Pompeii

            For this week’s history essay, I chose to write about Pompeii and Mount Vesuvius. This was a very dangerous eruption that destroyed two whole Roman cities, and thousands of people. I will talk about the destruction that this volcano caused, and what it has left behind.

           The city of Pompeii was conquered by Rome and was usually used as a vacation place for wealthy Romans. It is located next to modern day Naples and was currently under Roman control when it was destroyed. In between Naples and Pompeii was the enormous Mount Vesuvius.

           The eruption caused much damage. The sky went as dark as it did in the middle of the night for 3 whole days. The tops of the tallest buildings were covered with 13 feet of ash! The temperature reached up to about 460 degrees Fahrenheit. This means that anything within 6 miles of the volcano died of heat.  Right after the eruption part, a portion of the mountain collapsed, and mudflow destroyed the nearby city of Herculaneum.

           After all the ash cleared away, they never dug up the cities again. In fact, they had pretty much forgotten about Pompeii and Herculaneum. A few smaller Roman cities had been built above the now buried Pompeii instead.

          Giuseppe Fiorelli discovered Pompeii and dug it up in 1863. He used plaster to fill in the spaces the decayed bodies had left. With this mechanism, people could learn so much more about ancient Rome, like the clothes they would wear, and how they would do many of their everyday activities.

           The images would come out so clear since the whole eruption happened so fast. People were covered with ash and dead before they knew what had happened. I think it is so interesting to learn about Roman history. I think Pompeii is one of the most exciting things to learn about. I definitely want to learn more about Pompeii and other things on ancient Rome.