HSC Ancient History
Cities of Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum
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Topic Summary (Mindmap, Dot Points - Handwrite)
HSC Ancient History
Cities of Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum
(1) The geographical setting and natural features of Campania (ACHAH365, ACHAH371)
Pompeii and
Herculaneum
were cities of
Campania;
located near
(coast) the bay of
Naples
Both in Rome,
Italy
Coastal location =
engage in trade
Environment and geographical setting of Pompeii and Herculaneum:
Pompeii
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
10 Km South of the Volcano
built on a volcanic plateau,
between the Sarno River and
Mount Vesuvius
Economic prosperity due to
fertile plains
Connected coast with agriculture
region inland
Covered area: 66 hectares
Surrounded by defensive walls
Thriving city
Due to the eruption of Vesuvius:
• Destroyed and buried under 4-6
m of volcanic ash/pumice
Pomp. and Herc.
had many
resources because
of their coastal
location + fertile
volcanic soil
Herculaneum
•
•
•
7 Km NW of the volcano
Wealthier than Pompeii
approx: 12-20 hectares (entire
town not yet excavated)
Due to the eruption of Vesuvius:
• Destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic
flows
Resources of the Region:
• Climate: mild winters, early spring ] ideal for agriculture
• Crops: wheat, barley, cabbage, broad-beans, chickpeas, dates, figs, olies,
grapes
• Livestock: sheap/gaots ] milk, skins, meat and wool
• Building resources:
- Clay used to make pottery containers for wine, olive oil & other
products
- Local sand mixed with lime made cement
- Lava stone used to create grain mill
• Marine resources: Large variety of fish and shellfish, sea salt (for preservation)
• Industry: Manufactured olive oil, wine, wool, fermented fish paste (garum)
Sources: through
their representation Sources:
provide a glimpse
‣ Map of Campania (Pomp. and Herc)
of the possible
‣ Pliny the Elder, Natural History
resources found in
‣ Strabo, The Geography of Strabo - Book II 5.4.8
Pomp. and Herc.
‣ Wall Painting, Bacchus and Mount Vesuvius - House of Centenary, Pompeii
‣ Mosaic, Produce from Sea - Naple National Archaological Museum
Summary:
HSC Ancient History
Cities of Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum
Geographical Setting and Features of Campania: Sources
Name (Historian,
Little bio)
Pliny the Elder
Strabo
Map
Wall Painting
Mosaic
Extract/Image
What does this source tell us about (dot point)?
HSC Ancient History
Cities of Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum
(2) The eruption of AD 79 and its impact on Pompeii and Herculaneum (ACHAH367, ACHAH372)
The eruption of AD 79:
Pompeii
Due to the eruption of Vesuvius:
• Destroyed and buried under 4-6
m of volcanic ash/pumice
*mainly most of the
impacts are found in
the sources (done
later) so just a
summary of what
happened and
facts/statistics/
numbers I guess are
here!
Herculaneum
Due to the eruption of Vesuvius:
• Destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic
flows
Summary notes of the Eruption of Mt Vesuvius:
• Region of Campania - unstable volcanic area which was prone to earthquakes,
fluctuating water tables and thermal springs
• The eruption on the 24 Aug 79 AD was shocking and unexpected
• Clouds of volcanic gas, ash + stones: 30 km high
• Molten rock + pumice ejected at 1.5 million tonnes per second
• Thermal energy released - 100 000x greater than from the atomic bomb at
Hiroshima
• Pompeii and Herculaneum - buried and thousands dead
😲
Other Info:
• The people couldn’t connect the earthquakes/seismic activities with volcanic
activity from Vesuvius
• Stratigraphic analysis of Vesuvius: enables to collate the phases of the eruption
Phases of the Eruption:
Key Terms:
Pyroclastic Surges;
Pyroclastic Flows;
Pumice;
HSC Ancient History
*Write short dot
point/paragraph of
what happened at
Pompeii and Herc. +
impacts of the
eruption
Cities of Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum
Pompeii:
Herculaneum:
Basically pyroclastic
surges did most of
the damage in Herc.
