the west coast of Italy. Map by Geology.com and MapResources. Nearby Volcanoes: Etna Stromboli Mount Vesuvius: Plate Tectonic Setting Vesuvius is part of the Campanian volcanic arc, a line of volcanoes that formed over a subduction zone created by the convergence of the African and Eurasian plates. This subduction zone stretches the length of the Italian peninsula, and is also the source of other volcanoes like Mount Etna , the Phlegraean Fields (Campi Flegrei), Vulcano, and Stromboli. Under Vesuvius, the lower part of the subducting slab has torn and detached from the upper part to form what is called a "slab window".

This makes Vesuvius' rocks slightly different chemically from the rocks erupted from the other Campanian volcanoes. Simplified plate tectonics cross section (A to B) Simplified plate tectonics cross-section showing how Mount Vesuvius is located above a subduction zone formed where the African plate descends beneath Italy. Magma produced from the melting African plate creates the large, violently explosive volcanoes of the Italian Peninsula. Mount Vesuvius: Eruption History Mount Vesuvius has experienced eight major eruptions in the last 17,000 years. The 79 AD eruption is one of the most well known ancient eruptions in the world, and may have killed more than 16,000 people. Ash, mud and rocks from this eruption buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Pompeii is famous for the casts the hot ash formed around victims of the eruptions. The unfortunate people suffocated on ash in the air, which then covered them and preserved amazing details of their clothing and faces. Starting in 1631, Vesuvius entered a period of steady volcanic activity, including lava flows and eruptions of ash and mud.

Violent eruptions in the late 1700s, 1800s and early 1900s created more fissures, lava flows, and ash-and-gas explosions. These damaged or destroyed many towns around the volcano, and sometimes killed people; the eruption of 1906 had more than 100 casualties. The most recent eruption was in 1944 during World War II. It caused major problems for the newly-arrived Allied forces in Italy when ash and rocks from the eruption destroyed planes and forced evacuations at a nearby airbase. Vesuvius eruption (1944) A view of Naples at the height of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 1944. A Melvin C. Shaffer photograph used with permission from Southern Methodist University CUL Digital Collections . Did You Know? The 79 AD eruption of Vesuvius is why volcanologists use "Plinian" to describe large volcanic eruption clouds. Pliny the Younger, a Roman historian who witnessed the 79 AD eruption, wrote the oldest surviving description of the tall, tree-shaped cloud that rose above the volcano.

Modern volcanologists use the term to describe large-volume, violent eruptions that produce quickly-expanding clouds of rock, ash and gases which rise many miles into the atmosphere. Some more recent examples of Plinian eruptions include Mount St. Helens in 1980 and Pinatubo in 1990. Here is Pliny's description... "On 24 August, in the early afternoon, my mother drew [my uncle's] attention to a cloud of unusual size and appearance. its general appearance can be best expressed as being like an umbrella pine, for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into branches, I imagine because it was thrust upwards by the first blast and then left unsupported as the pressure subsided, or else it was borne down by its own weight so that it spread out and gradually dispersed. Sometimes it looked white, sometimes blotched and dirty, according to the amount of soil and ashes it carried with it." About the Author Jessica Ball is a graduate student in the Department of Geology at the State University of New York at Buffalo. Her concentration is in volcanology, and she is currently researching lava dome collapses and pyroclastic flows.

Jessica earned her Bachelor of Science degree from the College of William and Mary, and worked for a year at the American Geological Institute in the Education/Outreach Program. She also writes the Magma Cum Laude blog , and in what spare time she has left, she enjoys rock climbing and playing various stringed instruments. Find it on Geology.com More from Geology.com Deepest Lake in the World: Lake Baikal in southern Russia is the deepest lake in the World. Sliding Rocks Mystery: What causes these rocks to slide across a Death Valley playa? Titanite - also known as sphene, this mineral is a minor source of titanium and a minor gem. Strontium Titanate is a man- made diamond simulant with a fire much stronger than diamond. Shale Gas is natural gas trapped within shale. It is a growing source of US supply. Gold - An important metal for thousands of years - uses, prospecting, mining, production. Land Below Sea Level: Did you know that dozens of land locations are below sea level? Fancy Sapphires are gem corundums of any color other than red, blue or colorless.

