What happened?
In 79AD Mt Vesuvius erupted and completely covered the city of Pompeii and Herculaneum. When Mount Vesuvius erupted it was classified as one of the most famous eruptions that historians had discovered. We have learnt the course of what happened that day through letters that were written by Pliny the Younger who was a Roman administrator and poet. During the eruption we are told that Mount Vesuvius spat out a deadly cloud of stone and ash with fumes that reached a height of 33 km. The towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum was destroyed and the ruins were buried. It was estimated that around16,000 people died from this eruption.
Where Is Pompeii?
The significance of this event.
This has great significance for history because so much was preserved. When Mt Vesuvius erupted it covered up Pompeii and by doing this it preserved all of this history from that time. Buildings, mosaics, sculptors the whole lot survived the eruption and now historians can understand what happened in everyday life in Pompeii.
timeline on the event of the eruption
Morning
Morning was ordinary for Pompeii and Herculaneum. They were starting there morning like all of there other previous days.
Pompeii and Herculaneum were quite different from each other. Pompeii was larger than Herculaneum. Estimating population numbers is very difficult but it is likely that Pompeii had around 12,000–15,000 people, while Herculaneum had numbers around 4,000–5,000. The people of both of these cities enjoyed all aspects of life from the baths and theatres to temples and markets, these people lived in a wide variety of homes, from huge luxurious houses to tenement blocks, small flats above shops and live-in workshops.
Both cities show a clear picture of a changing society both of these cities which had existed for centuries before the eruption of AD 79, with many of the private houses and public buildings that were two or even three hundred years old.
Midday
After several small explosions Vesuvius erupts this sends a tall mushroom shaped cloud of really hot rock, ash and gas over a range of 20km into the sky. The cloud blows southwards, plunging everything into total darkness.
The mountain leaks gas, shakes the ground and causes buildings to collapse in on themselves.
Evening
Ash and pumice stones hail down onto Pompeii. People are trapped by blocked doors at the same time ceilings and roofs collapse under the weight of the debris.
Pompeii, being downwind from the volcano, was showered with small volcanic stones. No such stones were found in Herculaneum, even though it was closer to Mount Vesuvius.
The residents of the cities died in different ways and sadly at different times, some died instantly while others died slowly and painfully, but many of them shared the basic instinct to flee, as they fled they took things with them that they believed were useful or had some special value to them.
Midnight
The cloud reaches its maximum height of over 30km then collapses suddenly. A massive pyroclastic surge comes straight down Vesuvius’s north-west slopes this heads towards Herculaneum instantly killing those it touches.
Early morning
As the morning arrives, the cloud collapses for the last time. Between 06.00 and 08.00 huge pyroclastic surges pour onto Pompeii killing everyone still there and smashing the remaining buildings. The cloud collapses for the last time and darkness spreads across the Bay of Naples. Before clearing and revealing the buried and destroyed city to those who survived.
Morning was ordinary for Pompeii and Herculaneum. They were starting there morning like all of there other previous days.
Pompeii and Herculaneum were quite different from each other. Pompeii was larger than Herculaneum. Estimating population numbers is very difficult but it is likely that Pompeii had around 12,000–15,000 people, while Herculaneum had numbers around 4,000–5,000. The people of both of these cities enjoyed all aspects of life from the baths and theatres to temples and markets, these people lived in a wide variety of homes, from huge luxurious houses to tenement blocks, small flats above shops and live-in workshops.
Both cities show a clear picture of a changing society both of these cities which had existed for centuries before the eruption of AD 79, with many of the private houses and public buildings that were two or even three hundred years old.
Midday
After several small explosions Vesuvius erupts this sends a tall mushroom shaped cloud of really hot rock, ash and gas over a range of 20km into the sky. The cloud blows southwards, plunging everything into total darkness.
The mountain leaks gas, shakes the ground and causes buildings to collapse in on themselves.
Evening
Ash and pumice stones hail down onto Pompeii. People are trapped by blocked doors at the same time ceilings and roofs collapse under the weight of the debris.
Pompeii, being downwind from the volcano, was showered with small volcanic stones. No such stones were found in Herculaneum, even though it was closer to Mount Vesuvius.
The residents of the cities died in different ways and sadly at different times, some died instantly while others died slowly and painfully, but many of them shared the basic instinct to flee, as they fled they took things with them that they believed were useful or had some special value to them.
Midnight
The cloud reaches its maximum height of over 30km then collapses suddenly. A massive pyroclastic surge comes straight down Vesuvius’s north-west slopes this heads towards Herculaneum instantly killing those it touches.
Early morning
As the morning arrives, the cloud collapses for the last time. Between 06.00 and 08.00 huge pyroclastic surges pour onto Pompeii killing everyone still there and smashing the remaining buildings. The cloud collapses for the last time and darkness spreads across the Bay of Naples. Before clearing and revealing the buried and destroyed city to those who survived.