City of Pompeii. History of death

The history of the death of Pompeii indicates that the disaster began in 79, in the afternoon, on August 24 and lasted two days. The eruption of what was then believed to be a dormant volcano, Vesuvius, destroyed everything. Then not only Pompeii, but also three more cities were buried under lava - Stabiae, Oplontia and Herculaneum.

For 1,500 years, Pompeii would remain buried underground, until in 1599, during the construction of an underground canal from the Sarno River, part of the ancient city wall was discovered.

Then the city had to wait another 150 years, until its excavations resumed in 1748 under the leadership of the Spanish military engineer Roque Joaquin de Alcubierre. This time, not only well-preserved household items appeared on the surface (which was facilitated by the lack of air and moisture underground), but also entire buildings.

The first day is the beginning of the tragedy

The city of Pompeii was spared by the elements until the next day. City residents frivolously did not pay attention to the black cloud of ash and gas that rose above the Vesuvius volcano and was slowly moving towards the city. Anxiety began to grow after ash flakes began to cover the roofs of houses, sidewalks, flowers and treetops. The ashes covered the white clothes and had to be shaken off all the time; the colors of the city faded, merging into a gloomy gray background.

Many of the residents tried to hide from the ash in houses where poisonous sulfur fumes penetrated. Under the weight of the ash, the roofs of houses collapsed, burying those in the room. Many died without finding the courage to leave valuables. During excavations, people were found with bags filled with gold and precious jewelry. The earthquake that began was accompanied by continuous tremors. The shaking firmament overturned carts, destroyed statues and walls of houses; Residents fleeing in horror were covered with tiles. Following the ashes, stones began to fall from the sky.

The details of the death of Pompeii are known from the letters of the famous Roman scientist Pliny the Younger, who was visiting Miseno - the estate of his uncle, also a famous scientist, who is usually called Pliny the Elder. Young Pliny had the misfortune of finding himself on the shores of the Bay of Naples, just 25 km from Vesuvius. He described the eruption in a letter to Tacitus, at the latter's request, telling about the death of a relative, and as a result provided descendants with an important scientific document.

“My uncle was in Misenum and personally commanded the fleet,” writes Pliny the Younger. “He died during a catastrophe that destroyed this beautiful region along with its cities and population. On the 9th day before the Kalends of September, around 7 o'clock, he saw a cloud, unusual in size and appearance. Those looking from afar could not determine which mountain it appeared over, and the fact that it was Vesuvius was recognized much later. The uncle had already warmed himself in the sun, doused himself with cold water, had a snack and asked for sandals in order to climb to a place where he could better see this amazing phenomenon.

The shape of the cloud was similar to a pine tree: a tall trunk rose upward, from which branches diverged in different directions. It could have been thrown out by a stream of air, but then the force weakened, and the cloud spread wider from its own gravity. The color of the cloud, filled with earth and ash, changed from bright white to dirty brown. The phenomenon might seem significant and worthy of closer acquaintance to any scientist. My uncle ordered the ship to be prepared and invited me to go with him. I replied that I preferred to write.

He was about to leave the house when he received a letter from Rectina, the wife of Tascius, who lived in a villa under the mountain, from where escape could only be by sea. The frightened woman asked to help her out of a terrible situation, and her uncle changed the plan. What the scientist began was completed by a man of great soul: he ordered the ship to be brought in, and he himself climbed onto the deck, intending to provide assistance not only to Rectina, but also to many others, because the coast was densely populated. He hurried to where others were fleeing, keeping a straight path, rushing straight to the center of danger, and was so free from fear that, perceiving any change in the outlines of the pillar, he ordered all the details to be noted and recorded.”

The scientist did not succumb to the persuasion of the helmsman, although he hesitated whether to turn back, but still ordered the boat to be sent to Stabiae, to the house of a certain Pomponian. Throughout the dangerous journey, Pliny the Elder consoled the frightened passengers, hugged them by the shoulders, and persuaded them, wanting to ease their fear with his calmness. Upon his return, he ordered to be taken to the bathhouse; Having washed himself, he settled down on the bed and dined tastefully, constantly pretending to be cheerful.

There is evidence from the ancient writer Dio Cassius, a later author who used an unknown source, but was well aware of the consequences of the eruption outside Campania:

“A strong earthquake began. The entire area around the volcano trembled, and the top of the mountain shook. The underground booms were like thunder... the sea roared... Suddenly a terrible crash was heard. Huge stones flew from the mouth of Vesuvius... flames rose high and thick smoke fell, the sun darkened. Day turned to night, clouds of ash rose into the air. It covered the land and the sea, completely filling up two cities. Such a mass of dust rose that it reached Africa and Egypt. In Rome, clouds of dust flying in the air obscured the sun.”

As stated by Pliny the Younger, already on the first day of the disaster:

“Ashes fell on the ships, and the closer they came, the hotter and thicker the air became. Pieces of pumice and black burnt fragments of stones fell, almost burying the sandbank and blocking the bank, access to which was blocked by a landslide. In many places, fire spread widely from the volcano, shooting up, especially bright in the darkness of the night. The uncle insisted, trying to calm the frightened people, that the villagers, in their haste, forgot to put out the fire and a fire started in the abandoned estates.