Picture of Mount Vesuvius and Naples Bay A panorama of the Gulf of Naples, Italy, showing the high population density and commerce. Mt. Vesuvius rests quietly in the background. Image © iStockphoto / Danilo Ascione. Facts About Mount Vesuvius Etna Stromboli Google Satellite Image of Mount Vesuvius Google Maps satellite image of Vesuvius. In this view you can clearly see the caldera, radial drainage on the volcano's flanks, the city of Naples and a portion of the Gulf of Naples. You can use the control buttons in the upper left corner to zoom out for a broader view or in for more detail. This view clearly shows the density of vulnerable cultural and industrial development that surrounds Vesuvius. You can also use the "terrain" button in the upper right corner of the image to switch to a topographic map. View Larger Map Mount Vesuvius Geology and Hazards The cone known as Mount Vesuvius began growing in the caldera of the Mount Somma volcano, which last erupted about 17,000 years ago. Most rocks erupted from Vesuvius are andesite , an intermediate volcanic rock (about 53-63% silica).

Andesite lava creates explosive eruptions on a variety of scales, which makes Vesuvius an especially dangerous and unpredictable volcano. Strombolian eruptions (explosions of magma from a pool in the volcano’s conduit) and lava flows from the summit and flank fissures are relatively small. Plinian eruptions (huge explosions that create columns of gas, ash and rock which can rise dozens of kilometers into the atmosphere) have a much greater reach, and have destroyed entire ancient cities near Vesuvius with huge ash falls and pyroclastic flows . Vesuvius is currently quiet, with only minor seismic (earthquake) activity and outgassing from fumaroles in its summit crater, but more violent activity could resume in the future. Plaster casts: Victims of the 79 A.D. eruption Plaster casts of people who died in the city of Pompeii during the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. They were buried by the ashfall. Image: Garden of the Fugitives, This photo was taken by Lancevortex and is distributed under a GNU Free Documentation License . Ruins at the ancient city of Pompeii Brick columns stand among ruins of the ancient city of Pompeii.

Image © iStockphoto / Evgeny Bortnikov. More Vesuvius Information BBC - History - Pompeii: Portents of Disaster Pompeii: Portents of Disaster By Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill Last updated 2011-03-29 The people of Pompeii were quite unprepared for the eruption of Vesuvius - getting on with their busy lives, in total ignorance of what was to come. The signs of impending disaster, though, were there - why did no-one pick up on them? On this page Print this page The unexpected catastrophe It is certain that when the eruption of Vesuvius started on the morning of 24 August, AD 79, it caught the local population utterly unprepared. Although at the same time, as we now know in retrospect, all the tell-tale signs were there to warn them. ... the sighting of a column of smoke ... triggered a response more of curiosity than of alarm It is mainly thanks to the vivid eye-witness account of the younger Pliny (a Roman administrator and poet, whose many vivid letters have been preserved), that we have some understanding of what happened.

And it is through him that we can gain insight into the reactions and feelings of the people caught up in the drama of this natural catastrophe. Pliny's account leaves no doubt that everyone was caught unprepared. His uncle, known as Pliny the Elder, was stationed in command of the imperial naval base at Misenum, on the north-west extremity of the Bay of Naples. He was not only the senior military officer in the district, but possibly the most well informed living Roman on matters of natural science. His 37-volume Natural History is the longest work on science in Latin that has survived from antiquity. But for all his science and his seniority, his nephew tells us that the elder Pliny was relaxing, after a bath and lunch, when Vesuvius started to erupt. And the sighting of a column of smoke 'like an umbrella pine' on the far side of the Bay triggered a response more of curiosity than of alarm in him. He and his companions were evidently not anticipating such an event. The same account reveals, however, that the signs were there.

