Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of
Pompei, near
Naples
Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
, in the
Campania
Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
region of
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Along with
Herculaneum
Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Like the nearby city of ...
,
Stabiae, and
many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of
volcanic ash
Volcanic ash consists of fragments of rock, mineral crystals, and volcanic glass, produced during volcanic eruptions and measuring less than 2 mm (0.079 inches) in diameter. The term volcanic ash is also often loosely used to r ...
and
pumice in the
eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD
In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius, a stratovolcano located in the modern-day region of Campania, erupted, causing List of volcanic eruptions by death toll, one of the deadliest eruptions in history. Vesuvius violently ejected a Eruption column, cloud of ...
.
Largely preserved under the ash, Pompeii offers a unique snapshot of
Roman life, frozen at the moment it was buried, as well as insight into ancient
urban planning
Urban planning (also called city planning in some contexts) is the process of developing and designing land use and the built environment, including air, water, and the infrastructure passing into and out of urban areas, such as transportatio ...
. It was a wealthy town of 10,000 to 20,000 residents at the time it was destroyed.
It hosted many fine public buildings and luxurious private houses with lavish decorations, furnishings and artworks, which were the main attractions for early excavators; subsequent excavations have found hundreds of private homes and businesses reflecting various
architectural style
An architectural style is a classification of buildings (and nonbuilding structures) based on a set of characteristics and features, including overall appearance, arrangement of the components, method of construction, building materials used, for ...
s and
social class
A social class or social stratum is a grouping of people into a set of Dominance hierarchy, hierarchical social categories, the most common being the working class and the Bourgeoisie, capitalist class. Membership of a social class can for exam ...
es, as well as numerous public buildings. Organic remains, including wooden objects and human bodies, were interred in the ash; their eventual decay allowed archaeologists to create
moulds of figures in their final moments of life. The numerous
graffiti carved on outside walls and inside rooms provide a wealth of examples of the largely lost
Vulgar Latin
Vulgar Latin, also known as Colloquial, Popular, Spoken or Vernacular Latin, is the range of non-formal Register (sociolinguistics), registers of Latin spoken from the Crisis of the Roman Republic, Late Roman Republic onward. ''Vulgar Latin'' a ...
spoken colloquially at the time, contrasting with the formal language of classical writers.
Following its destruction, Pompeii remained largely undisturbed until its rediscovery in the late 16th century. Major excavations did not begin until the mid-18th century, which marked the emergence of modern
archeology; initial efforts to unearth the city were haphazard or marred by looting, resulting in many items or sites being damaged or destroyed. By 1960, most of Pompeii had been uncovered but left in decay; further major excavations were banned or limited to targeted, prioritised areas. Since 2018, these efforts have led to new discoveries in some previously unexplored areas of the city.
Pompeii is a
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
, owing to its status as "the only archaeological site in the world that provides a complete picture of an ancient Roman city." It is among the most popular tourist attractions in Italy, with approximately 2.5 million visitors annually.
Name
''Pompeii'' in Latin is a second
declension
In linguistics, declension (verb: ''to decline'') is the changing of the form of a word, generally to express its syntactic function in the sentence by way of an inflection. Declension may apply to nouns, pronouns, adjectives, adverbs, and det ...
masculine nominative plural noun (). According to Theodor Kraus, "The root of the word Pompeii would appear to be the
Oscan word for the number five, ''pompe'', which suggests that either the community consisted of five
hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. This is often simply an informal description of a smaller settlement or possibly a subdivision or satellite entity to a larger settlement. Sometimes a hamlet is defined f ...
or perhaps it was settled by a family group (''
gens Pompeia'')."
Geography
Pompeii was built approximately above sea level on a coastal lava plateau created by earlier eruptions of
Mount Vesuvius ( distant). The plateau fell steeply to the south and partly to the west into the sea. Three layers of sediment from large
landslide
Landslides, also known as landslips, rockslips or rockslides, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, mudflows, shallow or deep-seated slope failures and debris flows. Landslides ...
s lie on top of the lava, perhaps triggered by extended rainfall. The city, once by the shoreline, is today circa inland. The mouth of the navigable
Sarno River, adjacent to the city, was protected by lagoons and served early
Greek and
Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
n sailors as a haven port, later developed by the Romans.
Pompeii covered a total of and was home to 11,000 to 11,500 people, based on household counts.
History

Although best known for its Roman remains visible today, dating from AD 79, it was built upon a substantial city dating from much earlier times. Expansion of the city from an early nucleus (the
old town
In a city or town, the old town is its historic or original core. Although the city is usually larger in its present form, many cities have redesignated this part of the city to commemorate its origins. In some cases, newer developments on t ...
) accelerated after 450 BC under the Greeks following the
Battle of Cumae.
Early history
The first stable settlements on the site date to the 8th century BC when the
Oscans, a population of central Italy, founded five villages in the area.
With the arrival of the Greeks in Campania from around 740 BC, Pompeii entered the orbit of the Hellenic people. The most important building of this period is the
Doric Temple, built away from the centre in what would later become the Triangular Forum.
At the same time the cult of Apollo was introduced. Greek and
Phoenicia
Phoenicians were an Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples, ancient Semitic group of people who lived in the Phoenician city-states along a coastal strip in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily modern Lebanon and the Syria, Syrian ...
n sailors used the location as a safe port.
In the early 6th century BC, the settlement merged into a single community centred on the important crossroad between
Cumae,
Nola, and
Stabiae and was surrounded by a
tufa city wall (the ''pappamonte'' wall). The first wall (which was also used as a base for the later wall) unusually enclosed a much greater area than the early town together with much agricultural land. That such an impressive wall was built at this time indicates that the settlement was already important and wealthy. The city began to flourish and maritime trade started with the construction of a small port near the mouth of the river.
The earliest settlement was focused in regions VII and VIII of the town (the old town) as identified from
stratigraphy
Stratigraphy is a branch of geology concerned with the study of rock layers (strata) and layering (stratification). It is primarily used in the study of sedimentary and layered volcanic rocks.