Then he retired and fell into a deep sleep: his breathing, a large man, came out with heavy snoring, and people passing by his room heard this sound. The platform from which they entered the outbuilding was already so covered with ash and pieces of pumice that it would have been impossible for a person who had lingered in the bedroom to leave. They woke up my uncle with an offer to take part in the council, where they discussed the question of whether to stay indoors or go out into the open. The scientist presented reasonable arguments, but fears prevailed among the rest.”

By the time of the negotiations, buildings were shaking, shaken by frequent and strong tremors; the underground element moved them from their places, moved them to the side and brought them back. Light, porous pieces of pumice fell from the sky. People protected themselves from falling stones with pillows and towels tied to their heads.

The threat became clear gradually, because the disaster began with light ash, which was enough to shake off clothes and hair. Seeing pieces of pumice flying from the sky, people sensed danger, but took real measures to save them too late. The city of Pompeii was enveloped in toxic fumes; they penetrated into all the cracks, crawled under capes, bandages and scarves, constricted breathing, caused tears and coughing. Trying to swallow fresh air, people ran out into the street, fell under a hail of lapilli and returned back in horror. Ceilings collapsed in houses, burying those who sat huddled under stairwells and hid in galleries, begging in vain for forgiveness from the gods.

When any volcano erupts, pieces of old and fresh lava, as well as rocks alien to the volcano, are thrown out of the crater along with the ash. Small, round or angular fragments of this substance - lapilli (from the Latin lapillus - “pebble”) - fall like hail, covering the ground with a loose layer of volcanic mass. During the eruption of Vesuvius, most of the stones barely reached the size walnut, although at times there were stones with a diameter of up to 30 cm. Even in a frozen form, they are not difficult to remove with the help of simple tools. It was precisely this substance that covered Pompeii, although to a much shallower depth than Herculaneum.

Contrary to the assertions of ancient authors, the disaster did not take the townspeople by surprise. Vesuvius woke up early in the morning, and the stone rain began only at noon. People had enough time to leave the city, and many did so. Judging by the findings, less than a quarter of the 10,000 townspeople died. Population cities of the dead were those who rushed to save their household belongings or simply decided to wait out the danger by leaving home too late. Old people, lost children and slaves left by their owners to guard household property died.

Second day of the disaster

Having difficulty making their way through piles of small stones, people fell exhausted, lost consciousness or slowly suffocated, buried alive under hot ash. It is no coincidence that many of the dead were found in its upper layer. The morning of the next day greeted those who remained in pitch darkness, the air became hot, and the city was completely hidden under a 7-meter layer of lapilli and a 2-meter layer of ash that covered it.

“The day came, gloomy, as if exhausted, blacker and denser than all the nights,” continues Pliny the Younger in a letter to Tacitus, “although the darkness was slightly dispersed by torches. It was already one o'clock when we decided to go ashore and look around. The buildings shook. We stood in the open, but even in the darkness it was clear that everything around was collapsing. Many people were crowding and pushing each other. A lot of strange and terrible things happened in the city. The carts that we ordered to be sent forward were thrown from side to side in a completely new place, although we supported them with stones. The sea was still rough and hostile. We saw how it was drawn into itself, and the earth, shaking, pushed it away. The shore moved forward, leaving sea animals lying on the sand.

Like many others, my uncle lay down on the spread sail and asked cold water. The fire and the smell of brimstone, which heralded the approach of fire, put the others to flight, and he was roused to his feet. He stood up, leaning on two slaves, and immediately fell, because the thick fumes took his breath away and closed his windpipe: it was naturally weak, narrow and often hurt.

In a huge black storm cloud fiery zigzags flared up and ran across, it split into long stripes of flame, resembling lightning, but of unprecedented size. A few hours later, the cloud began to descend to the ground, covered the sea, encircled and hid the island of Capri, and carried Cape Misensky out of sight. Ash fell, but at first it was rare. Looking back, I saw that thick darkness was approaching us, like a stream spreading across the earth.”

The frightened young man suggested that his companions turn away before they were crushed by the crowd. Then everyone found themselves in darkness, similar to what happens in a room when the lights suddenly go out. Helpless people heard women's screams, men's voices, baby crying: some called their parents, others called their children, the wives looked for their husbands, but they could not find their wives in the general chaos.

Perhaps at that time people realized that death was inevitable. According to Pliny, "they mourned own death, mourned the death of loved ones, some shouted in fear to die quickly, many raised their hands to the gods, but the majority argued that they were not there and the last eternal night had come in the world. When it got a little lighter, we saw that it was not dawn, but an approaching fire. He stopped in the distance and darkness fell again.