Pliny's casual reference to earth tremors 'which were not particularly alarming because they are frequent in Campania' reveals the Roman's comprehensive ignorance of the link between seismic activity (earth tremors) and volcanic activity. The volcanologists of today constantly monitor any changes in levels of seismic activity from the observatory on Vesuvius, because they know that the same increase of activity in the deep reservoir of magma (molten or partially molten rock beneath the Earth's surface) causes both earth tremors and volcanic eruptions. Through measuring seismic activity, these scientists expect to predict an approaching eruption months in advance. They also know that the activity of Vesuvius is recurrent, and that the longer the intervals between one eruption and another, the greater the eventual explosion will be. The frequent but low-level activity of Vesuvius in recent centuries has relieved the build-up of pressure in the magma chamber. The catastrophic magnitude of the eruption of AD 79 was connected with the extended period of inactivity that preceded it. A long interval combined with mounting seismic activity is a sure sign of impending disaster. Of course, the Romans could not know this, and our own knowledge owes much to the care of Pliny's description.

The long inactivity of the volcano naturally lulled the people of the region into a false sense of security, though they were aware of the signs of burning at the peak of the mountain. They were not the first to be so lulled: recent excavations at the site of the new NATO base at Gricignano, on the north of the Bay, have revealed two catastrophic eruptions that preceded that of 79, and wiped out the populations of a densely occupied territory. The most important earlier eruption, known as that of the 'Avellino pumice' occurred around 1800 BC; several sites, especially one near Nola, reveal the destruction of Bronze Age settlements, with their huts and pots and pans and livestock. But of this the Romans knew nothing. Top Signs and portents The irony of this is that the Romans were extremely interested in predicting the future, and they had a range of ways to detect what they saw as the approaching wrath of the gods. They were adept, for example, at observing 'portents' in the shape of strange sights and sounds, or unusual births. ... there were warnings of the eruption of Vesuvius.

Even in these terms, there were warnings of the eruption of Vesuvius. Earthquakes in themselves counted as portentous, and the historian Cassius Dio, writing over a century later, reports repeated sightings of giants roaming the land. This was a bad portent indeed, given that one standard explanation for the volcanoes of south Italy was that, when the gods defeated the rebellious giants and brought peace to the universe, they buried them beneath the mountains, and that it was their stirrings that caused the eruptions. But while the ancient imagination doubtless conjured up giants in plumes of gas from fumaroles (vents from which volcanic gas escapes into the atmosphere), the earthquakes that Pliny described so casually were more than just portents. Current thinking, however, had not yet caught up with their significance. We know this because, by an extraordinary coincidence, the philosopher Seneca, advisor to the emperor Nero, wrote a discussion of the scientific causes of earthquakes only a few years before the eruption.

Seneca's treatise on the causes of natural phenomena included an entire book on earthquakes, and at the time he was writing, the news was coming in freshly of the catastrophic earthquakes in Campania of AD 63, which caused extensive damage to both Pompeii and Herculaneum. Seneca writes that he regarded it as likely that earthquakes in different parts of the world were interconnected, and even that they were linked to stormy weather, but he draws no link with volcanic activity. Indeed, he goes so far as to reproach the landowners who were deserting Campania for fear of further earthquakes. Top Response to earthquakes Caldarium of the Thermae © The earthquake of AD 63 caused extensive damage to both Pompeii and Herculaneum, as we can see from repairs made to the buildings. Some areas seem to have been worse affected than others - there are cases where entire houses were demolished and reduced to agricultural land. Upper floors would have been particularly badly affected - and indeed some buildings do have blocked-up doors at the top, indicating that the higher floors had been abandoned. But more impressive than the signs of damage are the signs of the resilience of the local population.

Damaged houses were being extensively repaired and redecorated at the time of the AD 79 eruption, and there was a comprehensive programme of restructuring of public buildings in the Forum of Pompeii. ... tenaciously repairing their city, and trying to carry on with life as usual. The evidence points to a continuous process of repairs and rebuilding from AD 63 onwards. It used to be assumed that the earthquake described by Seneca was the only cause of damage, and that signs of incomplete work suggested that it took the cities a long time to recover from the first catastrophe. But we now know from volcanological research that a series of seismic episodes immediately preceded the eruption, causing further damage to structures that had already been repaired. So, in the house of the Chaste Lovers at Pompeii, archaeologists discovered that the oven of a bakery had suffered major cracking; it had been repaired and plastered over, but had then been damaged again - and building work was already in progress to mend this new damage. In the same block, three cesspits in the street, which linked to latrines in the houses, had been dug out immediately before the eruption, presumably to restore them to full functionality.