Stratigraphy has three related subfields: lithost ...
below the Samnite and Roman buildings, as well as from the different and irregular street plan.
By 524 BC the
Etruscans had settled in the area, including Pompeii, finding in the river Sarno a communication route between the sea and the interior. Like the Greeks, the Etruscans did not conquer the city militarily, but simply controlled it, and Pompeii enjoyed a sort of autonomy.
Nevertheless, Pompeii became a member of the
Etruscan League of cities. Excavations in 1980–1981 have shown the presence of Etruscan inscriptions and a 6th-century BC
necropolis. Under the Etruscans, a primitive
forum or simple market square was built, as well as the
Temple of Apollo, in both of which objects including fragments of ''
bucchero'' were found by
Maiuri. Several houses were built with the so-called Tuscan
atrium, typical of this people.

The city wall was strengthened in the early 5th century BC with two façades of relatively thin, vertically set slabs of Sarno limestone some apart filled with earth (the ''orthostate'' wall).
In 474 BC, the Greek city of
Cumae, allied with
Syracuse, defeated the Etruscans at the
Battle of Cumae and gained control of the area.
The Samnite period
The period between about 450–375 BC witnessed large areas of the city being abandoned while important sanctuaries such as the Temple of Apollo show a sudden lack of votive material remains.
The
Samnites, people from the areas of
Abruzzo
Abruzzo (, ; ; , ''Abbrìzze'' or ''Abbrèzze'' ; ), historically also known as Abruzzi, is a Regions of Italy, region of Southern Italy with an area of 10,763 square km (4,156 sq mi) and a population of 1.3 million. It is divided into four ...
and
Molise
Molise ( , ; ; , ) is a Regions of Italy, region in Southern Italy. Until 1963, it formed part of the region of Abruzzi e Molise together with Abruzzo. The split, which did not become effective until 1970, makes Molise the newest region in Ital ...
, and allies of the Romans, conquered Greek Cumae between 423 and 420 BC. It is likely that all of the surrounding territory, including Pompeii, was already conquered around 424 BC. The new rulers gradually imposed their architecture and enlarged the town.
From 343 to 341 BC in the
Samnite Wars, the first Roman army entered the Campanian plain bringing with it the customs and traditions of Rome, and in the Roman
Latin War from 340 BC, the Samnites were faithful to Rome. Although governed by the Samnites, Pompeii entered the Roman orbit, to which it remained faithful even during the third Samnite war and in the war against
Pyrrhus. In the late 4th century BC, the city began expanding from its nucleus into the open-walled area. The street plan of the new areas was more regular and more conformal to
Hippodamus
Hippodamus of Miletus (; Greek: Ἱππόδαμος ὁ Μιλήσιος, ''Hippodamos ho Milesios''; c.480 BCE, 480–408 BC) was an ancient Greece, ancient Greek architect, urban planner, physician, mathematician, meteorologist and philosophe ...
's street plan. The city walls were reinforced in
Sarno stone in the early 3rd century BC (the limestone ''enceinte'', or the "first Samnite wall"). It formed the basis for the currently visible walls with an outer wall of rectangular limestone blocks as a terrace wall supporting a large ''
agger'', or earth embankment, behind it.
After the
Samnite Wars from 290 BC, Pompeii was forced to accept the status of ''
socii'' of Rome, maintaining, however, linguistic and administrative autonomy.
From the outbreak of the
Second Punic War (218–201 BC) in which
Hannibal
Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War.
Hannibal's fat ...
's invasion threatened many cities, Pompeii remained faithful to Rome unlike many of the southern cities. As a result, an additional internal wall was built of
tufa and the internal ''agger'' and outer façade raised, resulting in a double parapet with a wider wall-walk.
Despite the political uncertainty of these events and the progressive migration of wealthy men to quieter cities in the eastern Mediterranean, Pompeii continued to flourish due to the production and trade of wine and oil with places like
Provence and Spain, as well as to intensive agriculture on farms around the city.
In the 2nd century BC, Pompeii enriched itself by taking part in Rome's conquest of the east, as shown by a statue of Apollo in the Forum erected by
Lucius Mummius in gratitude for their support in the sack of
Corinth
Corinth ( ; , ) is a municipality in Corinthia in Greece. The successor to the ancient Corinth, ancient city of Corinth, it is a former municipality in Corinthia, Peloponnese (region), Peloponnese, which is located in south-central Greece. Sin ...
and the eastern campaigns. These riches enabled Pompeii to bloom and expand to its ultimate limits. The Forum and many public and private buildings of high architectural quality were built, including
The Large Theatre, the
Temple of Jupiter, the Basilica, the Comitium, the Stabian Baths, and a new two-story portico.
The Roman period
Pompeii was one of the towns of Campania that rebelled against Rome in the
Social Wars and in 89 BC it was besieged by
Sulla
Lucius Cornelius Sulla Felix (, ; 138–78 BC), commonly known as Sulla, was a Roman people, Roman general and statesman of the late Roman Republic. A great commander and ruthless politician, Sulla used violence to advance his career and his co ...
, who targeted the strategically vulnerable Porta Ercolano with his artillery as can still be seen by the impact craters of thousands of
ballista
The ballista (Latin, from Ancient Greek, Greek βαλλίστρα ''ballistra'' and that from βάλλω ''ballō'', "throw"), plural ballistae or ballistas, sometimes called bolt thrower, was an Classical antiquity, ancient missile weapon tha ...
shots in the walls. Many nearby buildings inside the walls were also destroyed. Although the battle-hardened troops of the Social League, headed by
Lucius Cluentius, helped in resisting the Romans, Pompeii was forced to surrender after the conquest of Nola. The result was that Pompeii became a
Roman colony
A Roman (: ) was originally a settlement of Roman citizens, establishing a Roman outpost in federated or conquered territory, for the purpose of securing it. Eventually, however, the term came to denote the highest status of a Roman city. It ...
named Colonia Cornelia Veneria Pompeianorum. Many of Sulla's veterans were given land and property in and around the city, while many who opposed Rome were dispossessed of their property. Despite this, the Pompeians were granted
Roman citizenship
Citizenship in ancient Rome () was a privileged political and legal status afforded to free individuals with respect to laws, property, and governance. Citizenship in ancient Rome was complex and based upon many different laws, traditions, and cu ...
and quickly assimilated into the Roman world. The main language in the city became Latin,
and many of Pompeii's old aristocratic families Latinized their names as a sign of assimilation.