Ash fell in frequent, heavy rain. We constantly got up and shook it off, otherwise we would have been covered and crushed by its weight. The darkness eventually began to dissipate into smoke and fog. Soon the real day came, and the sun even sparkled, but yellowish and dim, as if during an eclipse. To the eyes of people numb with horror the world appeared completely different. Everything was covered, as if with snow, with deep ash.” Pliny’s letter ended with the words: “...I conveyed everything that I was present at and that I heard about from those who remember well how everything happened.”

Third day - buried cities

Weak daylight returned on the third day after the volcanic eruption began. The body of Pliny the Elder was found on the shore: the scientist was lying fully clothed, without any injuries and looked more like a sleeper than a dead person. Two days later, the sun was shining over Campania again and the sky was blue, but Pompeii and Herculaneum had already ceased to exist. The fields of the happy land were covered with lava and ash, the buildings turned into ruins. The deathly silence was not broken by human voices, barking dogs, or singing birds. Only Vesuvius remained alive, over the top of which, as at the beginning of the destruction of Pompeii, a thin column of smoke smoked.

After the destruction of Pompeii

Soon after the volcano subsided, the surviving residents returned to the scene of the disaster. People dug up houses in an attempt to find the remains of dead relatives, the most valuable things, and tools necessary for settling in a new place. Deeper penetration was carried out in the forum where the core values ​​were located. By order of the city authorities, works of art, fragments of architectural decor, statues of gods, emperors, and famous citizens were removed from the main square.

The Roman government did not take any real measures to help those affected by the destruction of Pompeii. Emperor Titus appointed a senatorial commission, which dared to ignore the decree that allowed “the property of the dead to be used for the revival of the Campaign if they had no heirs.” Streets and houses were left under ash, and the surviving residents found shelter in other cities in Italy. Years passed; the wounded earth was covered with a layer of soil, in the desert valley the meadows turned green again and the gardens bloomed. After several centuries, no one remembered the lost cities. An echo of the former prosperity of the region was the name of the area - La citta, but the word "city" in the designation of a deserted tract was perceived as a mockery.

The city of Pompeii in modern times

Occupying a total area of ​​more than 65 hectares, the city of Pompeii is today the world's largest archaeological park and architectural monument, as well as one of the most popular tourist destinations for 250 years. The city buried alive was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. 2.5 million tourists visit it annually.

Vesuvius, estimated to be 17,000 years old, remains the only active volcano on the European mainland. According to scientists, the volcano erupted about 100 times in total, but only a few eruptions exceeded the eruption of 79 in scale. Thermal energy, released by Mount Vesuvius during the eruption was 100,000 times more energy than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima!

Traveling around Italy, we could not help but visit this city of “buried alive”. The interest in visiting the city of Pompeii and taking photos of Pompeii was mainly to see with my own eyes the life of those times, to find out what people did in those distant centuries, when there were no televisions, no discos, no computers and electricity. In Pompeii, life stopped suddenly and only here everything was preserved in its original form.

This is precisely why the history of Pompeii arouses such interest among tourists and travelers. To see Vesuvius with your own eyes and wander through the ancient streets - in my opinion, this is the height of all desires.
Judging by the excavations, the city of Pompeii in those days was a rich and populated city. It had temples, rich big houses, baths, wells and even an arena for gladiator fights. The city flourished. The guides claim that they have not yet excavated everything here; much more remains under a thick layer of ash. Pompeii - clear example the fact that you live like this, you live, you prosper, and one “beautiful” day a catastrophe occurs and everything freezes. Time stops and records, like a camera, the measured flow of life, so that later, centuries later, it can be revealed to descendants in the form of streets of charred skeletons. In Pompeii, some residents died with bags of gold on their shoulders. Apparently they hoped to escape from the raging volcano, taking with them all the most valuable things.

And life in the city of Pompeii was stormy and eventful. This is evidenced by the many taverns and brothels that were discovered during excavations. Judging by these excavations in the city of Pompeii, people lived for their own pleasure, so to speak, “to the fullest,” without denying themselves anything. Their relaxed morals are evidenced by members of all sizes and configurations carved directly into the pavement and the walls of houses decorated with frescoes on an erotic theme: “The Kama Sutra” is resting. By the way, in Pompeii you can buy a separate excursion to the Gallery of erotic frescoes and drawings. True, historians claim that the image of a penis in ancient Italy had a slightly different meaning. The penis in Pompeii, so to speak, was worshiped. It was a kind of talisman against the evil eye or, for example, a talisman for good luck, and a carved penis on the roadway meant the direction of movement along the street. Sort of road sign"straight arrow" on a blue background. It's no surprise that the most popular souvenir from Pompeii is the male penis.

Road sign.

After the volcanic eruption in Pompeii, everything and everyone died from ash and hot lava. But the erotic frescoes in brothels, of which there were a great many in the city, were well preserved. As they say, manuscripts don’t burn. One can imagine in what spirit children were raised in those centuries, if from birth they were surrounded by drunkenness, debauchery and bacchanalia.
Pompeii is considered the birthplace of paid toilets. This is where I was born catchphrase“Money doesn’t smell” when Emperor Vespasian introduced fees for using outdoor toilets. And the toilets were noble, with marble walls and gold-encrusted toilets. In those days, toilets were also a place for business meetings and negotiations. They discussed important issues and business corporate issues were resolved. The volcanic eruption in Pompeii instantly stopped this luxurious and carefree life.

