Mt. Vesuvius
For eight hundred years, Mt. Vesuvius, a volcano in what is now southern Italy, lay dormant. One clear August day in 79 AD, however, it exploded with unbelievable force, darkening the sky and filling the air with flying rocks, poisonous gas and ash that swiftly buried the city of Pompeii and two other nearby towns. Ironically, the destruction of Pompeii by volcanic eruption also preserved it for later study. This research paper will examine what happened during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius and what has been discovered about daily life in the Roman Empire by systematic archaeological excavations. Pompeii was a beautiful and important city in the Roman Empire located in what is now Campania, Italy. It was about six miles from Mt. Vesuvius, and covered about 160 acres laid out like a modern city. Its population was about 20,000 people. It was important of Pompeii economically because it produced wine, fruit, and gram, a fish. Although no one knew it, the earthquake of 62 AD should have been a warning sign of later tragedy. Around February 5th, the town felt the ground moving and trembling. They thought soon realized it was an earthquake. Buildings that were unstable were collapsing.
