All you need to know about Pompeii

Location and History
1. Fertile Area
2. Natural floodplains and harbours
3. Produced 3 or 4 crops per year
4. Olive, grape, spelt, wheat and millet were grown
5. Wine and rose perfume
6. Good road network
7. Sarno river and sea were close
8. Vesuvius associated with prosperity and festivity (Bacchus)
9. Looted since eruption
10. Walls 6th century BCE
11. Rome colony and Sulla's veterans settle 80BCE
12. First influenced by Oscans, Etruscans and Greeks
13. Founded 8th century BCE
14. City 6th century BCE
15. Samnite control 5th century BCE
16. Roman 'ally' 290BCE
17. Loyal in Punic Wars 3rd century BCE
18. Rebels in Social Wars 91BCE
19. Besieged by Sulla 89BCE
20. Prospering 1st century CE
21. Amphitheatre riot 59CE
22. Large earthquake 62/63CE
23. Earthquakes then eruption 79CE
The Eruption
1. Recorded by Pliny the Younger
2. Pliny the elder died during the eruption
3. The Plinian Stage
  1. Day 1
    1. Started (around midday) with a column of hot gas and pumice 30km high emerged from Vesuvius accompanied by a loud bang
      1. Described by Pliny as like an 'umbrella pine'
        Pompeii was downwind and was plunged into darkness
        Ash and rock fragments began accumulating at a rate of 15cm p/h
        Many people chose to escape whilst some sheltered in their houses
        By evening, roofs were starting to collapse under the strain of the debris
4. The Pelean Stage
  1. Day 2
    1. During the early morning there was a lull in the eruption
      1. Some Pompeians made their escape believing that the worse was over
        This was actually a sign that the volcano was running out of energy
        As the column could no longer be supported it started to collapse
        This began the stage of pyroclastic flows and ground surges
        These are flows of hot volcanic material travelling between 100 and 400 kilometres per hour at a temperature ranging from 100 to 300 degrees celcius
        The first and second pyroclastic flows buried Herculaneum whilst Pompeii's walls were hit by the third and it was buried by the other three
5. Pliny the Elder's story
  1. Pliny was interested in nature and was in the process of writing an encylopedia
    1. He was also in charge of the Bay of Naples navy
      1. When the eruption began he led a rescue party by sea
        On being blocked by floating pumice he ordered the fleet towards the house of his friend situated in Stabiae
        There he bathed and slept
        During the night he was woken as the house was struggling under the weight of the debris
        They decided to flee with pillows tied to their heads for protection
        He was killed by the poisonous gas cloud pushed by a pyroclastic flow
6. The Aftermath
  1. Titus was the (relatively new) emperor at the time
  2. He journeyed to the Bay of Naples and organised relief efforts
  3. Survivors moved into nearby cities which were given special rights to help them settle
  4. Anyone who died without making a will had their wealth donated to the relief fund
  5. Pompeii was looted yet was then soon forgotten
  6. Around 1,150 bodies have so far been found (1/3 of the city has been excavated)
  7. This suggests that a majority of the 10,000 inhabitants escaped
  8. 345 of the 394 bodies discovered in the pumice layer were indoors
  9. 48 bodies have been found near the Sarno river
  10. 319 of the 653 people discovered in the pyroclastic flows layer were buried outdoors
7. The initial blast had the power of 500 of the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima
Rediscovery
1. Alcubierre
  1. First person in charge of Pompeii's excavation
  2. Military engineer
  3. No clue about archaeology
  4. Worked for King Charles VIII
  5. Careless and clumsy in excavations
2. Karl Webber
  1. Alcubierre's deputy
  2. Swiss architect
  3. Didn't get on with his boss
  4. Brought innovations to process
  5. Kept records
3. Giuseppe Fiorelli
  1. Most famous archaeologist of Pompeii
  2. Worked when Italy was reunified in 1860
  3. Insisted no walls were destroyed
  4. Protected buildings
  5. Introduced system of mapping
  6. Stopped items being removed unless neccessary
  7. Opened part of site to public
  8. Invented the plaster cast process
    1. This is the technique where any holes found are filled in with plaster (today we use a resin) to re-create the body's dying moment
Layout
1. Learn gates
2. Learn key streets
3. Learn key features

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All you need to know about Pompeii

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	Created by The Blues almost 11 years ago