And now, centuries later, tourists wander the excavated streets of Pompeii, a city buried alive, and look with curiosity at well-preserved clay pots, temple columns and all kinds of household utensils of those times, which in August 79 were almost instantly covered with hot ash. Surprise is the main enemy of humanity.

Everyone entering Pompeii was forced to urinate in this cave, and the urine was then used for industrial purposes.

In the summer in Pompeii it is very hot due to the hot stones. Two thousand years ago it was also hot, so there are many fountains with cold water on the city streets. drinking water, coming into them from the mountains. In those distant times, water flowed into these springs through lead pipes. Nowadays, in the heat, you can always quench your thirst from these fountains. The water is really very tasty. Many tourists take it with them on the road.
As I already said, Pompeii was a very rich city. This is evidenced by rich temples, such as the Temple of Venus, the Temple of Apollo, built here in the 6th century BC. and the Temple of Jupiter. (2nd century BC). We saw enough of the ruins when we were traveling around Greece, but these Pompeian ruins are special. They have survived to this day in their original form, not like the Greek remake. There were two theaters in Pompeii. One is for the entertainment of rich citizens - the Odeon, the second, an amphitheater, for commoners. The ancient Roman slogan “Bread and Circuses” worked in full force. In addition, the land of volcanic origin made it possible to harvest crops in these parts three times a year without any additional effort. Even a stick stuck in the ground sprouted. Until now, citrus fruits are grown here in incredible sizes and in incredible quantities, so fertile is the land at the foot of the volcano.

After excavations in Pompeii, the dwellings of the Pompeians with all their household utensils were well preserved. But the frozen bodies of residents and animals are especially impressive. To prevent them from falling apart, these mummies are now filled with wax.

The facial expressions and gestures of people remained the same as they were at the moment of the volcanic eruption in Pompeii. A lot of things were found in Pompeii during excavations, there is no point in listing everything, numerous guidebooks and reference books have been written about this and there is no point in listing it all. It’s better to just look at a photo of Pompeii and try to imagine the life of the townspeople of those distant times.

This sign indicated the street name and house number. Residents of the city could use such signs to find their way.

The houses of wealthy Pompeians were decorated with figurines.

People once lived here, but it was all covered with ash. Frescoes have been preserved on the walls.

Street in Pompeii, paved with paving stones.

Pompeii bins.

Some tips before visiting Pompei.
The city streets are paved with paving stones; heels will be very uncomfortable; prepare suitable shoes in advance. At the entrance to the excavations you can buy a guide map; it will be very convenient to navigate among the ruins. Five hours is enough to walk around and see everything in detail. An excursion to the archaeological complex of Pompeii costs 12 euros per person. Entrance to the city of Pompeii itself is also paid, but I don’t remember the cost now.
These days, scientists are constantly warning local residents about the possibility of another sudden eruption. In this regard, it is prohibited to build houses higher than three floors. But the fertile lands and the massive presence of tourists, whose money flows like a river into the city’s treasury and into the hands of the townspeople, dull the feeling of fear.

Luxurious mansions near the foot of Mount Vesuvius. And they are not afraid of any earthquakes.

Rich villas and mansions continue to proliferate at the foot of the volcano in Pompeii, despite warnings from seismologists. And an eruption and earthquake can happen here at any minute. And who knows, maybe in another few thousand years our descendants will come here after excavations and be surprised at our way of life, trying to read the inscription on a chewing gum wrapper.

Well, everyone knows this picture from childhood.

"Vesuvius opened its mouth - smoke poured out in a cloud, flames
Widely developed as a battle flag.
The earth is agitated - from the shaky columns
Idols fall! A people driven by fear
Under the stone rain, under the inflamed ashes,
In crowds, old and young, fleeing from the city."
A.S. Pushkin

Tourists visiting Southern Italy and its pearl, the city of Naples, have the opportunity to enjoy beautiful views, including the majestic mountain, located just a few kilometers from the city limits.

The mountain, only 1281 meters high, does not look intimidating, especially if you don’t know its name - Vesuvius. It is the only active volcano in continental Europe and one of the most dangerous volcanoes known to mankind.

To those who appearance Vesuvius will not seem intimidating; locals will recommend a trip to the coast of the Gulf of Naples, east of Naples. There are three ancient cities there - Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae, life in which ceased on one day, August 24, 79, when the volcano began to speak in full force.

In the 1st century AD, serious and systematic observations of volcanoes, including Vesuvius, were not carried out. And it’s unlikely that they would have helped - Vesuvius has not been active since the Bronze Age and was considered extinct long ago.

In 74 BC Spartacus and the gladiators who joined him at the very beginning of their uprising hid from their pursuers precisely on Vesuvius, covered with lush vegetation.