The area around Pompeii became very prosperous due to the desirability of living on the Bay of Naples for wealthy Romans and due to the rich agricultural land. Many farms and villas were built nearby, outside the city and many have been excavated. These include the
Villa of the Mysteries,
Villa of Diomedes, several at
Boscoreale,
Boscotrecase,
Oplontis,
Terzigno, and Civita Guiliana.
The city became an important passage for goods that arrived by sea and had to be sent toward Rome or
Southern Italy
Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions.
The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...
along the nearby
Appian Way. Many public buildings were constructed or refurbished and improved under the new order; new buildings included the
Amphitheatre of Pompeii in 70 BC, the Forum Baths, and the
Odeon. In comparison, the Forum was embellished with the colonnade of Popidius before 80 BC. These buildings raised the status of Pompeii as a cultural centre in the region as it outshone its neighbours in the number of places for entertainment which significantly enhanced the social and economic development of the city.
Under
Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
, from about 30 BC, a major expansion in new public buildings, as in the rest of the empire, included the
Eumachia Building, the Sanctuary of Augustus and the
Macellum. From about 20 BC, Pompeii was fed with running water by a spur from the
Serino Aqueduct, built by
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.
In AD 59, there was a serious riot and bloodshed in the amphitheatre between Pompeians and
Nucerians (which is recorded in a fresco) and which led the Roman Senate to send the
Praetorian Guard to restore order and to ban further events for ten years.
AD 62–79
The inhabitants of Pompeii had long been used to minor earthquakes (indeed, the writer
Pliny the Younger wrote that earth tremors "were not particularly alarming because they are frequent in Campania"), but on 5 February 62 a
severe earthquake did considerable damage around the bay, and particularly to Pompeii. It is believed that the earthquake would have registered between 5 and 6 on the
Richter magnitude scale.
On that day in Pompeii, there were to be two sacrifices, as it was the anniversary of
Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
being named ''
Pater Patriae'' ("Father of the Country") and also a feast day to honour the guardian spirits of the city. Chaos followed the earthquake; fires caused by oil lamps that had fallen during the quake added to the panic. The nearby cities of
Herculaneum
Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Like the nearby city of ...
and
Nuceria were also affected.
Between 62 AD and the eruption in 79 AD, most rebuilding was done in the private sector and older, damaged frescoes were often covered with newer ones, for example. In the public sector, the opportunity was taken to improve buildings and the city plan, e.g. in the Forum.
An important field of current research concerns structures that were restored between the earthquake of 62 and the eruption. It was thought until recently that some of the damage had still not been repaired at the time of the eruption, but this is doubtful as the evidence of missing forum statues and marble wall veneers are most likely due to robbers after the city's burial. The public buildings on the east side of the Forum were largely restored and were enhanced by beautiful marble veneers and other modifications to the architecture.
Some buildings like the Central Baths were only started after the earthquake and were built to enhance the city with modern developments in their architecture, as had been done in Rome, in terms of wall-heating and window glass, and with well-lit spacious rooms. The new baths took over a whole ''
insula'' by demolishing houses, which may have been made easier by the earthquake that had damaged these houses. This shows that the city was still flourishing rather than struggling to recover from the earthquake.
In about 64,
Nero
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68) was a Roman emperor and the final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 until his ...
and his wife
Poppaea visited Pompeii and made gifts to the temple of Venus (the city's patron deity), probably when he performed in the theatre of Naples.
[M. Mastroroberto, "Una visita di Nerone a Pompei: le deversoriae tabernae di Moregine", in A. D’Ambrosio, P. G. Guzzo and M. Mastroroberto (eds), Storie da un’eruzione. Exhib. Catalogue Naples–Bruxelles 2003–2004, 2003, pp. 479–523, who convincingly argues that the splendidly decorated hospitium south of Pompeii was built for this occasion.]
By 79, Pompeii had a population of 20,000, which had prospered from the region's renowned agricultural fertility and favourable location, although more recent estimates are up to 11,500 based on household counts.
Eruption of Vesuvius
The eruption lasted for two days. The first phase was of pumice rain ''(
lapilli)'' lasting about 18 hours, allowing most inhabitants to escape. Only approximately 1,150 bodies have so far been found on site, which seems to confirm this theory, and most escapees probably managed to salvage some of their most valuable belongings; many skeletons were found with jewellery, coins, and silverware.
At some time in the night or early the next day,
pyroclastic flows began near the volcano, consisting of high speed, dense, and scorching ash clouds, knocking down wholly or partly all structures in their path, incinerating or suffocating the remaining population and altering the landscape, including the coastline. By the evening of the second day, the eruption was over, leaving only haze in the atmosphere through which the sun shone weakly.
A multidisciplinary
volcanological and
bio-anthropological study of the eruption products and victims, merged with numerical simulations and experiments, indicates that at Pompeii and surrounding towns heat was the main cause of death of people, previously believed to have died by ash
suffocation. The results of the study, published in 2010, show that exposure to at least hot pyroclastic flows at a distance of from the vent was sufficient to cause instant death, even if people were sheltered within buildings. The people and buildings of Pompeii were covered in up to twelve different layers of
tephra
Tephra is fragmental material produced by a Volcano, volcanic eruption regardless of composition, fragment size, or emplacement mechanism.
Volcanologists also refer to airborne fragments as pyroclasts. Once clasts have fallen to the ground, ...
, in total, up to deep. Archaeology in 2023 showed that some buildings collapsed due to one or more earthquakes during the eruption, killing the occupants.
