Naples: flanked by two dangerous volcanoes. On one side: Vesuvius, destroyer of ancient Pompeii. And on the other: Campi Fledrei, an invisible monster that threatens three million people. Now scientists are seeing increases in volcanic activity and are scrambling to unlock the inner secrets of these volcanoes before it is too late. The Pompeii Prophecy: Countdown to Devastation, Channel 5
In the year 79 C.E. Vesuvius exploded and buried the entire city in over a dozen feet of ash. Over the last 150 years archaeologists have been carefully uncovering the remains revealing a scene of carnage and death. A city and people frozen in time at the exact moment an eruption struck. ibid.
In a single day in 79 A.D. the entire city of Pompeii was buried by a massive volcanic eruption. Ash and lava covered many secrets of life in those times, secrets which would remain hidden for 1,500 years. In Search of s4e10 … Pompeii, 1979
Pompeii: the ancient Roman city destroyed and buried by a volcano. Now experts are re-examining a 2000-year-old crime scene in the city: a basement full of bodies, many of them robbed of all their worldly goods. It’s an investigation that will reveal Pompeii was living in fear of criminal gangs where rough justice ruled and where retribution and brutality were never far away. Could our image of Pompeii as a highly civilised Roman metropolis be false? New evidence is revealing an underworld of lawlessness and godfathers. A city where the fear of death loomed large long before the cataclysmic eruption. Gangs of Pompeii aka Pompeii: The Bodies in the Basement, Channel 5 2019
A world where thieves would steal from the dead in the midst of a natural disaster. ibid.
An enormous underclass … ‘Ordinary people had a difficult life, had a short life, lived a much more violent life.’ ibid. Dr Russell
The Roman empire was surprisingly lawless. As far as the government was concerned, protecting life and property was a matter for individuals. ibid.
Groups were known to use violence to get their own way. The graffiti across Pompeii reveals the city was gripped by powerful collegia, each with their own agenda. ibid.
Growing friction between Pompeii and its neighbours. ibid.
Rome laid down measures to take back control. ibid.
In the shadow of a mighty volcano, on the Italian coast, lies the greatest archaeological time capsule ever discovered: Pompeii. The incredible Roman metropolis where an entire city and even its people have been frozen in time. Pompeii: The Discovery with Dan Snow, Channel 5 2023
In the autumn of A.D. 79, in the middle of a normal day, a volcano, Mount Vesuvius, erupted. ibid.
One hundred miles of coastline was totally covered. ibid.
It was horrific, a tragedy, but it also preserved one of the most astonishing treasures from the ancient world. Bettany Hughes, Secrets of Pompeii’s Greatest Treasures, Channel 5 2020
The top ten treasures of Pompeii:
The most complete [road] in existence. This is the Via dell’Abbondanza, Pompeii’s main shopping street. ibid.
As much as 40% of Pompeii were not free. The Roman Empire commanded the biggest slave population in human history. As many as 200 million people were enslaved during its lifetime. ibid.
ix. Cave Canem – the Dog Mosaic. ibid.
viii. The wonderful Stabian baths … the largest and most lavish of them all. ibid.
vii: The Forum of Pompeii … an area the size of the White House right in the centre of Pompeii. ibid.
vi. As the bodies decomposed they left these curious voids, kind of human-shaped holes inside. All that were left inside were skeletons and bones of Pompeii’s victims … Resin lady’s frantic and tragic last moments of life. ibid.
v. The secret underground world of the Roman elite … One of the greatest surviving artworks … the world-famous Fresco at the Villa of the Mysteries. ibid.
iv. The shocking truth of Romans’ sex lives … The Lupanare brothel. ibid.
The dark stinking rooms of the Lupanare catered to Pompeii’s poor. ibid.
The gardens and dining rooms of Pompeiians were filled with statues and paintings of erotic art. ibid.
iii. An unprecedented state-of-the-art entertainment facility for the lucky punters of Pompeii … the city’s groundbreaking amphitheatre. ibid.
ii. This district was the Beverly Hills of the Roman world … One of Pompeii’s most luxurious and frankly mega-show-off villas … the jaw-dropping House of Menander. ibid.
i. The victims that are the people of the city. ibid.
In 79 A.D. Mount Vesuvius in southern Italy erupted. The scale of the eruption is almost impossible to get your head round. It buried the gorgeous ancient Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum under a blanket of ash up to twenty-four metres thick. But its volcanic debris also preserved these amazing towns and the remains of many of the people. Bettany Hughes, Pompeii: Secrets of the Dead, Channel 5 2021
Pliny lived here, near the naval base on the Cape of Misenum. ibid.
The day before the eruption, these earthquakes must have impacted those left behind in Pompeii. ibid.
Around 11 o’clock in the morning there was the hiss of an explosion and a cloud of ash appeared above Mount Vesuvius. ibid.
In A.D. 79 the eruption of Mount Vesuvius entombed Pompeii in metres of pumice and ash preserving the city and its people for two millennia. Today Pompeii’s ruins are the archaeological wonder of the world. But incredibly one third of the 66-hectare site remains unexcavated. Now this is about to change. Pompeii: The New Dig s1e1, BBC 2024
‘This is the biggest excavation in a generation in Pompeii. It’s an entire city block.’ ibid. comment
Rediscovered in the 1740s archaeologists have been excavating the ruins ever since. ibid.
At the time of the eruption Pompeii was thriving. ibid.
These earthquakes damaged buildings across the city. ibid.
Bay of Naples: This region is full of treasures of the past waiting to be discovered. Pompeii: The New Dig s1e2: Escape, diver
Just 28 miles from Pompeii, across the Bay of Naples, are the sunken ruins of the Roman port of Misenum. In A.D. 79 the Roman writer Pliny the Younger is here visiting his uncle, the Admiral of the Fleet. Pliny records every detail as he watches the drama unfold. ibid.
The lavish frescoes include what looks like one of the first ever depictions of a pizza. ibid.
For 18 hours Vesuvius rained pumice and ash on to the city. Pompeii had entered its final hours. Pompeii: The New Dig s1e3: The Final Hours
For over a year an all-Italian team of archaeologists have been unearthing an entire city block. ibid.
Known as pyroclastic flows they are unstoppable and unsurvivable. ibid.
As the superheated avalanche crashed into the city, it killed and buried everything in its path. ibid.
The team believe these are the bodies of enslaved workers … the full brutality of life for some of Pompeii’s poorest. ibid.
The Roman city of Pompeii thrived in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, a bustling cosmopolitan seaside town on the Bay of Naples, a favourite retreat of the Roman elite, a melting pot of traders from across the Empire. But in two desperate days it was lost. In A.D. 79 the volcano erupted burying the city and its people under metres of pumice and ash. Pompeii: The New Dig s2e1, BBC 2005
Traces of those lost lives are emerging once more. ibid.
The wealthiest houses in Pompeii often had indoor courtyards, private green spaces, away from the chaos and bustle of the public places. ibid.