Local residents did not feel any threat from the proximity to the volcano.

"Ancient Roman Rublevka" was founded by Hercules

The largest of the ancient cities adjacent to Vesuvius was the city of Pompeii, founded in the 6th century BC. In the city, which after the capture of the Roman dictator Sulla in 89 BC was considered a colony of Rome, lived, according to modern estimates, about 20 thousand people. It was an important point on the trade route between Rome and southern Italy, and such a favorable location was one of the reasons for its prosperity.

In addition, Pompeii can be called something between an ancient resort and the “ancient Roman Rublyovka” - many noble citizens of Rome had their villas here.

Nearby Herculaneum, like Pompeii, was founded in the 6th century BC. Its founding was attributed Hercules, who performed one of the feats in these places and “celebrated” this event by founding not even one, but two cities (the second was Pompeii).

The city, located directly on the seashore, was used as a port for a long time and developed successfully. However, by 79 best time for Herculaneum it was already in the past - the city was badly damaged by a powerful earthquake that occurred in 62, and by the time of the new catastrophe no more than 4,000 people lived in it.

By 79, Stabiae was considered a city only conditionally. Once large enough locality was virtually completely destroyed during the "visit of Sulla" in 89 BC, as a result of which Pompeii lost its independence.

The city was not restored, but representatives of the Roman aristocracy from among those who did not make it to “Rublyovka” in Pompeii chose it for their villas.

End of the world after lunch

Less than 20 years before the eruption of Vesuvius, a large-scale earthquake occurred in this area. A number of villages near Herculaneum and Pompeii were completely destroyed, and there was very serious destruction in the cities themselves.

Human memory, however, can quickly erase unpleasant memories. Over the course of 17 years, much of what was destroyed was rebuilt. This is especially true for the city of Pompeii, which has become even better than before. The attractions of the city were the Temple of Jupiter, the forum and the amphitheater, which could accommodate almost the entire population of Pompeii.

Life in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae went on as usual until August 24, 79. Moreover, on this day people flocked to the Pompeii amphitheater to watch gladiator fights.

The eruption began on the afternoon of August 24 and came as a complete surprise to residents of nearby towns and villages. Vesuvius threw a huge cloud of hot ash into the sky. The thermal energy released by the volcano during the eruption was several times greater than the energy released during the bombing of Hiroshima. The cloud of stones, ash and smoke reached a height of 33 kilometers. The western part of the volcano exploded and fell into an expanded crater.

Despite the horror of what was happening, for city residents the disaster was not at all lightning fast. Ash fall, although it made breathing difficult and made it difficult to move around the city, was not a fatal phenomenon. Everyone who was able to assess the impending threat began to quickly leave the cities that were in danger. But not everyone could objectively assess the degree of danger.

Save yourself, whoever wants to

Famous ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elder, who in 79 held the post of commander of the galley fleet in Misenum on the shores of the Gulf of Naples, with the beginning of the eruption, attracted by its grandeur, headed to Stabiae in order to observe the violence of the elements and help the victims. Arriving in Stabia a few hours later, he was unable to leave due to the low tide. While calming the frightened inhabitants and awaiting changes in conditions at sea, Pliny the Elder died suddenly. According to one version, the cause of his death was sulfur fumes.

From his nephew's letters Pliny the Younger It is known that the disaster developed over a long period of time. Pliny the Elder, for example, died on the night of August 26, that is, more than a day after the start of the eruption.

According to researchers, the fatal blow to Pompeii and Herculaneum was dealt by pyroclastic flows - a mixture of high-temperature (up to 800 degrees Celsius) volcanic gases, ash and stones, capable of reaching speeds of up to 700 kilometers per hour. It was pyroclastic flows that caused the death of most of the people remaining in Herculaneum.

However, these flows hit the cities no earlier than 18-20 hours after the start of the disaster. All this time, the city residents had the opportunity to avoid death, which, obviously, the majority took advantage of.

It is very difficult to establish the exact number of victims of the disaster, because numbers of different orders are called. But, according to modern estimates, most likely, out of 20 thousand inhabitants of the city of Pompeii, about two thousand died. In Stabiae and Herculaneum the number of deaths was lower due to the fact that they themselves were much smaller than Pompeii.

Pliny the Younger did not witness what happened in Pompeii and Herculaneum, but he left evidence of the panic at Misenum, which survived the disaster: “The panic-stricken crowd followed us and (like any soul maddened with horror, any proposal seems more prudent , than her own) pressed on us like a dense mass, pushing us forward when we came out... We froze in the midst of the most dangerous and terrifying scene. The chariots that we ventured to take out shook so violently back and forth, although they were standing on the ground, that we could not hold them up even by placing large stones under the wheels. The sea seemed to roll back and be pulled away from the shores by the convulsive movements of the Earth; definitely the land expanded significantly, and some sea animals found themselves on the sand... Finally, the terrible darkness began to gradually dissipate, like a cloud of smoke; daylight appeared again, and the sun even came out, although its light was gloomy, as happens before an approaching eclipse. Every object that appeared before our eyes (which were extremely weakened) seemed to have changed, covered with a thick layer of ash, as if snow.”