Pliny the Younger provided a first-hand account of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius from his position across the
Bay of Naples at
Misenum
Miseno is one of the ''frazione, frazioni'' of the municipality of Bacoli in the Italy, Italian Province of Naples. Known in ancient Roman times as Misenum, it is the site of a great Roman port.
Geography
Nearby Cape Miseno marks the northw ...
, but it was written approximately 27 or 28 years after the event. His uncle,
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
, with whom he had a close relationship, died while attempting to rescue stranded victims. As admiral of the fleet, Pliny the Elder had ordered the ships of the Imperial Navy stationed at Misenum to cross the bay to assist evacuation attempts. Volcanologists have recognised the importance of Pliny the Younger's account of the eruption by calling similar events "
Plinian". It had long been thought that the eruption was an August event based on one version of the letter, but another version
[.] gives a date of the eruption as late as 23 November. A later date is consistent with a charcoal inscription at the site, discovered in 2018, which includes the date of 17 October and which must have been recently written. A collaborative study in 2022 determined a date of 24–25 October.
An October/November eruption is clearly supported by many pieces of evidence: the fact that people buried in the ash appear to have been wearing heavier clothing than the light summer clothes typical of August; the fresh fruit and vegetables in the shops are typical of Octoberand conversely the summer fruit typical of August was already being sold in dried, or conserved form; nuts from chestnut trees were found at
Oplontis, which would not have been mature before mid-September; wine fermenting jars had been sealed, which would have happened around the end of October; coins found in the purse of a woman buried in the ash include one with a 15th
imperatorial acclamation among the
emperor
The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
's titles. These coins could not have been minted before the second week of September.
Rediscovery and excavations
Titus appointed two ex-consuls to organise a relief effort while donating large amounts of money from the imperial treasury to aid the victims of the volcano. He visited Pompeii once after the eruption and again the following year but no work was done on recovery.
Soon after the city's burial, survivors and possibly thieves came to salvage valuables, including the marble statues from the Forum and other precious materials from buildings. There is wide evidence of post-eruption
disturbance, including holes made through walls. The city was not completely buried, and the tops of larger buildings would have been visible above the ash, making it obvious where to dig or salvage
building material. The robbers left traces of their passage, as in a house where modern archaeologists found a wall graffito saying "house dug".
Over the following centuries, its name and location were forgotten, though it still appeared on the ''
Tabula Peutingeriana'' of the 4th century. Further eruptions, particularly in 471–473 and 512, covered the remains more deeply. The area became known as the ''La Civita'' (the city) due to the features in the ground.

The next known date that any part was unearthed was in 1592, when architect
Domenico Fontana, while digging an underground aqueduct to the mills of
Torre Annunziata, ran into ancient walls covered with paintings and inscriptions. His aqueduct passed through and underneath a large part of the city and would have had to pass through many buildings and foundations, as they still can be seen in many places today. However, he kept the finding secret.
In 1689, Francesco Picchetti saw a wall inscription mentioning ''decurio Pompeiis'' ("town councillor of Pompeii"), but he associated it with a villa of
Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey ( ) or Pompey the Great, was a Roman general and statesman who was prominent in the last decades of the Roman Republic. ...
. Francesco Bianchini pointed out the true meaning, and he was supported by Giuseppe Macrini, who in 1693 excavated some walls and wrote that Pompeii lay beneath La Civita.
Herculaneum was rediscovered in 1738 by workers digging for the foundations of a summer palace for the King of Naples,
Charles of Bourbon. Due to the spectacular quality of the finds, the Spanish military engineer
Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre made excavations to find further remains at the site of Pompeii in 1748, even if the city was not identified.
[.] Charles of Bourbon took great interest in the finds, even after leaving to become king of Spain because the display of antiquities reinforced Naples' political and cultural prestige. On 20 August 1763, an inscription ''
..Rei Publicae Pompeianorum
..' was found and the city was identified as Pompeii.
Karl Weber directed the first scientific excavations. He was followed in 1764 by military engineer Franscisco la Vega, who was succeeded by his brother,
Pietro, in 1804.
There was much progress in exploration when the French occupied Naples in 1799 and ruled over Italy from 1806 to 1815. The land on which Pompeii lies was confiscated, and up to 700 workers were employed in the excavations. The excavated areas in the north and south were connected. Parts of the Via dell'Abbondanza were also exposed in the west–east direction, and for the first time, an impression of the size and appearance of the ancient town could be appreciated. In the following years, the excavators struggled with a lack of money. Excavations progressed slowly, but with significant finds such as the houses of the
Faun
The faun (, ; , ) is a half-human and half-goat mythological creature appearing in Greek and Roman mythology.
Originally fauns of Roman mythology were ghosts ( genii) of rustic places, lesser versions of their chief, the god Faunus. Before t ...
, of
Menandro, of the
Tragic Poet and the
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a medical doctor who performs surgery. Even though there are different traditions in different times and places, a modern surgeon is a licensed physician and received the same medical training as physicians before spec ...
.
Giuseppe Fiorelli took charge of the excavations in 1863 and made greater progress. During early excavations of the site, occasional voids in the ash layer had been found that contained human remains. Fiorelli realised these were spaces left by the decomposed bodies, and so devised the technique of injecting
plaster into them to recreate the forms of Vesuvius's victims. This technique is still in use today, with a clear
resin
A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, predominantly terpenes. Commo ...
now used instead of plaster because it is more durable and does not destroy the bones, allowing further analysis.
Fiorelli also introduced scientific documentation. He divided the city into today's nine areas (''regiones'') and blocks (''
insulae'') and numbered the entrances of the individual houses (''domus''). Fiorelli also published the first periodical with excavation reports. Under his successors, the entire west section of the city was exposed.
Modern archaeology

After those of Fiorelli, excavations continued in an increasingly more systematic and considered manner under several directors of archaeology though still with the main interest in making spectacular discoveries and uncovering more houses rather than answering the main questions about the city and its long term preservation.