Outside in the main street, an open trench was found, cutting the entire length of the walkway as far as a water-tower at the crossroads: seismic activity had interrupted the water supply, but people had been hard at work repairing it. A frequent sight in the excavated houses of Pompeii is that of heaps of plaster, which must have been brought in ready for new decoration. Sometimes even the pots and compasses of the decorators are in position. The Pompeians in August 79, far from abandoning their city, or fretting about earthquakes as portents of future destruction, were thus tenaciously repairing their city, and trying to carry on with life as usual. There was every reason to: the economy of the Bay was booming, with the great port of Puteoli as one of the biggest nodes of Mediterranean trade, and the holiday villas of the rich bringing constant investment. Top The eruption A CGI image showing Vesuvius erupting © Taken unawares by the eruption, the population of the towns and villas that circled the Bay could only respond with panic.

Pliny depicts his uncle as a model of Stoic fortitude: calmly sailing directly into the danger zone (where he subsequently died), and taking a bath, dinner and sleep while the catastrophe unfolded. But all around him is panic - Rectina in her villa, Pomponianus in his. The young Pliny too stays calm, but his mother weeps and implores, and by the time they set out to flee northwards, a dense black cloud of ash has blotted out the light, and the crowds of screaming people fleeing around them are in terror. The skeletons found in Pompeii and Herculaneum give us an equally eloquent testimony of panic and uncertainty. The eruption lasted for more than 24 hours ... The eruption lasted for more than 24 hours from its start on the morning of 24 August. Those who fled at once, unburdened by possessions, had a chance of survival, for the rain of ash and pumice, mixed with lithics, that descended for several hours was not necessarily lethal. It is clear that many, like the elder Pliny, thought their best chance was to take shelter and weather the storm.

It was not until around midnight that the first pyroclastic surges and flows occurred, caused by the progressive collapse of the eruptive column, and these meant certain death for the people of the region. (A pyroclastic flow is a ground-hugging avalanche of hot ash, pumice, rock fragments and volcanic gas, which rushes down the side of a volcano as fast as 100 km/hour or more.) The hundreds of refugees sheltering in the vaulted arcades at the seaside in Herculaneum, clutching their jewellery and money, met their end swiftly - from the intense heat of the first surge that reached the city. Subsequent waves reached Pompeii, asphyxiating those who had survived the fall of 3m (10ft) of pumice, and were fleeing across the open in the dark, or hiding beneath roofs. The waves that followed smashed flat the upper floors of houses, and left the corpses encased in successive blankets of gaseous surge and pumice fall. It is impossible to tell what proportion of the inhabitants died, but the Romans were accustomed to losses mounting to tens of thousands in battle, and even they regarded this catastrophe as exceptional.

The corpses found by archaeologists in Pompeii or Herculaneum should be regarded as only a small sample: the destruction encompassed the entire landscape south of Vesuvius to the Sorrentine peninsular. As many died in the countryside or at sea as in the cities. Even as far north as Misenum, the ash lay deep in drifts. Top After the eruption Plaster cast of a victim killed by the Mount Vesuvius eruption © The effect of the eruption was evidently totally traumatic, as is shown by the failure to reoccupy the sites of the cities destroyed. It was normal practice to rebuild the cities of this region after even the most massive earthquakes; but neither Herculaneum nor Pompeii was reoccupied. Instead, the site of Pompeii was riddled with tunnels by explorers, not by modern explorers as is often imagined, but by the Romans themselves after the eruption. Room after room of the city's buildings had holes hacked through the walls by tunnellers, and though Pompeii has richer finds than any other Roman site, it is a city already extensively sacked by looters. The Bay of Naples ... never again regained the massive levels of popularity of the two centuries before the disaster ...

The cities on the north of the Bay swiftly recovered, and Puteoli continued to be a significant commercial centre. The Bay of Naples continued to attract rich holidaymakers, but never again regained the massive levels of popularity of the two centuries before the disaster, the time when it had been the playground of many rich senators and emperors. It was not until the 18th century, when Naples flourished under the Bourbon kings, that the villas of the rich courtiers and ambassadors of that time brought a new flowering to the region. It was at this period that the aristocrats of Europe, as they progressed on their Grand Tours, made the Bay of Naples and its hidden Roman treasures a focus of international fascination. HD Volcano Mount Vesuvius destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii in AD 79 Volcanic Eruption / ViewPure HD Volcano Mount Vesuvius destroyed Herculaneum and Pompeii in AD 79 Volcanic Eruption Music Song "ARIA FROM ORCHESTRAL SUITE NO.