Canned history

After the first impact, a second wave of pyroclastic flows followed, which completed the job. Pompeii and Stabiae found themselves under a layer of ash and pumice 8 meters deep; in Herculaneum the layer of ash, stones and dirt was about 20 meters.

Who died in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae?

Among the victims of the eruption were many slaves, whom their owners left to guard their property. Elderly and sick people who were unable to leave the cities due to their condition died. There were also those who decided that they would be able to wait out the disaster in their own home.

Some of the victims of the eruption, having already left the city, remained dangerously close to it. They died from poisoning by gases released during the rampage of Vesuvius.

Huge masses of ash and pyroclastic flows “mothballed” the cities and those who remained in them, in the state in which they were at the time of destruction.

The surviving residents did not attempt to excavate the site of the tragedy, simply moving to a new location.

The lost cities were remembered only in the 18th century, when, after a new eruption of Vesuvius, workers in this area stumbled upon ancient Roman coins. For some time, the territory became a paradise for gold miners. Later they were replaced by hunters of rarities in the form of statues and other historical relics.

Full excavations of the city of Pompeii have begun Italian archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli. It was he who discovered that voids had formed in place of the bodies of people and animals buried under a layer of volcanic ash. By filling these voids with plaster, it was possible to reconstruct the dying poses of the victims of the eruption.

Giuseppe Fiorelli began the systematic work of scientists in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabiae, which continues to this day.

As for Vesuvius, 2014 marks 70 years since its last major eruption. However, scientists are convinced that the longer he is silent, the more powerful his next blow will be.

Pompeii is one of the oldest cities in Italy, located at the foot of Vesuvius in Campania - a fertile region of the Apennine Peninsula with loose volcanic soil and a mild climate.

Ancient Campaign (from the book of Mau)

It is not known exactly when Pompeii was founded, but we know that archeology dates the fragments of the Temple of Apollo - one of the oldest buildings in the city - to the end of the 7th century. BC. Other ancient building Pompey - a Doric temple - dates back to the beginning of the 6th century. BC. and probably served as the cultural center of the Greek emporium. But the Oscans can be considered the true founders of the city (the oldest inscriptions of Pompeii were made in the Oscan language). The venerable age of Pompeii is also confirmed by the results of excavations by Amedeo Maiuri and Stefano de Caro: archaeologists date the early city walls and the remains of gates found in the 6th region to the middle of the 6th century BC. - main building material this time there was tuff.

In the VI century. BC e. Pompeii was one of the cities of the union of Etruscan cities formed in Campania, led by Capua. However, the sources telling about this period do not say anything specific about the town - Pompeii does not stand out in any way from the rest of the Campanian cities. The Etruscan period ends in the middle of the 5th century. BC. - primacy in the region passes to the Samnites. The history of the change of peoples in Campania is given by Strabo in his “Geography” (V.4.8.): “Immediately adjacent to Naples is the Hercules fortress, lying on a cape jutting out into the sea, and so open to the blow of the south-west wind that this makes the settlement surprisingly healthy This city and the next one, Pompeii, past which the Sarn River flows, were once ruled by the Osci, then by the Tyrrhenians and Pelasgians, and then by the Samnites. the latter were pushed out of this area."

As a result of the Samnite wars of the late IV-early III centuries. BC e. prosperous Campanian cities turn into Roman allies and are deprived of the right to independent foreign policy, which, however, has little effect on their economy. The first written mention of the city dates back to this time - Titus Livius in his “History of Rome from the Foundation of the City” (IX, 38, 2) under 311 BC. talks about the “landing” of Roman sailors: “At the same time, Publius Cornelius, to whom the Senate entrusted the coastal regions, led the Roman fleet to Campania, and the shipmen, landing at Pompeii, set off to ravage the Nuceria possessions.” The Romanization of Pompeii begins, but more than two centuries must pass before its final completion. The chronicles of these centuries did not preserve any mention of the city, and the next time Pompeii appeared in Roman history was in the 1st century. BC.

In 89 BC, during Allied War, Lucius Cornelius Sulla led the siege of Pompeii, but was forced to retreat - the city managed to hold out. During this turbulent time, the city wall was additionally fortified with 12 towers. True, this did not save Pompeii; later Sulla managed to break the resistance of the residents, and then place about 2 thousand veterans of his army who had served in the city as colonists. Pompeii received the status of a Roman colony with the new name Coloniae Corneliae Veneriae Pompeianorum.

Traces of Sulla's battering guns on a section of the city wall of Pompeii

Rome's dominant position in the Mediterranean contributed to the development of maritime trade and the emergence of new markets in the East. The invention of cheap, locally made concrete and the widespread use of slave labor led to a boom in construction. Special attention The empire paid attention to civil architecture: water pipelines and bridges, baths and amphitheatres, villas and multi-storey residential buildings were built. The creation of excellent roads throughout Italy contributes to the development of overland trade and interregional connections. Cities are being intensively built up with shops, markets and other premises for exchange and trade.