In the 1920s,
Amedeo Maiuri excavated older layers beneath those of 79 AD for the first time to learn about the settlement history. Maiuri made the last excavations on a grand scale in the 1950s, and the area south of the Via dell'Abbondanza and the city wall was almost completely uncovered, but they were poorly documented scientifically. Preservation was haphazard, and his reconstructions were difficult to distinguish from the original ruins, which is a great handicap for studying genuine antique remains. Questionable reconstruction was also done after the severe earthquake of 1980, which caused great destruction. Since then, work has been confined to the excavated areas except for targeted soundings and excavations. Further excavations on a large scale are not planned, and today archaeologists are more engaged in reconstructing, documenting and slowing the decay of the ruins.
In December 2018, archaeologists discovered the remains of harnessed horses in the
Villa of the Mysteries.
Under the 'Great Pompeii Project' over of ancient walls within the city were relieved of danger of collapse by treating the unexcavated areas behind the street fronts in order to increase drainage and reduce the pressure of groundwater and earth on the walls, a problem especially in the rainy season. These excavations resumed on unexcavated areas of ''Regio V''. In November 2020 the remains of two men, thought to be a rich man and his slave, were found in a layer of ash. They appeared to have escaped the first eruption but were killed by a second blast the next day. A study of the bones showed that the younger one appeared to have done manual labour and hence was likely a slave.
In December 2020, a
thermopolium
In the ancient Greco-Roman world, a thermopolium (: thermopolia), from Greek (''thermopōlion''), i.e. cook-shop, literally "a place where something hot is sold", was a commercial establishment where it was possible to purchase ready-to-eat foo ...
, an inn or snack-bar, was excavated in Regio V. In addition to brightly coloured
frescoes depicting some of the food on offer, archaeologists found eight
dolia (terracotta pots) still containing remnants of meals, including duck, goat, pig, fish, and snails.
They also found a decorated bronze drinking bowl known as a ''
patera'', wine flasks,
amphora
An amphora (; ; English ) is a type of container with a pointed bottom and characteristic shape and size which fit tightly (and therefore safely) against each other in storage rooms and packages, tied together with rope and delivered by land ...
e, and ceramic jars used for cooking stews and soups. One fresco depicts a dog with a collar on a leash, possibly reminding customers to leash their pets. The complete skeleton of a tiny adult dog was also discovered, measuring only about at the shoulder, which provides evidence of the highly selective breeding of dogs in Roman times.
In January 2021 a well-preserved "large, four-wheel ceremonial chariot" was uncovered in the portico of the luxurious villa in Civita Giuliana, north of Pompeii, where a stable had previously been discovered in 2018.
The carriage is made of bronze and black and red wooden panels, with engraved silver and bronze medallions at the back. It is now thought to be an elaborate and unique bridal carriage called a ''pilentum'' and in 2023 has been restored for display at the Baths of Diocletian. Nearby the bodies of two fugitives had been found using plaster casts, and in a stable the remains of horses, one still in harness.
In 2021, an exceptional 1st century AD painted tomb of a freed slave,
Marcus Venerius Secundio, containing mummified human remains, was discovered outside the Porta Sarno gate. Its inscription records he achieved custodianship of the Temple of Venus and membership of the Augustales, priests of the Imperial Cult. Also, he organised Greek and Latin performances lasting four days, the first evidence of Greek cultural events in Pompeii.
In April 2024, a dining hall lined with rare frescoes was excavated as part of a broader project aimed at shoring up the front of the perimeter between the excavated and unexcavated area of the site. One fresco presents Helen of Troy and Paris, and another depicts Apollo and Princess Cassandra, with Apollo trying to attract the princess's attention. The hall, measuring 15 by 6 meters, was located in a house on Via di Nola—one of the main city streets in the famous
Regio IX area. The room walls were painted black, perhaps to hide the traces of soot from the lighting fixtures.
In June 2024, a shrine with rare blue-painted walls covered with paintings of females thought to represent the four seasons (
Horae) was discovered. 15 amphorae, two bronze jugs and two bronze lamps were among the findings. The room is thought to be a sacrarium (the sanctuary of a church).
Conservation
Objects buried beneath Pompeii were well-preserved for almost 2,000 years as the lack of air and moisture allowed little to no deterioration. However, Pompeii has been exposed to natural and anthropic deterioration following excavation.
Weathering, erosion, light exposure, water damage, poor methods of excavation and reconstruction, introduced plants and animals, tourism, vandalism and theft have all damaged the site in some way. The lack of adequate weather protection for all but the most interesting and important buildings has allowed original interior decoration to fade or be lost. Two-thirds of the city has been excavated, but the remnants of the city are rapidly deteriorating.
Furthermore, during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
many buildings were badly damaged or destroyed by bombs dropped in several raids by the
Allied forces.
The conservation concern has constantly worried archaeologists. The ancient city was included in the
1996 World Monuments Watch by the
World Monuments Fund, and again in
1998 and in
2000
2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year.
Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...
. In 1996 the organisation claimed that Pompeii "desperately need
drepair" and called for the drafting of a general plan of
restoration and interpretation. The organisation supported conservation at Pompeii with funding from
American Express
American Express Company or Amex is an American bank holding company and multinational financial services corporation that specializes in payment card industry, payment cards. It is headquartered at 200 Vesey Street, also known as American Expr ...
and the
Samuel H. Kress Foundation.
The ''Schola Armatorum'' ('House of the Gladiators') collapsed in 2010 caused by heavy rainfall and lack of proper drainage.
The structure was not open to visitors, but the outside was visible to tourists. There was fierce controversy after the collapse, with accusations of neglect.
Today, funding is mostly directed into conservation of the site; however, due to the expanse of Pompeii and the scale of the problems, this is inadequate in halting the slow decay of the materials. A 2012 study recommended an improved strategy for interpretation and presentation of the site as a cost-effective method of improving its conservation and preservation in the short term.