3" Mount Vesuvius (Italian: Monte Vesuvio, Latin: Mons Vesuvius) is a stratovolcano in the Gulf of Naples, Italy, about 9 kilometres (5.6 mi) east of Naples and a short distance from the shore. It is one of several volcanoes which form the Campanian volcanic arc. Vesuvius consists of a large cone partially encircled by the steep rim of a summit caldera caused by the collapse of an earlier and originally much higher structure. Mount Vesuvius is best known for its eruption in AD 79 that led to the burying and destruction of the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. That eruption ejected a cloud of stones, ash and fumes to a height of 20.5 miles, spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima bombing. An estimated 16,000 people died due to hydrothermal pyroclastic flows. The only surviving eyewitness account of the event consists of two letters by Pliny the Younger to the historian Tacitus.

Vesuvius has erupted many times since and is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years. Today, it is regarded as one of the most dangerous volcanoes in the world because of the population of 3,000,000 people living nearby and its tendency towards explosive (Plinian) eruptions. It is the most densely populated volcanic region in the world. Vesuvius has a long historic and literary tradition. It was considered a divinity of the Genius type at the time of the eruption of 79 AD: it appears under the inscribed name Vesuvius as a serpent in the decorative frescos of many lararia, or household shrines, surviving from Pompeii. An inscription from Capua[5] to IOVI VESVVIO indicates that he was worshipped as a power of Jupiter; that is, Jupiter Vesuvius.

The historian Diodorus Siculus relates a tradition that Hercules, in the performance of his labors, passed through the country of nearby Cumae on his way to Sicily and found there a place called "the Phlegraean Plain" (phlegraion pedion, "plain of fire"), "from a hill which anciently vomited out fire ... now called Vesuvius." It was inhabited by bandits, "the sons of the Earth," who were giants. With the assistance of the gods he pacified the region and went on. The facts behind the tradition, if any, remain unknown, as does whether Herculaneum was named after it. An epigram by the poet Martial in 88 AD suggests that both Venus, patroness of Pompeii, and Hercules were worshipped in the region devastated by the eruption of 79. Whether Hercules was ever considered some sort of patron of the volcano itself is debatable.[citation needed] In the year of 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius erupted in one of the most catastrophic and famous eruptions of all time. Historians have learned about the eruption from the eyewitness account of Pliny the Younger, a Roman administrator and poet.

Mount Vesuvius spawned a deadly cloud of stones, ash and fumes to a height of 20.5 miles, spewing molten rock and pulverized pumice at the rate of 1.5 million tons per second, ultimately releasing a hundred thousand times the thermal energy released by the Hiroshima bombing. The towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum were destroyed by pyroclastic flows and the ruins buried under dozens of feet of tephra. An estimated 16,000 people died from the eruption. The 79 AD eruption was preceded by a powerful earthquake seventeen years beforehand on February 5, AD 62, which caused widespread destruction around the Bay of Naples, and particularly to Pompeii.Some of the damage had still not been repaired when the volcano erupted. The deaths of 600 sheep from "tainted air" in the vicinity of Pompeii indicates that the earthquake of 62 may have been related to new activity by Vesuvius[35] The Romans grew accustomed to minor earth tremors in the region; the writer Pliny the Younger even wrote that they "were not particularly alarming because they are frequent in Campania".

Small earthquakes started taking place on August 20, 79[34] becoming more frequent over the next four days, but the warnings were not recognised.[36] Mount Vesuvius has erupted many times. The famous eruption in 79 AD was preceded by numerous others in prehistory, including at least three significantly larger ones, the best known being the Avellino eruption around 1800 BC which engulfed several Bronze Age settlements.

Since 79 AD, the volcano has also erupted repeatedly, in 172, 203, 222, possibly 303, 379, 472, 512, 536, 685, 787, around 860, around 900, 968, 991, 999, 1006, 1037, 1049, around 1073, 1139, 1150, and there may have been eruptions in 1270, 1347, and 1500.[17] The volcano erupted again in 1631, six times in the 18th century, eight times in the 19th century (notably in 1872), and in 1906, 1929, and 1944.

