Nothing can last for ever;
Though the sun shines gold
It must plunge into the sea.
The moon has also disappeared
Which but now so brightly gleamed.
~ Graffito from Pompeii ~
Located about one hundred and fifty miles south of Rome and roughly six miles south of Mount Vesuvius, the ruins of Pompeii stand on a spur formed by a lava flow to the north of the mouth of the Sarno River (known in ancient times as the Sarnus). Today Pompeii is distanced some 3 miles inland, but in ancient times it was much nearer to the actual shoreline on the Bay of Naples.
This monolith landmark towering 4,202 feet above sea level and just six miles northwest of Pompeii, Mount Vesuvius offers its tranquil and majestic view to Pompeii and several other cities which lie about it's base - most notably Herculaneum and Nuceria. It's fateful eruption on August 24th was ironically just one day after Vulcanalia, the festival of the Roman god of Fire.
Pre-eruption Roman writings clearly indicate that people knew that the mountain was volcanic and that they associated the earthquake with the possibility that the volcano would again become devastatingly active. In the months before the climactic explosion, there had been occasional rumblings from the peak, a series of minor earthquakes, and at least one small ejection of ash. When the volcano did finally erupt, superheated surges, five hundred degrees centigrade or more, rushed over and through the towns surrounding Vesuvius, killing everything -- humans, animals, vegetation -- in its path. The devastated towns and villages were not rebuilt and eventually their very locations were forgotten until unearthed a millenium later.
"A gleam of light returned, but we took this to be a warning of the approaching flames rather than daylight. However, the flames remained some distance off; then darkness came on once more and ashes began to fall again, this time in heavy showers. We rose from time to time and shook them off, otherwise we should have been buried and crushed beneath their weight. I could boast that not a groan or cry of fear escaped me in these perils, but I admit that I derived some poor consolation in my mortal lot from the belief that the whole world was dying with me, and I with it."
Pompeii Timeline
| 8th century BCE | Iron Age agricultural settlement; First Etruscan King - Tarquinius Priscus; First Pompeian settlement by Greek merchants 700 BCE; |
| 6th century BCE | Buddha born in India 563 BCE; Confucius born in China 551 BCE; Etruscan control of Pompeii by 530 BCE |
| 5th-4th century BCE | Persia invades Greece; Pompeian settlement on site of House of the Vestals; Prince Pericles' Golden Age of Greece; Samnites capture Pompeii in 474 BCE |
| 3rd century BCE | Pompeian masonry buildings on site of House of the Vestals; Alexander rules Greece; Rome sacked by Gauls 390 BCE; Walls rebuilt around Rome 378 BCE |
| 2nd century BCE | House of the Vestals doubles in size; Roman armies defeat Samnites in Pompeii; Roman war against Carthage |
| 146 BCE | Destruction of Carthage and Corinth |
| 1st century BCE | Etruscans become Roman citizens |
| 91 - 87 BCE | Social War in Pompeii against Rome |
| 80 BCE | Pompeii becomes Roman Colony |
| 54 BCE | Julius Caesar conquers Gaul |
| 30 BCE - 14 CE | Reign of first Roman emperor, Octavian-Augustus |
| 20s CE | House of the Vestals rebuilt with fountains |
| 62 CE | Earthquake strikes Pompeii |
| 70s CE | House of the Vestals rebuilt without piped water |
| 79 CE | Pompeii destroyed by Vesuvius on August 24th |
Pliny the Younger's Eyewitness Account
"My uncle was stationed at Misenum, in active command of the fleet. On 24 August, in the early afternoon, my mother drew his attention to a cloud of unusual size and appearance. He had been out in the sun, had taken a cold bath, and lunched while lying down, and was then working at his books. He called for his shoes and climbed up to a place which would give him the best view of the phenomenon. It was not clear at that distance from which mountain the cloud was rising (it was afterwards known to be Vesuvius); its general appearance can best be expressed as being like an umbrella pine, for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into branches, I imagine because it was thrust upwards by the first blast and then left unsupported as the pressure subsided, or else it was borne down by its own weight so that it spread out and gradually dispersed. In places it looked white, elsewhere blotched and dirty, according to the amount of soil and ashes it carried with it.
As he was leaving the house he was handed a message from Rectina, wife of Tascus whose house was at the foot of the mountain, so that escape was impossible except by boat. She was terrified by the danger threatening her and implored him to rescue her from her fate. He changed his plans, and what he had begun in a spirit of inquiry he completed as a hero. He gave orders for the warships to be launched and went on board himself with the intention of bringing help to many more people besides Rectina, for this lovely stretch of coast was thickly populated.
He hurried to the place which everyone else was hastily leaving, steering his course straight for the danger zone. He was entirely fearless, describing each new movement and phase of the portent to be noted down exactly as he observed them. Ashes were already falling, hotter and thicker as the ships drew near, followed by bits of pumice and blackened stones, charred and cracked by the flames: then suddenly they were in shallow water, and the shore was blocked by the debris from the mountain.
Meanwhile on Mount Vesuvius broad sheets of fire and leaping flames blazed at several points, their bright glare emphasized by the darkness of night. My uncle tried to allay the fears of his companions by repeatedly declaring that these were nothing but bonfires left by the peasants in their terror, or else empty houses on fire in the districts they had abandoned.
Elsewhere there was daylight by this time, but they were still in darkness, blacker and denser than any ordinary night, which they relieved by lighting torches and various kinds of lamp. My uncle decided to go down to the shore and investigate on the spot the possibility of any escape by sea, but he found the waves still wild and dangerous. A sheet was spread on the ground for him to lie down, and he repeatedly asked for cold water to drink.
Then the flames and smell of sulphur which gave warning of the approaching fire drove the others to take flight and roused him to stand up. He stood leaning on two slaves and then suddenly collapsed, I imagine because the dense, fumes choked his breathing by blocking his windpipe which was constitutionally weak and narrow and often inflamed. When daylight returned on the 26th - two days after the last day he had been seen - his body was found intact and uninjured, still fully clothed and looking more like sleep than death."