ANCIENT HISTORY : SECRETS OF ARCHAEOLOGY: POMPEII: A CITY REDISCOVERED
Search Now >
more >
SECRETS OF ARCHAEOLOGY: Pompeii: A City Rediscovered
About The Programme
On August 24, in the year 79 AD, the apocalyptic eruption of Vesuvius relegated the memory of the wealthy city of Pompeii to the realms of legend and myth.
By using the support of sound scientific evidence and the contribution of extraordinary computer graphics, this documentary tells us about the latest discoveries and the mysteries linked to one of the most vital and fantastic cities in the ancient world.
The Eruption
On the morning of 24 August, AD 79, the eruption of Vesuvius caught the local population completely by surprise. It is mainly thanks to the vivid eye-witness account of the younger Pliny (a Roman administrator and poet), that we know what happened. Through Pliny’s writing, the reactions of the people trapped in Pompeii are revealed.
Pliny's uncle, known as Pliny the Elder, was in command of the imperial naval base at Misenum, on the north-west extremity of the Bay of Naples. He was not only a senior military officer in the district, but also an expert on natural science. His 37-volume Natural History is the longest work on science in Latin that has survived from antiquity.
But at the time of the eruption, the elder Pliny was relaxing after a bath and lunch. Even the sighting of a column of smoke "like an umbrella pine" on the far side of the Bay made him curious rather than frightened. Pliny's reference to earth tremors “which were not particularly alarming because they are frequent in Campania” shows the Roman's scientific naivety between the link to seismic activity (earth tremors) and volcanic activity.
The huge scale of the eruption in AD 79 was in direct correlation to the long period of inactivity preceding it. The ominously silent volcano together with mounting seismic activity was a sure sign of imminent disaster.
The dormant volcano lulled ancient Romans into a false sense of security, though they were aware of the signs of burning at the peak of the mountain.
But they were not the first inhabitants to have been caught unawares. The most important earlier eruption, known as the 'Avellino pumice' happened in 1800 BC and archaeological evidence reveals the destruction of Bronze Age settlements.
Pompeii was buried with tons of pumice and volcanic ash which completely covered the town and its people. But the disaster was gradually forgotten over the centuries, until the exploration of the ancient site started in an area called 'Civita', in 1748. This was found to be a comparatively easy task, because the volcanic debris that had fallen was light and not compacted.
Many artefacts were removed and transported to the private collection of the Bourbon king Charles III who reigned from 1759-88. Today, they are displayed in the Museo Nazionale. Many artefacts and wall paintings were damaged and irreparably destroyed. Scholars such as Johann Winckelmann protested strongly and these practices were stopped, although the stripping of the wall paintings continued.
Today, thousands of tourists stroll through the streets, scarred with chariot grooves, and listen to guides regaling them with entertaining tales of what life was like over 2,000 years ago.
But listening to Pliny the Elder’s eyewitness account paints a very different picture from the modern holiday hotspot that Pompeii has become. "The thick black cloud advanced behind us like a flood. We could hear women shrieking, children crying and men shouting. Many people begged for the help of the gods, but even more imagined that there were no gods left and that the last eternal night had fallen on the world."