What do we know about the ancient city of Pompeii? History tells us that once this prosperous city died instantly with all the inhabitants under the lava of an awakened volcano. In fact, the history of Pompeii is very interesting and filled with a lot of details.
Foundation of Pompeii
Pompeii is one of the oldest Roman cities, which is located in the province of Naples in the Campagna region. On the one hand, the coast of the Gulf of Naples (which was previously called Cuman), and on the other, the Sarn River (in ancient times).
How was Pompeii founded? The history of the city tells that it was founded by the ancient Oski tribe in the 7th century BC. These facts are confirmed by fragments of the temple of Apollo and the Doric temple, whose architecture corresponds to the period when Pompeii was founded. The city stood just at the intersection of several paths - to Nola, Stabia and Kuma.
Wars and submission
In the 6th century BC, Pompeii was conquered by the Etruscan tribe, and a little later by the Greeks from the city of Kuma.
In 343-290 BCera, the Samnite Wars took place, where the city acted as an ally of Rome. Pompeii was in the same status during the Second Punic War, which took place in 218-201 BC.
But during the Allied War, Pompeii took the side of the opponents of Rome, and it so happened that later they turned into a Roman colony created by Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 80 BC.
This was not his first attempt to conquer Pompeii. In 89 BC, Sulla led the siege of the city during the war, but he resisted and was fortified with an additional 12 towers. But soon the city was conquered and settled by veterans of the Allied War on the orders of Sulla.
Since then, Pompeii has become a seaport through which goods were delivered to Rome and Italy along the Appian Way. The city was also an important center for the production of wine and olive oil.
Pompeii: the story of the prosperity of the city
It was a mighty settlement. In the period from the first century of our era until the year of its death, Pompeii flourished most vividly. The history of the city says that in those years all the basic types of buildings that were typical for the Roman city of those times were built: the temple of Jupiter, the basilica, the covered market of goods. Of course, cultural and administrative buildings were built in Pompeii.
There were 2 theaters in the city, one of which, the smaller one, was covered and used as an odeon. The amphitheater has been preserved (the most ancient among all known history), which was designed for 20 thousand spectators, as well as 3 baths.
Citydecorated with various sculptures and masterpieces of art, the streets were paved. But at that time, the life of the settlement of Pompeii, the history of the city, was coming to an end (the date of death was getting closer).
Also in Pompeii there were many residential buildings, shops that were named after certain events, personalities or works, for example - the Villa of the Mysteries, the House of the Faun, the House of Menander, the House of the Epigram.
The owners of we althy houses decorated their homes with various frescoes and mosaics.
Earthquake in Pompeii - a harbinger of the end
Prosperous and beautiful was the city of Pompeii. The story of his death is terrible. And the volcano Vesuvius became a weapon of mass destruction.
The first harbinger of impending disaster was an earthquake that occurred on February 5, 63 BC.
Seneca in one of his works noted that since Campania was a seismically active zone, such an earthquake is not uncommon for it. And earthquakes happened before, but their strength was very small, the inhabitants simply got used to them. But this time, expectations were exceeded.
Then in the three neighboring cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples - buildings were very damaged. The destruction was such that over the next 16 years, the houses could not be fully restored. All 16 years there were active restoration works, reconstructions, cosmetic repairs. There were also plans to erect several new buildings, for example, the Central Baths, which could not be completed until the day of the death of Pompeii.
The death of Pompeii. Day One
The inhabitants tried to restore Pompeii. The history of the death of the city indicates that the catastrophe began in 79 BC, in the afternoon, August 24, and lasted 2 days. The eruption of what was until then thought to be a dormant volcano destroyed everything. Then, not only Pompeii, but also three other cities died under the lava - Stabiae, Oplontia and Herculaneum.
In the afternoon, a cloud of ash and steam appeared over the volcano, but no one paid much attention to it. A little later, a cloud covered the sky over the entire city, and ash flakes began to settle on the streets.
The tremors coming from the ground continued. Gradually, they intensified to such an extent that wagons overturned, finishing materials crumbled from houses. Along with the ashes, then stones began to fall from the sky.
The streets and houses of the city were filled with suffocating sulphurous fumes, many people simply suffocated in their homes.
Many tried to leave the cities with valuables, and others who were unable to leave their property died in the ruins of their homes. The products of the volcanic eruption overtook people both in public places and outside the city. But still, most of the inhabitants were able to leave Pompeii. History confirms this fact.
The death of Pompeii. Day Two
The next day the air in the city became hot, the volcano itself erupted, destroying all living things, all buildings and property of people with lava. After the eruption, there was a lot of ash that covered the entire city, the thickness of the ash layer reached 3 meters.
After the disaster in placeevents, a special commission arrived, which stated the "death" of the city and that it could not be restored. Then it was still possible to meet people who were trying to find their property on what was left of the streets of the former city.
More cities perished along with Pompeii. But they were discovered only thanks to the discovery of Herculaneum. This second city, which was also at the foot of Vesuvius, did not die from lava and ash. After the eruption, the volcano, like the affected cities, was covered with a three-meter layer of stones and ash, which hung menacingly like an avalanche that could come down at any moment.
