Vesuvius

= Prior to Eruption =


 In the 6th century, BC, the Etruscans founded the city of Pompeii, a large town of about 20,000 inhabitants off the Gulf of Cumae (now the Bay of Naples) (Nardo, 8-11; Current Archaeology). About 5¾ miles to the northwest of Pompeii stood Mount Vesuvius, a massive volcano that the Romans thought to be extinct, since it had not erupted in nearly 1,300 years. In February of the year 62 AD, Vesuvius rekindled its volcanic activity with a massive earthquake that leveled a good portion of the city. Although the people of Pompeii did not know it, this wa s just the first sign of their city’s impending doom (CA).

=Beginning of the Eruption=  In 79 AD, the people in the area surrounding Vesuvius unknowingly were subjected to more warning signs, including springs drying up and frequent earthquakes. Finally, at about one o’clock on August 24, Vesuvius blew its top. In the form of what later became know n as a Plinian Eruption (named for one of the eruption’s onlookers), Vesuvius’ top was blown out, and a column of pumice stone, rock fragments, and ash was shot upward about 10 miles into the sky and eventually fell, covering the city of Pompeii (CA; Eyewitness to History). This stage took relatively few lives.

=The Final Blast=    In the last 6 hours of its eruption, Mount Vesuvius took lethal action. A pyroclastic surge sped down the m  ountai   nside in a mass of ash, rock, and heat that incinerated most everything in its path. Despite the fact that this was the downfall of the nearby city of Herculaneum, the city of Pompeii was temporarily spared (CA). It was soon after that a cloud of mephitic gasses swept over the city and killed its citizens, by first causing delusion in and then suffocating those left (EtH). The bodies of the approximately 2,000 dead were well preserved in the pumice, and to this day continue to provide hints as to who they were in this long-forgotten city (Nardo, CA, EtH).



Resources

 * __ Geological Processes and Structures: Volcano __ . Earth Science Australia. 2 Dec. 2008. http://www.earthsci.org/processes/geopro/volc/volc.html
 * __ Pompeii ____ : Stories from an Eruption __ . October 22, 2005. The Field Museum. 2 Dec. 2008. http://www.fieldmuseum.org/pompeii/
 * __ Visiting Pompeii __ . Current Archaeology. 3 Dec. 2008. [|http://www.archaeology.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&] [|id=103&Itemid=43&limit=1&limitstart=1]
 *  "The Destruction of Pompeii, 79 AD," EyeWitness to History, [|www.eyewitnesstohistory.com] (1999).
 * Nardo, Don. __A Travel Guide to Ancient Pompeii__. Thompson-Gale, 2005.