5,773 views Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Vesuvius Full-Day Tour Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Vesuvius Full-Day Tour Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Vesuvius Full-Day Tour Product ID: 44761 Spanish, English, French, German, Italian Pick-up service Pick-up at your Naples hotel is provided if it's within the city's boundaries. Select date and participants: What You'll Do Explore Pompeii, one of the most perfectly preserved Roman towns in Italy Step back nearly 2,000 years and experience the artistic and civic achievements of the ancient Romans Visit Mount Vesuvius and gaze into the active volcano that once buried Pompeii under ash Overview See the ancient Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum on a full-day excursion from Naples. Explore the ancient town of Pompeii that was buried by ash from Vesuvius 2,000 years ago, and then visit the volcano itself, walking up to the crater. What to Expect Spend a fascinating and educational day visiting the ancient Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii.

Explore these extremely well-preserved ancient towns and then drive to the top of the very volcano that destroyed them nearly 2,000 years ago, and yet rendered them eternal. This full-day tour provides a unique opportunity to experience how ancient Romans lived and admire the level of civic progress and artistic skills they had reached. After the fall of the Roman Empire such levels of achievement were not reached again until the 17th and 18th centuries. The route that takes you to the top of Mount Vesuvius passes through a national park of unusual beauty. See pine forests, lush wooded areas, bright yellow flowers, and an uncanny volcanic landscape. You’ll have spectacular views of the Bay of Naples as well. What's Included Transportation by luxury sedan or van English-speaking driver British Museum - Eruption timeline Eruption timeline Share this timeline The eruption story In AD 79 Mount Vesuvius broke its centuries-long silence, with devastating results for the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum and their inhabitants.

From 09.00 BST on Monday 17 June, the British Museum will publish the story of the day Mount Vesuvius erupted in AD 79, using an eyewitness account of the event alongside archaeological evidence to piece together the stages of the eruption and the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Pompeii was over four times the size of Herculaneum. Population Pompeii was the larger of the two cities with approximately three times the number of residents than Herculaneum. Based on a fragment of a citizen list found in Herculaneum, these are the most accurate figures we have about the wealth and status of those who lived there. Morning Back to top Pompeii and Herculaneum were ordinary cities. They were much like many of the other urban centres found throughout Italy and the wider Roman Empire. Pompeii and Herculaneum were quite different from each other. Pompeii was much larger than Herculaneum.

Estimating population numbers is very difficult but it is likely that Pompeii had around 12,000–15,000 people, while Herculaneum's inhabitants numbered around 4,000–5,000. The inhabitants of both enjoyed all the amenities of the cities, from baths and theatres to temples and markets, and lived in a wide variety of homes, from luxurious houses to tenement blocks, small flats above shops and live-in workshops. Both cities offer a picture of a changing society – cities which had existed for centuries before the eruption of AD 79, with many of the private houses and public buildings being two or even three hundred years old. Pompeii was the larger city and more of a commercial hub, with at least 150 bars and taverns, compared with just over a dozen in the smaller seaside city of Herculaneum. Pompeii The name ‘Pompeii’ probably originated from the Italic word pompe, meaning ‘five’. This probably means the city originated as an amalgamation of five towns or groups, which some scholars say can be traced in the archaeological record.

Herculaneum The name Herculaneum is clearly based on the demi-god Hercules, who founded the city, according to legend. Street fresco, fresco of food Pompeii, Herculaneum The streets of Pompeii and Herculaneum were filled with shops, bars and workshops, many built into the fronts of even the finest houses. Shops and bars typically had marble counters fitted with terracotta jars for storing food and drink. Brightly painted signs of gods and lucky symbols advertised the businesses and protected their interiors. People could buy a variety of food: fresh, dried, preserved and bottled. Bronze bust of a man House of the Citharist, Pompeii The Romans never realised they were in danger from Mount Vesuvius. For the people of Pompeii and Herculaneum the day of the eruption would have started as any other. The streets of the cities would have been bustling with ordinary people, just like this man. We cannot be sure whether he was still alive when this portrait was displayed in an atrium in Pompeii, but we do know that it would have been important for it to have been lifelike.