And soon after the eruption, torrential rain began, which carried away a thick layer of ash from the slopes of the volcano and the water column with dust and stones fell directly on Herculaneum. The depth of the stream was 15 meters, so the city was buried alive under the stream from Vesuvius.
How Pompeii was found
Stories and tales of the terrible events of that year have long been passed down from generation to generation. But after a few centuries, people lost the idea of where the dead city of Pompeii was located. The history of the death of this city gradually began to lose facts. People lived their lives. Even in those cases when the remains of ancient buildings were found by people, for example, by digging wells, no one could even think that these were parts of the ancient city of Pompeii. The history of excavations began only in the 18th century and is indirectly connected with the name of Maria Amalia Christina.
She was the daughter of King August III of Saxony, who left the Dresden court after her marriage to Charles of Bourbon. Charleswas king of both Sicilies.
The current queen was in love with art and looked around the halls of the palace, parks and other possessions with great interest. And one day she drew attention to the sculptures that were previously found before the last eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Some of these statues were found by accident, while others were found at the suggestion of General d'Elbeuf. Queen Mary was so amazed by the beauty of the sculptures that she asked her husband to find new ones for her.
The last time Vesuvius erupted was in 1737. During this incident, part of its top flew into the air, the slope was left bare. Since the volcano had not been active for a year and a half, the king agreed to start searching for sculptures. And they started from the place where the general had once finished his search.
Search for statues
The excavations took place with great difficulty, because it was necessary to destroy a thick (15 meters) layer of hardened lava. For this, the king used special tools, gunpowder, the power of workers. In the end, the workers stumbled upon something metallic in the artificial shafts. So three large fragments of giant bronze horses were found.
After that, it was decided to seek help from a specialist. For this, the Marquis Marcello Venuti, who was the keeper of the royal library, was invited. Further, three more marble statues of Romans in togas, the body of a bronze horse, as well as painted columns were found.
Discovery of Herculaneum
At that moment it became clear thatthere will be more to come. The royal couple, arriving at the excavation site on December 22, 1738, examined the discovered stairs and an inscription stating that a certain Rufus built the Theatrum Herculanense theater at his own expense. Experts continued excavations, because they knew that the theater means the presence of the city. There were a lot of statues that the water current brought to the back wall of the theatre. This is how Herculaneum was discovered. Thanks to this find, it was possible to organize a museum, which had no equal at that time.
But Pompeii was at a shallower depth than Herculaneum. And the king, after consulting with the head of his technical detachment, decided to postpone the excavations, taking into account the notes of scientists regarding the location of the city of Pompeii. History has marked all memorable events with the hands of scientists.
Pompeii excavations
So, the search for Pompeii began on April 1, 1748. After 5 days, the first fragment of the wall painting was found, and on April 19, the remains of a man, from whose hands several silver coins rolled out. It was the center of the city of Pompeii. Unfortunately, not realizing the importance of the find, the experts decided that they needed to look elsewhere, and filled this place.
A little later, an amphitheater and a villa were found, which was later called the House of Cicero. The walls of this building were beautifully painted and decorated with frescoes. All art objects were seized, and the villa was immediately refilled.
After that, for 4 years, the excavations and the history of Pompeii were abandoned, attention turned to Herculaneum, where a house with a library was foundVilla dei Papiri.
In 1754, experts again returned to the excavations of the city of Pompeii, to its southern part, where an ancient wall and the remains of several graves were found. Since then, the excavations of the city of Pompeii have been actively undertaken.
Pompeii: an alternate history of the city
Today, however, there is an opinion that the year of the death of Pompeii is a fiction based on a letter from Pliny the Younger, who allegedly describes a volcanic eruption, to Tacitus. Here questions arise about why in these letters Pliny does not mention either the names of the cities of Pompeii or Herculaneum, or the fact that it was there that the uncle of Pliny the Elder lived, who died in Pompeii.
Some scientists refute the fact that the catastrophe occurred precisely in 79 BC, due to the fact that in different sources you can find information about 11 eruptions that occurred in the period from 202 to 1140 AD (after the incident that destroyed Pompeii). And the next eruption dates only to 1631, after which the volcano remained active until 1944. As you can see, the facts indicate that the volcano, which was actively active, fell asleep for 500 years.
Pompeii in the modern world
The history of the city of Herculaneum and the history of Pompeii remain very interesting today. Photos, videos and various scientific materials can be found in the library or the Internet. Many historians are still trying to unravel the mystery of the ancient city, to study its culture as much as possible.
Many artists, including K. Bryullov, in addition to their other works, depicted andThe last day of Pompeii. The story is that in 1828 K. Bryullov visited the excavation sites and even then made sketches. Between 1830 and 1833, his artistic masterpiece was created.
Today the city has been restored as much as possible, it is one of the most famous monuments of culture (along with the Colosseum or Venice). The city has not yet been fully excavated, but many buildings are available for inspection. You can walk along the streets of the city and admire the beauty, which is more than 2000 years old!
