Timeline of Events in Pompeii
see the top of Mount Vesuvius,
which I didn't know until after
I had left.
I would like to go up there someday, because that must
be a humbling sight.
Errupting
as the rage of Vesuvius came pummeling down.
www.thecole
family.com/
italy/pompeii)
Events in Pompeii
August 23, 79 A.D. - Life as usual in Pompeii
Aug. 24-25, 79 A.D . - Erruption of Mt. Vesuvius, covering Hurculaneum and Pompeii in ash and hardened cinder, blackening the sky over what is now Naples for three full days.
August 26, 79 A.D . - Pompeii is deserted: inhabitants either escaped to surrounding areas or were buried.
202 - Vesuvius errupts again, this time for a full week.
306-533 - Vesuvius errupts at least four more times
1594 - Workers digging a pipeline to a nearby village discover a stone saying decurio Pompeiis. The city being so long forgotten, the residents think it refers to the famous Roman ruler Pompey.
1631 - Vesuvius errupts again, violently. Lava flows in seven rivers to destroy all towns below.
1707 - Prince d'Elboeuf hears of interesting treasures found in the digging of a well, and begins treasure-hunting himself, not knowing the name of the city he is scavaging.
Dec. 11, 1738 - d'Elboeuf's men find a stone saying Workers digging a pipeline to a nearby village discover a stone saying Theatrum Herculaneum (Theater of Hurculaneum).
1748 - Spanish workers begin digging at Pompeii.
1787 - German writer Goethe visits the site, and is shocked at the damage being done by the people's treasure-hunting.
1860 - Guiseppe Fiorelli appointed director of the dig at Pompeii. He puts an end to the private treasure-hunting and orders the whole site be excavated properly, so the archealogical treasures can be shared with the whole world.
1860-1875 - Under Fiorelli, the beginning of modern excavating techniques are used to uncover Pompeii's artifacts and preserved information.
1875 - Digging continues, and the finds are placed in a museum in Naples, teling the world much about life in ancient Roman times.
1913-1944 - Vesuvius errupts many times, completing the erruption cycle that began 1631. (What about the next cycle?)
Today excavation continues. What was such a horrible tragedy has become one of the largest and best-preserved archives of life during the Roman Empire.
