When you think of Pompeii, you can almost hear the tragedy unfolding all over again. In fact, the city is renowned for having one of the most tragic histories in Italy’s past. Pompeii itself can be found at the base of the imposing peak of Mount Vesuvius, the active volcano that devastated the town and its surrounding villages back in 79AD.
The volcano is thousands of years old and has a history of erupting over the Italian countryside and the towns that flank the Bay of Naples. In fact, scientists claim that it has erupted more than 50 times in its lifetime, but none of these occasions was quite as dramatic or as devastating as the eruption that took place in 79AD and put Pompeii on the map.
This is thought to have been the deadliest of all the eruptions, simply because of the sheer number of fatal pyroclastic flows that swept over Pompeii and the surrounding region. Pompeii and its people didn’t stand a chance, particularly because they didn’t even see it coming.
So What Happened to the People?
The people of Pompeii never imagined Vesuvius’ 79AD eruption would be as big as it was. In fact, many remained in denial right up until the pyroclastic flows began surging in. Stats found before the eruption showed that the population of Pompeii and its neighbouring town of Herculaneum was around 18,000, but archaeologists have only found 1,300 human remains over the two towns.
This doesn’t mean that 18,000 people were killed, though. In fact, a few thousand people managed to get out alive, though that exact number isn’t known. At the time of the disaster, the Roman government were on hand to help residents flee and provided them with the food and shelter they needed to get by.
But there were still some people who decided to stay in Pompeii despite warnings that Vesuvius was on the brink of eruption. For many, their property was their only assets and they believed that the strong materials used to build their houses would protect them from the natural disaster, while even more thought that the eruption wouldn’t be as bad as it was. For others, there simply wasn’t enough time to make and execute an escape plan.
Research shows that a fair few residents fled into the sewers of Pompeii, and it’s thought that these people managed to come out alive. But those who didn’t leave the city or couldn’t escape in time would have died instantly underneath the thick blanket of toxic gas and pyroclastic outpour that came from Vesuvius.
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