In the 1st century BC e. Pompeii is turning into a well-maintained Cultural Center. An amphitheater for 20 thousand spectators, an Odeon, and numerous private buildings are being built, and streets are being paved. The city is actively decorated with sculptures, mosaics, and frescoes created at a high artistic level.

February 5, 62 AD The first bell of the impending catastrophe sounded - a powerful earthquake occurred in Campania with an epicenter in the vicinity of Pompeii. The city was destroyed, and Nuceria, Herculaneum and other nearby towns were also badly damaged. Naturally, for such a seismically active zone as Campania, earthquakes are not uncommon, as Seneca notes in his treatise “Naturales Quaestiones” (VI, I, 2): “... it is true that Campania has never been free from the threat of such disasters, but they happened so many times without causing any harm that the fear of them passed..." However, this time the power of the elements surpassed the scale known to the generation - the Pompeians even captured its consequences in art: the lararium in the house of the Pompeian banker Lucius Caecilius Jucunda depicts a whole series of buildings of the city during an earthquake.

Bas-relief from the house of Jucunda

The next 15 years of Pompeii were filled with feverish construction activity - city residents restored what was destroyed by the earthquake and even laid new buildings. One of the most large buildings Pompeii after the earthquake - the Central Baths - was never completed by 79 AD. In many houses, archaeologists found traces of reconstruction, cosmetic repairs, renovation of paintings and mosaics. Everything indicated that the inhabitants of Pompeii, despite the cruel blow of nature, Vesuvius in future plans they didn’t take life into account.

Mild tremors of the 70s. AD the townspeople took it very busily - cracks in the walls served as the reason for another renovation of the interiors of houses and other restoration work in the city. Many indications of another construction boom have been found: valuables in rich houses are stacked in locked utility rooms, tools, amphorae with lime, and pots of paints are laid out in rooms ready for decoration. Everything indicates that the earthquake preceding the eruption did not cause panic among the Pompeians, and they prepared for the usual restoration of what was damaged by the elements.

But on August 24, the history of the city is suddenly interrupted - the hitherto dormant Vesuvius wakes up and brings down all sorts of products of volcanic activity onto the surrounding area. Tremors, flakes of ash, stones falling from the sky - all this took the inhabitants of Pompeii by surprise. People tried to take refuge in houses, but died from suffocation or under the rubble. Someone died in in public places- in theaters, in markets, forums, in churches, some - on the streets of the city, some - already beyond its boundaries. However, the vast majority of residents still managed to leave the city.

Bryullov K.P. The last day of Pompeii. 1833

The eruption of Vesuvius lasted all day. Pompeii was covered with a multi-meter layer of ash and lapilli. The nearby towns of Stabia and Octavianum suffered the same fate. Herculaneum, located on the other side of the volcano, died a little later - on the next day it was destroyed by a powerful pyroclastic wave, and the rain that began after the eruption washed away the ashes from the slopes of Vesuvius, and the destroyed city was flooded with mud flows - mudflows and lahars.

Dust and ash hung in the sky like a black veil for three days. An investigative commission that arrived at Vesuvius found that the towns were irretrievably lost. For some time, the surviving people wandered through the ruins, trying to find their property, but soon they too left the dead city.

They forgot about Pompeii until the 16th century, until in 1592-1600, when digging underground tunnels to divert water from the Sarno River to the villa of Count Tuttavilla under the leadership of the Italian architect Domenico Fontana, several inscriptions were found, as well as fragments of colored wall paintings, which, however, were unknown to anyone It didn’t occur to me to connect it with Pompeii, although one of the inscriptions contained two perfectly preserved words “decurio pompeis” (which was interpreted as the name of the owner of the “found villa” - Pompey, but in fact it was a mention of one of the city positions).

Fountain tunnel to drain water from the Sarno River

The assumption about the identity of Civita and ancient Pompeii was first made by the German antiquarian Holsteinius, who visited the town in 1637, but was perceived negatively by the public. Another inscription with the name of the city, found in 1689, sparked discussions in the scientific world. The architect Pichetti again suggested that the site was somehow connected with Pompey, while the historian Bianchini stated that the inscription directly points to the location ancient city Pompeii.

One of the Pompeii inscriptions in Oscan language

In 1748, the head of the excavations in Herculaneum, Joaquin de Alcubierre, as a military engineer who controlled the work and maintenance of all royal military facilities, received a message about the discovery of some ancient objects in the town of La Civita near the city of Torre Annunziata, where the royal gunpowder factories were located. Assuming that the Stabiae buried by Vesuvius were also located there, Alcubierre transferred several workers from Herculaneum to Civita. In technical terms, working here turned out to be easier - the layer of volcanic material is three times smaller and not as hard as in Herculaneum.