Sources:
* Haraldur S. isn’t a
‣ Skeletal Remains: @ Herculaneum - Boat
primary source;
‣ Buildings;
however, his work is
‣ Carbonised Items;
reliable: he
‣ Plaster Casts: @ Pompeii - Streets, Houses
analysed sources,
‣ Dio Cassius: Roman Historian
Vesuvius and
‣ Pliny’s (Younger) Letter 1
cross-referenced
‣ Pliny’s (Younger) Letter 2
data from recent
‣ Suetonius’s Extract: Titus
‣
Vulcanologist Haraldur Sigurdsson
explosions
Summary:
HSC Ancient History
Cities of Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum
Eruption of 79 AD: Sources
Archeological Remains: There are various remains that provide evidence for the eruption of Mt Vesuvius
that have been discovered over time in both Pompeii and Herculaneum. These include the plaster casts of
bodies, skeletal remains, building remains and other forms of evidence i.e. carbonised objects. Through
their analysis, it can be derived the events of the eruption and how both towns were affected differently.
Source?
City?
Notes:
Skeletal Remains
Herculaneum
● The crowded victims found at the entrance of a
waterfront chamber - provide evidence of eruptions
impact
● E.Lazer performed autopsy - cause of death asphyxiation
● Upper respiratory tracts were “blocked by a plug of
mucous and ash” or else their bodies were “baked by the
intense heat”
● Provides evidence: pyroclastic surges which hit Herc.
● Location of the body (boat) indicated people were trying
to escape by sea
Plaster Casts
Pompeii
● Casts found in “the garden of the fugitives”; similar to
other casts of Pompeian victims
● Reveal the way people died - Sigurdsson states:
asphyxiation and last actions before death
● They were outside
● Some plaster casts indicate - head trauma; suggests
death from falling rock from Plinian cloud that covered
Pompeii
Buildings
Pomp. and Herc.
Pompeii:
● Limited 2nd story buildings
● Due to a large amount of pumice and volcanic rock;
under the build-up rock, resulting in pressure - many
buildings collapsed
Herculaneum:
● Numerous 2nd story buildings
● Plinian cloud blew over Pompeii; missed Herculaneum
● Still damage due to pyroclastic surges + volcanic flow;
covered both towns
Carbonised Items
Pomp. and Herc.
● Carbonised bread has been found in bakeries; suggest
there was extreme heat of the volcanic flow of Vesuvius
after surges
● Volcanic flow burned all the organic matter; unless is
protected from flow
● The bread was protected in the oven; however high
temperatures it ended up being carbonised
● In Herc. pyroclastic surged carbonised organic material
HSC Ancient History
Cities of Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum
Written Sources: There are varying written accounts of Mt Vesuvius’ eruption, this includes the only
eyewitness account of the events of the eruption with the letters of Pliny the younger, which is one of the
most significant sources in the understanding of the eruption. Other historical accounts depict the
eruption, and although their reliability is to be questioned, they all provide different aspects of evidence
for the eruption.
Source?
Dio Cassius
City?
Pompeii and
Herc.
Beyond the
region of
Campania
Notes:
“an extraordinary crash was heard as if the mountains were falling
down and huge stones were hurled up…a great amount of fire and
never-ending smoke, so that the whole atmosphere was
darkened…an unbelievable quantity of ash was blown out which
covered the land and the sea and filled the air…it buried two entire
cities, Pompeii and Herculaneum”
● Roman historian; describing events of Mt V 150 yrs after
eruption
● Concur’s with archaeological evidence - Pliny’s Letters;
● as they both talk about: a cloud of smoke and ash, darkness
● He mentions both cities and beyond Region of Campania
● Only medieval/Greek abbreviations of his text have been
found
● He does not state his sources
Pliny’s Letter 1
Stabiae
“a cloud of unusual size and appearance… from which the mountain
the cloud was rising…its shape can be best expressed as being like a
pine tree…I believe it was carried up by the first blast… the earth
and ash it carried”
● To Tacitus from Pliny the younger; the only 1st hand recount
of the early stages of the eruption
● Include smoke, ash - Plinian Stage
● Purpose of this letter: to glorify Pliny the elder and describe
the circumstances of death
● Focus location is Stabiae
● Both letters he wrote were written 25 yrs later after eruption
● He was remembering when he was 17
How the hell did he survive the eruption???!!!!
