Pompeii is famous for the tragic volcanic eruption that took place in 79 AD, covering the city in a thick layer of ash that has preserved it ever since. Sitting at the base of Mount Vesuvius – the culprit of the tragedy – Pompeii is packed full of devastating histories, stories, and snippets of ancient Roman life.
The eruption in 79 AD wasn’t actually the first for Vesuvius. In fact, the volcano had a reputation for erupting over the Bay of Naples on a fairly regular basis, with scientists claiming it has over 50 eruptions to its name. None of those were quite as bad as the one that destroyed Pompeii and its neighbouring villages, though.
After pyroclastic flow after pyroclastic flow pummelled Pompeii, it has left people wondering how the residents even stood a chance. Many fled before the event struck, but there were still some locals who remained stubborn in their thoughts that the eruption wouldn’t be that bad.
The Survivors of Pompeii
Despite having a number of eruptions under its belt, the people of Pompeii didn’t think that Vesuvius would erupt again so soon and so badly. No one predicted the tragedy would be as devastating as it was.
Before Vesuvius buried Pompeii in a thick layer of volcanic ash, it’s thought that there were around 18,000 people living in and around the city. However, only 1,300 human remains were found across the region.
This doesn’t mean that over 16,000 people died, though. There are claims that a few thousand people managed to escape before disaster struck, but the exact number of those who fled or those who survived is still a mystery.
At the time of the disaster, the government of Italy called on residents to leave their homes, providing them with water, food, and shelter to keep them safe until the eruption died down. Many of the residents took up this opportunity and fled, but there were many who decided to stay behind despite the warnings.
The reasons for this are varied: for some residents, their property was all they had and they believed that the strong materials used to build their homes would be enough to protect them from the disaster. For others, the warnings seemed over the top and they believed that the eruption wasn’t set to be as bad as predicted. When the pyroclastic flows started raining down on Pompeii, it was clear that the residents who stayed behind didn’t have enough time to execute an escape plan.
Even today, the number of Pompeii survivors is still just guesswork. Still, the preserved city offers visitors the chance to dig deep into the tragedy and learn how it shaped Italy moving forward.
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