History
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Pompeii was once a prosperous Roman city founded during the 8th to the 6th century BCE by people of Central Italy called Oscans. The town was under the rule of the Romans in 80 BCE. From then till 79 CE (160 years), when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and buried the city, the population grew to about 20,000 and the town was very well-developed with a complex water system, a forum, an amphitheatre and a few public baths. It was also a popular vacation destination for the rich Romans at that time with many holiday villas.
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There was a major earthquake (measured to 5 to 6 on the modern Richter scale) in Pompeii which led to significant damage to the city and the fleeing of many inhabitants. The city was later rebuilt and there were more and more minor earthquakes after that which finally led to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 CE. There was a witness of this catastrophic event, Pliny the Younger, who was 17 at the time. He saw the eruption from across the Bay of Naples when his uncle, Pliny the Elder, a Roman fleet admiral died trying to save the stranded victims. It was suggested that the eruption occured on the 24th of August but some other evidence suggested that the eruption actually occurred on the 23rd of November. These include the buried victims wore warmer clothing, the fruits and vegetables sold in the shops as well as the sealed wine fermenting jars were characteristic of October to November. The intense heat (up to 250 degrees Celsius), poisonous gases, volcanic ash and lava killed 2000 people and destroyed Pompeii and its sister city Herculaneum, which were buried under 6 metres of ash.
The two cities were then forgotten until the first excavation in 1599 when walls with anciet paintings and inscriptions were found accidentally during the construction of an underground channel to divert the river Sarno. A larger scale excavation was carried out in 1748 led by a Spanish engineer called Rocque Joapuin de Alcubierre while Herculaneum was excavated in 1738 during the construction of a summer palace for the King of Naples. Due to the lack of air and moisture, this ancient Roman town was miraculously well preserved even after thousands of years. This allowed us to have a very clear view of the ancient Roman life.
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Since the excavation, Pompeii has been a famous tourist spot for over 2 centuries, attracting over 2 million visitors every year and was deemed a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1997. It is near the modern city Naples in the region of Campania in Southern Italy. There is definitely no better way to learn about the ancient Roman life than to visit the ruins of Pompeii by yourself.