Pliny’s Letter 2
Misenum
“buildings standing around us were already shaking…we saw the
sea sucked back on itself…on the other side, a dreadful black cloud
was broken up by twisted and quivering fires, and gaped open to
reveal long forms of fire in flashes like lightning but bigger…ash now
falling, not as yet thickly”
●
●
●
●
This letter describes later stages of the eruption
Including earthquakes and surges
Not focused on Pliny the elder,
More on peoples reaction to the eruption
HSC Ancient History
Cities of Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum
● Focus location: Misenum - where he was when the eruption
occurred
● Limitation as no reference to Pompeii and Herculaneum does not mention the occurrences either
Suetonius’s
Extract
“there were some mournful things that happened by chance during
his reign, such as the eruption of Mt Vesuvius in Campania… he
chose by lot from those who had been consuls ‘Guardians for the
re-establishment of Campania’ and the property of those crushed by
Vesuvius”
● Reference to the Emperor Titus’s response to the eruption as
written by Suetonius Tranquillus from his ‘Life of Titus’.
● It reaffirms that the eruption of Mt V occurred and it was
dealt with by the Roman Emperor as a natural disaster
● S was 10 years old at the time of eruption;
● He as a close friend of Pliny the younger
● Later became chief secretary to Emperor Hadrian
HSC Ancient History
Cities of Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum
Haraldur Sigurdsson: The work of vulcanologist Haraldur Sigurdsson is not a primary source, although he
is the most reliable source of information as he analyses various sources of evidence for the eruption.
Sigurdsson evaluates Pliny’s account, the archaeological debris from the eruption, and cross-referenced
data from other, more recent eruptions to establish a broad sequence of events for the Mt Vesuvius
eruption.
Source?
City?
Notes:
Mt St Helen
Pompeii & Herc.
● H.S suggested that the eruption of St H; is a good source of
evidence for a modern eruption which according to Pliny is
similar to the eruption of Mt Vesuvius
● Stratigraphic evidence (from Mt St. Helens) has been used in
the examination of the strata of Pomp. and Herc.
● Provides a broad sense of the events of Mt Vesuvius’
eruption + causes of death for the victims in Pomp. and
Herc.
Autopsy
Pompeii (closer to
the eruption)
● Autopsy of the victims of Mt St. Helens revealed that the
cause of death: was asphyxiation
● He compared these results with the victims of Vesuvius suggesting a majority of them died rapidly due to
asphyxiation
● – consistent due to volcanic surges – revealed through
stratigraphic verification + positions of the corpses
Strata
Pompeii, Herc.,
Oplonits and
Stabiae
● Examined strata of the cities (listed left) to establish the
cause of death for victims as he referenced to the Mt St.
Helens strata
● Through these examinations he was able to determine the
number of surges (6)
● Which surges affected which are + how the difference in
location impacted on death
Eruption
Timeline
Pompeii and
Herc.
● “Grain sizes are fingerprints of an eruption” H. Sigurdsson &
S. Carey, ‘The eruption of Vesuvius in AD79’
● He reconstructed phases of the eruption using the grain
sizes in the strata of P and H
● This included: The Plinian phase, the downpour of pumice
and volcanic rock and the 6 surges and where they affected.
● Although there is a fault in this timeline, it is based on Pliny’s
letters and the assumption that Pumice fell at a regular rate
of 15cm/h
HSC Ancient History
Cities of Vesuvius - Pompeii and Herculaneum
(3) Representations of Pompeii and Herculaneum over time (ACHAH383)
●
Great resource for this dot point: Research and add accordingly – Survey: Representations of
Pompeii and Herculaneum Over Time