For Romans, portraits were made to be gazed upon, and they expected sculptors to capture a person’s character. Mount Vesuvius For Romans living around the bay of Naples in southern Italy, Vesuvius was considered as just a fertile mountain. Although it had been active in the 8th century BC it had been dormant ever since, leaving the people of the cities with a false sense of security. Violent earthquakes in AD 62 or 63 were caused as the gases which had built up within the cone tried to force their way out. In AD 79 the pressure had built up again, and the thick layer of lava, hardened to form a plug in the crater, was not enough to contain the gases. For several days there had been earth tremors affecting the surrounding area. Pliny the Younger The eruption of Vesuvius was documented by an eyewitness, Pliny the Younger (about AD 61–112) who watched from his mother’s house at the top of the Bay of Naples at Cape Misenum. He wrote two letters in which he narrated the events of the day and their effect. Extracts of these will appear in the timeline below as the eruption unfolds.

Check back at 11.30 to see the story unfold Follow #PompeiiLive @britishmuseum Vesuvius' plume Vesuvius erupts, sending a tall mushroom cloud of superheated rock and gas over 20 kilometres into the sky. Midday Back to top After several small explosions Vesuvius erupts, sending a tall mushroom cloud of superheated rock and gas over 20km into the sky. The cloud blows southwards, plunging everything into total darkness. About one in the afternoon… a cloud was ascending, the appearance which I cannot give you a more exact description of than by likening it to that of a pine tree, for it shot up to a great height in the form of a very tall trunk, which spread itself out at the top into a sort of branches; occasioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the force of which decreased as it advanced upwards, or the cloud itself being pressed back again by its own weight, expanded in the manner I have mentioned; it appeared sometimes bright and sometimes dark and spotted, according as it was either more or less impregnated with earth and cinders.

Pliny the Younger describes the Vesuvius eruption The mountain emits noxious gases and unearthly noises. Violent tremors cause buildings to collapse. People flee to the beach, hoping for rescue from the sea but floating banks of pumice prevent ships from reaching or leaving the shore. Lucky jewellery Pompeii, outside Porta Nola Some people wore jewellery featuring good luck symbols, perhaps to invoke the protection of the gods as the city around them was destroyed. These items were all found with a young woman who died among tombs to the east of Pompeii. Nearly all the items she carried were linked to good luck including these rings with symbols such as the goddess Fortuna and snake heads. She clearly wanted the protection of the gods, but they proved to be of little help. Charm bracelet Herculaneum, ancient shoreline Others took objects that held sentimental value. This bracelet was found alongside the skeleton of a child. It has over 40 charms made from lead, glass, bronze and carnelian, rock crystal from the Alps, amber from the Baltic and faience from Egypt. Perhaps the charms were collected over time and were held dear by the bracelet’s owner.

Fused mass of coins, once contained in a wicker basket Herculaneum, ancient shoreline As the eruption engulfed the cities, many of the people fleeing for their lives paused to grab objects of value such as jewellery and coins. Perhaps they hoped to provide a safeguard against difficult times ahead. This wicker basket, full of bronze coins and a handful of silver denarii, might have been a morning’s takings from a shop or bar. He ordered the galleys to be put to sea… Hastening then to the place from whence others fled with the utmost terror, he steered his course direct to the point of danger, and with so much calmness and presence of mind as to be able to make and dictate his observations upon the motion and all the phenomena of that dreadful scene. He was now so close to the mountain that the cinders, which grew thicker and hotter the nearer he approached, fell into the ships, together with pumice stones, and black pieces of burning rock: they were in danger too not only of being aground by the sudden retreat of the sea, but also from the vast fragments which rolled down from the mountain, and obstructed all the shore.

Pliny the Younger describes how his uncle, Pliny the Elder, went to the aid of those at the foot of Mount Vesuvius They consulted together whether it would be most prudent to trust to the houses, which now rocked from side to side with frequent and violent concussions as though shaken from their very foundations; or fly to the open fields, where the calcined stones and cinders, though light indeed, yet fell in large showers, and threatened destruction. In this choice of dangers they resolved for the fields: a resolution which, while the rest of the company were hurried into by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool and deliberate consideration. They went out then, having pillows tied upon their heads with napkins; and this was their whole defence against the storm of stones that fell round them. Pliny the Elder then disembarks and starts to assist on land Meanwhile broad flames shone out in several places from Mount Vesuvius, which the darkness of the night contributed to render still brighter and clearer. Being at a convenient distance from the houses, we stood still, in the midst of a most dangerous and dreadful scene.