In June 2013,
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
warned that if restoration and preservation works "fail to deliver substantial progress in the next two years," Pompeii could be placed on the
List of World Heritage in Danger. A "Grande Progetto Pompei" project of about five years had begun in 2012 with the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...
and included stabilization and conservation of buildings in the highest risk areas. In 2014,
UNESCO headquarters received a new management plan to help integrate the property's management, conservation, and maintenance programs.
In 2020 many ''
domus'' gardens, orchards and vineyards were carefully recreated using depictions in frescoes and archaeological finds to give better insights into what they were like before the catastrophe. These include the
House of Julia Felix, the House of the Golden Cupids, the
House of Loreius Tiburtinus, the House of Cornelius Rufus and
the Garden of the Fugitives.
In 2021 several long-closed ''domus'' were re-opened after restoration including the House of the Ship Europa, House of the Orchard and House of the Lovers. Also the newly excavated House of Leda and the Swan has opened.
Roman city development

Owing to its wealth and its Greek, Etruscan and Roman history, Pompeii is of great interest for the study of
Ancient Roman architecture
Ancient Roman architecture adopted the external language of classical ancient Greek architecture for the purposes of the ancient Romans, but was different from Greek buildings, becoming a new architectural style. The two styles are often consi ...
in terms of building methods and urban planning. However, it was a relatively small provincial city and, except for the
Amphitheatre
An amphitheatre (American English, U.S. English: amphitheater) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ('), meani ...
, it did not have large monuments on the scale of other Roman cities. It also missed the large building schemes of the early Empire and kept much of its urban architecture dating from as early as the 4th century BC.
The evolution of Pompeii's private and public buildings is often unclear because of the lack of excavations beneath the levels of 79. It is, however, clear that by the time of the conquest by Sulla in 89 BC, the development of the street layout was largely complete, and most of the ''
insulae'' were built.
Public buildings
Under the Romans, Pompeii underwent a process of urban development which accelerated in the Augustan period from about 30 BC. New public buildings included the Amphitheatre with
palaestra
A palaestra ( or ; also (chiefly British) palestra; ) was any site of a Greek wrestling school in antiquity. Events requiring little space, such as boxing and wrestling, occurred there. ''Palaistrai'' functioned both independently and as a part ...
or gymnasium with a central
natatorium (''cella natatoria'') or swimming pool, two theatres, the
Eumachia Building and at least four public baths. The amphitheatre has been cited by scholars as a model of sophisticated design, particularly in the area of crowd control.
Other service buildings were the
Macellum ("meat market"); the
Pistrinum (baker); the
thermopolia (inns or snack-bars that served hot and cold dishes and drinks), and
cauponae ("pubs" or "dives" with a seedy reputation as hangouts for thieves and prostitutes). At least one building, the
Lupanar, was dedicated to
prostitution
Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...
. A large hotel or ''
hospitium'' (of 1,000 m
2) was found nearby at Murecine/Moregine,
when the
Naples-Salerno motorway was being built, and the Murecine Silver Treasure and the Tablets (providing a unique record of business transactions), as well as the
Moregine bracelet, were discovered there.
An
aqueduct provided water to the public baths, to more than 25 street fountains, and to many private houses and businesses. The aqueduct was a branch of the great
Serino Aqueduct built to serve the other large towns in the Bay of Naples region and the important naval base at
Misenum
Miseno is one of the ''frazione, frazioni'' of the municipality of Bacoli in the Italy, Italian Province of Naples. Known in ancient Roman times as Misenum, it is the site of a great Roman port.
Geography
Nearby Cape Miseno marks the northw ...
. The ''
castellum aquae'' is well preserved and includes many details of the distribution network and its controls.
Shops and workshops
There were at least 31 bakeries in the town, each with wood-burning ovens, millstones and a sales counter. The Modestus bakery, or House of the Oven, was the largest in the city and Sotericus's bakery, also among the largest, preserves the room for kneading bread.
Thermopolia were inns or snack-bars in which hot food and drinks were sold and in Pompeii there were nearly 100. The thermopolium of Vetutius Placidus overlooked the street directly, had a counter and several
dolia, as well as a room behind the shop where customers could eat their meals: the
lararium with frescoes of the
Lares and
Mercury and
Dionysus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; ) is the god of wine-making, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, festivity, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstasy, and theatre. He was also known as Bacchus ( or ; ...
and a
triclinium decorated in the
Third style. In the thermopolium of Asellina, with three sales counters and a lararium with depictions of Mercury and
Bacchus, numerous furnishings have been found, both in bronze and terracotta, as well as 683
sesterces; the external façade bears a representation of jugs and funnels and an electoral inscription referring to Asellina, probably the owner of the inn.
Wool processing was well developed with 13 workshops that worked the raw material, seven that did the spinning, nine the dyeing, and 18 the washing: the Building of Eumachia, from the name of the priestess who built it, was the wool market, or the seat of the fullers guild; construction took place after 62 and was entirely in brickwork. Inside it has numerous niches in which statues were housed, mostly concerning the imperial family, a colonnade, and near the entrance, there was a jar in which urine was collected for use as a detergent for clothes. The
fullonica of Stephanus, named after the owner or manager, was originally a house that was transformed into a workshop for the processing of fabrics: on the lower floor the working and washing activities took place, carried out in large tanks with water, soda and urine while on the upper floor the clothes were dried.
The
garum
Garum is a fermentation (food), fermented fish sauce that was used as a condiment in the cuisines of Phoenicia, Ancient Greek cuisine, ancient Greece, Ancient Roman cuisine, Rome, Carthage and later Byzantine cuisine, Byzantium. Liquamen is a si ...
workshop made the sauce obtained from the fermentation of the entrails of fish; in the building some containers were found, closed by lids, with the sauce inside while in the nearby garden was a large deposit of ''
amphorae''.
Lists of buildings
Agriculture and horticulture
Modern archaeologists have excavated garden sites and urban domains to reveal the agricultural staples of Pompeii's economy. Pompeii had fertile soil for crop cultivation. The soils surrounding Mount Vesuvius preceding its eruption had good water-retention capabilities, implying productive agriculture. The
Tyrrhenian Sea
The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy.