However, three months of work in Pompeii did not satisfy Alcubierre with the number of things found, and the excavations were curtailed for a while, and the workers returned to Herculaneum. From the Stabii, in documents of those years prepared by Alcubierre himself, a plan for a section of the amphitheater has been preserved.

They returned to Pompeii again in 1750. Alcubierre's newly appointed assistant, Karl Weber, undertook to explore the city villa of Julia Felix, already known since 1748. Over the next 7 years (in 1757, Julia's property was filled up after the removal of things suitable for the king), Weber was able to draw up a detailed plan of the entire complex, indicating the exact locations of all finds, linking this plan with inventory lists. Even later - probably in 1759 or 1760 - he also prepared axonometric documentation of the Villa Julia Felix. All this time, Pompeii was conventionally considered Stabiae (despite the work in the real Stabiae and Gragnano).

Only 15 years after the start of regular excavations - on August 18, 1763 - the border pillar of Pompeii was discovered (more details in the chapter on excavations of 1748-1798), which made it possible to accurately determine the object of interest of archaeologists.

Thanks to its sudden and rapid destruction, Pompeii is the best preserved ancient city. Since the entire furnishings of the houses remained untouched under a layer of solidified lava, Pompeii became an important and valuable source of information about the life, way of life, urban structure, culture and art of the Roman Empire in the 1st century. n. e.

To date, 3/5 of the city has been opened (they decided to leave the rest to future generations): defensive walls, gates, necropolises, blocks of residential buildings with mosaics, frescoes and sculptures in excellent preservation, two forums, an amphitheater and two theaters, temples and much more. The Pompeii lighting project is being implemented.

Fragment of a three-dimensional map of the ruins of Pompeii. National Archaeological Museum of Naples

(c) Yully Uletova

Reasonable attempts are now being made to push the date of the eruption forward by 2 months - to October 79 AD.

The date itself in Pliny's letters, indicated as nonum kal. Septembres, was translated as August 24, but now the translation tradition can be revised in favor of non(as) Novembr(es) or nonum kal (endas) Decembres, which moves the eruption date to the end of October, the beginning of November, or even the end of December.

In favor of the “autumn version,” archaeologists give the following arguments:
- ripe fruits, including grapes, found during excavations;
- warm clothes on some victims and braziers in the premises;
- jugs full of wine in a rural villa in Boscoreale;
- silver coin from the House of the Golden Bracelet (where the title of Titus was minted with the indication "imperator XV", which could not have happened earlier than the start September).

Ancient city of Pompeii was formed back in the 6th century BC. If it were not for the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which burned the entire city to the ground, covering it with a huge layer of volcanic ash, Pompeii would still exist not far from Naples. Now these are ruins that UNESCO has listed as a World Heritage Site.

The name Pompeii arose after the unification of five independent cities(pumpe - five). This is a more plausible version. There is a legend according to which Hercules defeated the giant Geryon in a tough battle, and after that he solemnly walked around the city, celebrating the victory. From the ancient Greek language pumpe is a solemn, triumphal procession.

In those days, people believed in God, and believed that the gods controlled earthly cataclysms. Despite the fact that on February 5, 62 AD. e. A strong earthquake occurred, which could possibly have been the impetus for a volcanic eruption, people still continued to live in the city, worshiping the gods, and believing that no misfortune would happen to them. Still, the volcano erupted. It happened August 24, 79 AD Not only the city of Pompeii suffered, but also nearby cities - Herculaneum, Stabiae. The eruption was so strong that the ash even reached neighboring countries - Egypt and Syria. About 20 thousand people lived in the city. Some managed to escape even before the disaster began, but many died. The exact number of victims is unknown, but the remains of bodies were found far outside the city.

The city remained under a layer of ash for many centuries until in 1592 by Dominico Fontana(a famous architect of that time) did not stumble upon the city wall while laying a canal from the Sarno River. No one betrayed this wall of great importance, and only about 100 years later in the ruins of Pompeii they found a tablet with the inscription “Pompeii” carved on it. Even after this incident, no one could have imagined that this was an ancient city that had disappeared from the face of the earth. They concluded that this was the old villa of Pompey the Great.

And so in 1748 the extraction of the ancient city began. Led the excavations Alcubierre, who was sure that this was the city of Stabia. Directly in Pompeii itself, only three excavations were carried out in different places. Alcubierre was a barbarian, and he sent all finds that, in his opinion, were of interest to the Naples Museum, and simply destroyed others. Many scientists protested, and the excavations stopped.

In 1760, new excavations began, led by F. Vega. They continued until 1804. Vega and his subordinates spent 44 years retrieving works of art. All finds were restored again and removed very carefully. At this time, tourists had already begun to come here, so many monuments were not immediately transferred to museums, but were left on display for visitors to the city of Pompeii, which had already become a museum.

In 1863, excavations continued. This time they were led Giuseppe Fiorelli. It was he who discovered a huge number of voids under layers of ash. These are nothing more than the bodies of the city's inhabitants. By filling these voids with plaster, scientists completely reproduced the casts human bodies, right down to facial expressions.