The chariots, which we had ordered to be drawn out, were so agitated backwards and forwards, though upon the most level ground, that we could not keep them steady, even by supporting them with large stones. Pliny the Younger The sea seemed to roll back upon itself, and to be driven from its banks by the convulsive motion of the earth; it is certain at least the shore was considerably enlarged, and several sea animals were left upon it. On the other side, a black and dreadful cloud, broken with rapid, zigzag flashes, revealed behind it variously shaped masses of flame: these last were like sheet-lightning, but much larger. Pliny the Younger Wooden table and wooden linen chest Herculaneum When the volcano destroyed Herculaneum, many of the domestic objects used by its inhabitants were carbonised (blackened and turned into charcoal) by the extreme heat of the first pyroclastic surge. This process took all the moisture from the objects, which stopped them from decaying. Doors, staircases and other wooden features were also preserved in Herculaneum but rarely in Pompeii – the volcano destroyed the cities in different ways.

This maple wood linen chest is one such item that survived from Herculaneum. When the chest was accidentally broken open during excavation, it was revealed to still contain carbonised clothing. Poets like Statius lamented the loss of the cities: ‘…in a future generation, when crops spring up again, when this wasteland regains its green, will men believe that cities and peoples lie beneath? That in days of old their lands lay closer to the sea? Nor has that fatal summit ceased to threaten’ Statius, Silvae, AD 90s To explore all the objects from the exhibition Life and death in Pompeii and Herculaneum, download the British Museum’s accompanying app or buy the catalogue . How Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii | How It Works Magazine How Vesuvius destroyed Pompeii 8 months ago A map showing the spread of the ash clouds At noon on 24 August in 79 CE, Mount Vesuvius erupted near the bay of Naples in southern Italy in what would become one of the most devastating natural disasters of ancient times.

The nearby cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were completely buried by the ash and pyroclasts that spewed from the volcano, helping to preserve them in extraordinary detail. We also have detailed information about the eruption itself thanks to Pliny the Younger, who wrote two letters detailing what he saw from his mother’s house in Cape Misenum. His famous description of the plume as “shaped like a pine” caused this type of eruption to be named a Plinian eruption. 10am, 24 August, 79 CE For four days prior to the eruption, small earthquakes are felt throughout the city of Pompeii. As this happens every year without consequence, the inhabitants think nothing of it. Many of them congregate in the public forum, the political, religious and commercial heart of the city. 1pm, 24 August, 79 CE After several small explosions, Vesuvius erupts, sending a tall cloud of lava and ash over 20km (12mi) into the sky. The cloud blocks out the Sun, plunging everything into darkness, and violent tremors cause buildings to collapse. People run toward the coast in search of rescue, but rough seas make escape by water impossible.

9pm, 24 August, 79 CE Hot ash and lumps of volcanic rock rain down over Pompeii, which is downwind from the volcano. People become trapped in their houses as debris blocks the doors, and roofs begin to collapse from the weight of the ash and rock. Many people are also killed by the emissions of sulphuric gases. 12am, 25 August, 79 CE The ash cloud reaches its maximum height of 30km (19mi) and then collapses, sending a pyroclastic surge of hot gas and rock down the volcano’s northwest slope toward Herculaneum. Moving up to 700km/h (435mph) and with temperatures up to 400°C (752°F), the surge instantly kills everyone it touches. ￼ ￼6am, 25 August, 79 CE As dawn breaks, the cloud collapses for the last time, sending another pyroclastic surge toward Pompeii that kills everyone in its path.

By the time the eruption is over, Pompeii is buried underneath 5m (16ft) of volcanic material, while Herculaneum is buried under 20m (66ft). How the eruption unfolded ￼ Discover more amazing history and the places that bring it to life in the brand new Explore History magazine. Order it online or subscribe today to get 3 issues for just £1 ! Plus, take a look at:

Question: What volcano destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum?
Answer: Mount Vesuvius