the eruption of AD 79 and its impact on Pompeii and Herculaneum

Question 1

SOURCE: Alison E. Cooley, Pompeii, p.37

Answer 1

“ The significance of our understanding of the eruption is far-reaching, since instead of supposing that the destruction of Pompeii was caused primarily by the fall of pumice and ash, we can now trace the impact of far more violent forces”

Question 2

Dating

Answer 2

It is important to know that there is no absolute certainty about the exact date of the eruption of AD 79
The majority of authors/historians writing about Pompeii in out time write the date being 24 August 79 AD for the eruption BUT the evidence is not conclusive

Question 3

Background - the Earthquake of 62 AD

Answer 3

• According to Tacitus, AD 62 was the year in which an earthquake [SOURCE] “largely demolished the populous Campanian town of Pompeii”
• Seneca [a philosopher, tutor, and minister to Emperor Nero] wrote the following about the earthquake of AD 62 - [SOURCE] “I have just hear that Pompeii, the famous city of Campania, has been laid low by and earthquake” (Seneca, Natural Quaestiones, book VI 1.1-3)
• Herculaneum was also affected by the earthquake
• In towns, public buildings, houses and statues collapsed and were destroyed and roads opened up
• Eventually, the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum began a rebuilding program. Some wealthy inhabitants thought it was their duty to contribute to the rebuilding of the city’s temples

Question 4

BACKGROUND - THE ERUPTION OF AD 79

Answer 4

• 17 years later, at around 1 pm, in AD 79, Vesuvius erupted. WIthin 24 hours, Mount Vesuvius had buried Pompeii and Herculaneum
• The region of Campania was an unstable volcanic area prone to earth tremors
• Only have one eye-witness account from Pliny the Younger who viewed what was happening from 32 kilometers away in Misenum and wrote an account of what he saw about 25 years later, relying on his memory
• Historians have been dependent on Pliny’s account. We have to remember that it was not Pliny’s aim to write an account about the eruption, but he was writing to commemorate his uncle (Pliny the Elder) and to establish him as a hero

Question 5

DAY 1 (midday)

Answer 5

Initial explosion thrusts huge cloud of ash, pumice & gases 15-30 km in air
Column resembles an ‘umbrella pine’ according to PtY
Pumice fallout begins - carried SE over Pompeii, Oplontis, and Stabiae - ranges from pebble size (1 cm- lapilli) to rock size (20 cm)
Build up causes roof collapse & difficulty moving around Pompeii
Fallout t Herculaneum is less but there are earthquakes and lightning

Question 6

DAY 2 (4-6 am)

Answer 6

Collapse of the column of hot gas and pumice → causes a series of Pyroclastic surges & flows of ash and hot gases which race to the south and west up to about 100 km/hr
First surge covers Herculaneum in 3 m of hot ash

Question 7

DAY 2 (5-7 am)

Answer 7

A second surge deposits another 1.5 m of ash on Herculaneum

Question 8

DAY 2 (around 6:30)

Answer 8

3rd surge in the direction of Pompeii STOPS at the Herculaneum gate

Question 9

DAY 2 (7:30 -8)

Answer 9

• 3 successive surges, reaching temps between 100 ˚C & 400˚C bury Pompeii to a depth of up to 1.8 metres
• Final surge sweeps across the Bay of Naples, south to Capri & west to Misenum

Question 10

SOURCE - PTY on the description of eruption

Answer 10

“Its general appearance can best be expressed as being like a pine … for it rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into branches, … it … spread out and gradually dispersed.

Question 11

SOURCE- PTY on the colouring on the eruption

Answer 11

In places it looked white, elsewhere blotched and dirty, according to the amount of soil and ashes it carried with it”

Question 12

HOW DID PEOPLE DIE

Pompeii

Answer 12

• The inhabitants who immediately escaped when the volcano first exploded, may have survived
• Scientific tests have shown that the ash people inhaled was spongy and deadly - as they breathed, the very fine ash formed a sticky paste that clogged their lungs and made breathing impossible
• Their bodies suggest that they suffocated by breathing in the dust or ash - all buried near the top of the layers of pumice
• Haraldur Sigurdsson believes that the most deadly surge was the fourth one (lethal, burning etc), he also believes that the last pyroclastic surge (6th one) was the strongest and spread over a wide area - making the death toll much higher

Question 13

HOW DID PEOPLE DIE Herculaneum

Answer 13

• Herculaneum lay directly under Mt Vesuvius only 7 km from its peak
• Suffered a different and more horrific fate than Pompeii
• The pumice fall in the first few hours was moderately light - in the next phase, Herculaneum felt the full effects of the succession of pyroclastic surges (the first reaching over 400˚C - this would have killed the inhabitants)
• Surges and flows destroyed buildings and carbonised timber and organic matter
• Herculaneum was buried under 20 metres
• Italian scholars Pagano, Mastrolorenzo and Patrone - believed that the inhabitants were killed by thermal shock
• When skulls were examined, they found that these were blackened with reddish discolouration, when this was tested, they found that it was brain matter on the skulls
• The intense heat boiled the brains and skulls exploded (they had been exposed to temperatures of over 500˚C & would have died instantly)