Geography
The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...
's airflow provided hydration to the soil despite the hot, dry climate.
Barley
Barley (), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains; it was domesticated in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BC, giving it nonshattering spikele ...
,
wheat
Wheat is a group of wild and crop domestication, domesticated Poaceae, grasses of the genus ''Triticum'' (). They are Agriculture, cultivated for their cereal grains, which are staple foods around the world. Well-known Taxonomy of wheat, whe ...
, and
millet
Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most millets belong to the tribe Paniceae.
Millets are important crops in the Semi-arid climate, ...
were produced along with wine and olive oil, for export to other regions.

Evidence of wine imported nationally from Pompeii in its most prosperous years can be found from recovered artefacts such as wine bottles in Rome.
For this reason, vineyards were of utmost importance to Pompeii's economy. Agricultural policymaker
Columella suggested that each vineyard in Rome produce a quota of three
cullei of wine per
jugerum; otherwise, the vineyard would be uprooted. The nutrient-rich lands near Pompeii were extremely efficient and often capable of largely exceeding these requirements, providing the incentive for local wineries to establish themselves.
While wine was exported for Pompeii's economy, most other agricultural goods were likely produced in quantities sufficient for the city's consumption.
Remains of large formations of constructed wineries were found in the Forum Boarium, covered by cemented casts from the eruption of Vesuvius.
It is speculated that these historical vineyards are strikingly similar in structure to the modern day vineyards across Italy.
Carbonised food plant remains, roots, seeds and pollens have been found in gardens in Pompeii, Herculaneum, and a Roman villa at
Torre Annunziata. They revealed that
emmer wheat,
Italian millet,
common millet, walnuts, pine nuts, chestnuts, hazel nuts, chickpeas,
bitter vetch, broad beans, olives, figs, pears, onions, garlic, peaches, carob, grapes, and dates were consumed. All but the dates could have been produced locally.
Erotic art

The discovery of
erotic art in Pompeii and Herculaneum left the archaeologists with a dilemma stemming from the
clash of cultures between the mores of
sexuality in ancient Rome and in
Counter-Reformation
The Counter-Reformation (), also sometimes called the Catholic Revival, was the period of Catholic resurgence that was initiated in response to, and as an alternative to or from similar insights as, the Protestant Reformations at the time. It w ...
Europe. An unknown number of discoveries were hidden away again. A wall fresco depicting
Priapus, the ancient god of sex and fertility, with his grotesquely enlarged penis, was covered with plaster. An older reproduction was locked away "out of prudishness" and opened only on request – and only rediscovered in 1998 due to rainfall. In 2018, an ancient fresco depicting an erotic scene of "
Leda and the Swan" was discovered at Pompeii.
Many
artefacts from the buried cities are preserved in the
Naples National Archaeological Museum. In 1819, when
King Francis visited the Pompeii exhibition there with his wife and daughter, he was so embarrassed by the erotic artwork that he had it locked away in a "secret cabinet" (''gabinetto segreto''), a gallery within the museum accessible only to "people of mature age and respected morals". Re-opened, closed, re-opened again and then closed again for nearly 100 years, the
Naples "Secret Museum" was briefly made accessible again at the end of the 1960s (the time of the
sexual revolution) and was finally re-opened for viewing in 2000. Minors are still allowed entry only in the presence of a guardian or with written permission.
Tourism
Pompeii has been a popular tourist destination for over 250 years; it was on the
Grand Tour. By 2008, it was attracting almost 2.6 million visitors per year, making it one of Italy's most popular tourist sites. It is part of a larger
Vesuvius National Park and was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997. To combat problems associated with tourism, the governing body for Pompeii, the 'Soprintendenza Archeologica di Pompei', has begun issuing new tickets that allow tourists to visit cities such as
Herculaneum
Herculaneum is an ancient Rome, ancient Roman town located in the modern-day ''comune'' of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Herculaneum was buried under a massive pyroclastic flow in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.
Like the nearby city of ...
and
Stabiae as well as the
Villa Poppaea, to encourage visitors to see these sites and reduce pressure on Pompeii. In 2024, the site's management announced that it would limit daily sales to a maximum of 20,000 personalised tickets per day and introduce timed entry schemes in the peak summer season.
Pompeii is a driving force behind the economy of the nearby town of
Pompei. Many residents are employed in the tourism and hospitality industry, serving as taxi or bus drivers, waiters, or hotel staff.
Excavations at the site have generally ceased due to a moratorium imposed by the superintendent of the site, Professor Pietro Giovanni Guzzo. The site is generally less accessible to tourists than in the past, with less than a third of all buildings open in the 1960s available for public viewing today.
Antiquarium of Pompeii
Originally built by
Giuseppe Fiorelli between 1873 and 1874, the Antiquarium of Pompeii began as an exhibition venue displaying archaeological finds that represented the daily life of the ancient city. The building suffered extensive damage in 1943 during the
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
bombings and again in 1980 due to
an earthquake. The museum was closed to the public for 36 years before reopening in 2016 as a space for temporary exhibitions. The museum was re-opened on 25 January 2021 as a permanent exhibition venue. Visitors can see archaeological discoveries from the excavations, casts of the victims of the Mount Vesuvius eruption as well as displays documenting Pompeii's settlement history before becoming a thriving Roman city.
In popular culture

The 1954 film ''
Journey to Italy'', starring
George Sanders and
Ingrid Bergman, includes a scene at Pompeii in which they witness the excavation of a cast of a couple who perished in the eruption.
Pompeii was the setting for the British comedy
television series
A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...
''
Up Pompeii!'' and the movie of the series. Pompeii also featured in the second episode of the fourth season of revived BBC science fiction series ''
Doctor Who
''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...
'', named "
The Fires of Pompeii", which featured Caecilius as a character.
The rock band
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
filmed a 1971 live concert, ''
Pink Floyd: Live at Pompeii'', in which they performed six songs in the city's ancient Roman amphitheatre. The audience consisted only of the film's production crew and some local children.
