POMPEII
Pompeii was a popular and busy Ancient Roman city located near to modern day Naples in Italy. The city was founded around 6BC, and the Romans took control around 80BC. When the Romans took control they built a port, an amphitheatre and a complex water system making it a very attractive and busy place in Roman times.
Pompeii was located very close to Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano. For many years the volcano laid dormant, and the people living in Pompeii thought little of it. However, in AD 79, about 160 years after the Roman rule first started, the volcano became very active and eventually erupted. The eruption completely destroyed Pompeii as six meters worth of lava, ash and pumice erupted out of Mount Vesuvius and buried Pompeii. As a result of the eruption many of the 11,000 people reported to have been living there died.
Evidence for the destruction of Pompeii came in the form of a letter from Pliny the Younger who had seen Mount Vesuvius erupt from far away. Pliny the Younger reported that his uncle, an admiral of the Roman fleet, had been trying to rescue citizens of Pompeii but had died in his efforts. After the eruption Pompeii was left undisturbed for over 1500 years. However in the 17th century the city was rediscovered by a Spanish engineer.
Pompeii was located very close to Mount Vesuvius, an active volcano. For many years the volcano laid dormant, and the people living in Pompeii thought little of it. However, in AD 79, about 160 years after the Roman rule first started, the volcano became very active and eventually erupted. The eruption completely destroyed Pompeii as six meters worth of lava, ash and pumice erupted out of Mount Vesuvius and buried Pompeii. As a result of the eruption many of the 11,000 people reported to have been living there died.
Evidence for the destruction of Pompeii came in the form of a letter from Pliny the Younger who had seen Mount Vesuvius erupt from far away. Pliny the Younger reported that his uncle, an admiral of the Roman fleet, had been trying to rescue citizens of Pompeii but had died in his efforts. After the eruption Pompeii was left undisturbed for over 1500 years. However in the 17th century the city was rediscovered by a Spanish engineer.
Pompeii
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Many of the objects, buildings, and even people in Pompeii which were buried in the eruption of AD79 were preserved for hundreds of years because there was so little air and moisture. As a result, Pompeii has given historians a really good insight into Roman life. Plaster was used to fill in gaps where artifacts and other things had been in order to show people where things once laid, and where people had died. As a result of all of this, today Pompeii has become a popular tourist destination with over 2.5 million visitors every year.