See also: | Amalfi coast | Pompeii history |Pompeii Travel|
Pompeii
Pompeii and the sea at the centre of the Gulf of Naples, a fact that could be the key to understansing the birth of the city. The navigability of the nearby River Sarno, the intersection of main roads and the ease with wich it was posible to land from the sea, made its fortune.
The first settlement was established by the Etruscans at the end of the 7 th century BC. In the first phase the city saw a period of sparse residential development, with small groups of houses built at roadsides and large areas designated for vegetable and ornamental gardens. The Etruscans, coming from central Italy, established themselvs in many parts of the region and Pompeii provided an ideal location for settlement in terms of trade as it had a safe harbour. Etruscan influence lasted until the Battle of Cumae in 524 BC when they were defeatad
at the hands of the Greeks, marking the end of Etruscan influence. Towards the end of the 5th century BC the Samnites, a pepple from the mountains, conquered the region today known as Campania, and replacing the Greeks and Etruscans, assumed controlof the area , taking possession of Pompeii too. The long Samnite wars between 343 and 290 BC ended in victory for Rome and in a period of growth for Pompeii.
The eruption of volcano
The eruption of 79 AD: "A cloud formed..., the only way I can describe it is to say that its appearence and shape were similar to that of a cluster pine tree". This is the apocalyptic image of Vesuvios that met the eyes of the terrified inhabitants on the morning of Pompeii's final day, the 24th of August 79 AD. Up until then the volcano had been thought of merely as a mountain.
Last days of ancient Pompeii
"Continuos and prologed tremors shook the house", he wrote in his first letter. "It was almost as if it were being pulled up from its foundations, one moment it seemed lower, the next higher. However, people were afraid of the shower of lapilli stones falling outside, however light and porous they might be; he chose to go outside he put some pillows on his head and securedthem with sheets" .
Tragedy
Today in Pompeii we can see some of the tragic death scens in the plaster casts made by archeologists using Giuseppe Fiorelli's technique. The archeologist poured liquid plaster into the hollows left in the ash when the bodies had decomposed to recreate the figures at the moment of their death.
The catastrophe probably began towards twelve o'clock of the 24th of August with a deafening noise. The "plug" of solidified lava that had formerly sealed the volcano's summit was ripped apartby the huge build up of pressure beloe. The explosion projected a 20 km high column of volcannic materials into the air, and this was followed by a shower of small "lapilli"- pumice stone, and then of volcanic ash, which setled over 70 kilometre radius to the south east.
Eruption of Vesuvio volcano
Volcanic material fell, there were earth tremors and tidal waves, the morning of the day after. At the end of eruption the rain carried away downhill the large amount of materials settled on the side of the volcano, disguised as impressive rivers of mud. Herculaneum eas covered by 20 metres of solidified mud, probably produced also by the ground water table that flew into the magma chamber of the volcano.Most of the inhabitants of Pompeii were killed not by the collapsing buildings or the volcanic shower of stones and ash, but by the poisonous gases released from the pumice stones.