Siouxsie and the Banshees
Siouxsie and the Banshees ( ) were a British Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976 by vocalist Siouxsie Sioux and bass guitarist Steven Severin. Post-punk pioneers, they were widely influential, both over their contemporaries and later ...
wrote and recorded the punk-inflected dance song "
Cities in Dust", which describes the disaster that befell Pompeii and Herculaneum in AD 79. The song appears on their album 1985 ''
Tinderbox''. The jacket of the single remix of the song features the plaster cast of a chained dog killed in Pompeii.
''
Pompeii
Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
'' is a 2003
Robert Harris novel featuring an account of the aquarius's race to fix the broken aqueduct in the days before the eruption of Vesuvius. Actual events and people inspired the novel.
"
Pompeii
Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
" is a 2013 song by the British band
Bastille. The lyrics refer to the city and the eruption of
Mount Vesuvius.
''
Pompeii
Pompeii ( ; ) was a city in what is now the municipality of Pompei, near Naples, in the Campania region of Italy. Along with Herculaneum, Stabiae, and Villa Boscoreale, many surrounding villas, the city was buried under of volcanic ash and p ...
'' is a 2014 German-Canadian
historical
History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...
disaster film
A disaster film or disaster movie is a film genre that has an impending or ongoing disaster as its subject and primary plot device. Such disasters may include natural disasters, accidents, offensive (military), military/terrorism, terrorist att ...
produced and directed by
Paul W. S. Anderson.
45 years after the Pink Floyd recordings, guitarist
David Gilmour returned to the Pompeii amphitheatre in 2016 to perform a live concert for his
Rattle That Lock Tour. This event was considered the first in the amphitheatre to feature an audience since the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius.
Documentaries
* ''
In Search of...''s episode No. 82 focuses entirely on Pompeii; it premiered on 29 November 1979.
* The ''
National Geographic'' special ''In the Shadow of Vesuvius'' (1987) explores the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum, interviews (then) leading archaeologists, and examines the events leading up to the eruption of Vesuvius.
* ''
Ancient Mysteries: Pompeii: Buried Alive'' (1996), an
A&E television documentary narrated by
Leonard Nimoy
Leonard Simon Nimoy ( ; March 26, 1931 – February 27, 2015) was an American actor and director, famous for playing Spock in the ''Star Trek'' franchise for almost 50 years. This includes Development of Spock, originating Spock in Star Trek: T ...
.
* ''
Pompeii: The Last Day'' (2003), an hour-long drama produced for the
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
that portrays several characters (with historically attested names, but fictional life-stories) living in Pompeii, Herculaneum and around the
Bay of Naples, and their last hours, including a
fuller and his wife, two
gladiators, and
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...
. It also portrays the facts of the eruption.
* ''Pompeii and the AD 79 eruption'' (2004), a two-hour
Tokyo Broadcasting System documentary.
* ''Pompeii Live'' (28 June 2006), a
Channel 5 production featuring a live archaeological dig at Pompeii and Herculaneum.
* ''Pompeii: The Mystery of the People Frozen in Time'' (2013), a
BBC One
BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...
drama documentary presented by
Margaret Mountford.
* ''The Riddle of Pompeii'' (23 May 2014), Discovery Channel.
* ''Pompeii: The Dead Speak'' (8 August 2016),
Smithsonian Channel.
* ''Pompeii's People'' (3 September 2017), a
CBC Gem documentary presented by
David Suzuki.
Gallery
File:Theatre at Pompeii.JPG, The Theatre
File:Ancient Roman Pompeii - Pompeji - Campania - Italy - July 10th 2013 - 31.jpg, Entrance to the Basilica in the Forum
File:Basilica (Pompei) WLM 002.JPG, The Basilica
File:Triangular Forum - Foro Triangolare, Pompeii (5093).jpg, The Triangular Forum
File:80045 Pompeii, Metropolitan City of Naples, Italy - panoramio (18).jpg, The Forum
File:Pompei 5058.jpg, The Temple of Apollo
File:House of the Faun (Pompeii).jpg, The House of the Faun
File:Roman fresco Villa dei Misteri Pompeii 006.jpg, Fresco from the Villa dei Misteri
File:Old house pompei site.jpeg, Street in Pompeii
See also
*
Foreign influences on Pompeii
*
Mastroberardino, a project with the Italian winery Mastroberardino to replant the vineyards of Pompeii
*
Robert Rive, 1850s photographer of Pompeii
*
Luigi Bazzani: Watercolours of Pompeii when first excavated
; Volcanic destruction
*
Armero tragedy, a city in Colombia that suffered a similar fate in 1985
*
Akrotiri, in
Santorini, Greece, excavated ruins of a city that suffered a similar fate to Pompeii more than 3000 years ago
*
Joya de Cerén, a pre-Columbian farming village in El Salvador known as the "Pompeii of the Americas"
*
Plymouth, Montserrat, former capital city buried by volcanic ash from the Soufrière Hills volcano in the 1990s
*
Saint-Pierre, Martinique, town similarly destroyed by the volcanic eruption of Mount Pelee, in 1902
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
* Eschebach, Liselotte (1993). ''Gebäudeverzeichnis und Stadtplan der antiken Stadt Pompeji''
ist of buildings and city map of the ancient city of Pompeii Köln/Weimar/Wien: Böhlau.
* *
*
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*
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*
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External links
*
Data on new excavationsfrom the International Association for Classical Archaeology (AIAC)
World History Encyclopedia – PompeiiArchaeological Park of Pompeii on Google Arts and Culture platformPompeii projectby
CyArk
*
Pompeii Scientific American
''Scientific American'', informally abbreviated ''SciAm'' or sometimes ''SA'', is an American popular science magazine. Many scientists, including Albert Einstein and Nikola Tesla, have contributed articles to it, with more than 150 Nobel Pri ...
historical article, 26 May 1877, pp. 326–27
{{Authority control
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