Revision 24405 of "Know-how_Wiki" on enwiki

:''Pompeii is not to be confused with the Roman general [[Pompey]].''

The city of '''Pompeii,''' along with [[Herculaneum]] and many smaller places around the Bay of [[Naples]], were [[Roman Empire|Roman]] municipalities destroyed during an [[volcanic eruption|eruption]] of the [[volcano]] [[Mount Vesuvius]] in [[79]]. The eruption was described by [[Pliny the Younger]] (see below), whose uncle [[Pliny the Elder]] died after travelling across the bay with a flotilla of naval vessels to save some of those trapped in the seaside towns.  

[[Image:Pompeiiruins.jpg|thumb|Ruins in Pompeii]]
[[Image:Pompeii.jpg|thumb|Pompeii under dark skies]]
==Early History==

The town was founded in the ca. [[6th century BC]] by the [[Osci]] or [[Oscans]], a people of central [[Italy]], on a hill near the mouth of the [[Sarno River]] or [[Sarnus River]], already in use as a safe port by [[Greece|Greek]] and [[Phoenicia]]n sailors. When [[Etruscans]] threatened an attack, Pompeii allied with the Greeks, who then dominated the Gulf of Naples. In the [[5th century BC]], the [[Samnites]] conquered it (and all the other towns of [[Campania]]); the new rulers imposed their architecture and enlarged the town. It has been supposed that during the Samnites' domination, Rome conquered Pompeii for a while, but these theories have not been verified.

Pompeii took part in the war that the towns of Campania initiated against Rome, but in [[89 BC]] it was besieged by [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]]. Although  the troops of the [[Social League]], headed by [[Lucius Cluentius]], helped in resisting the Romans, in [[80 BC]] Pompeii was forced to surrender after the conquest of [[Nola]]. It became a Roman colony with the name of '''Colonia [[Cornelius|Cornelia]] [[Venus (goddess)|Veneria]] Pompeianorum'''. The town became an important passage for goods that arrived by sea and had to be sent toward Rome or Southern Italy along the nearby [[Appian Way]].

In [[62]], a violent [[earthquake]] severely damaged Pompeii and many other towns of Campania. In the time between 62 and 79 (the eruption), it was rebuilt, perhaps richer than before in houses and artworks.

==Vesuvius buries the city==
[[Image:Pompeii the last day 1.jpg|thumb|The eruption of the Vesuvius in Discovery Channel's ''[[Pompeii: The Last Day|Pompeii]]''.]]

The inhabitants of Pompeii, as those of the area today, had long been used to minor tremors and wisps of gas from Mt. Vesuvius, and in 65 AD there had been a series of earthquakes serious enough to cause structural damage to houses in town; and in early August of [[79 AD]], all the town's wells dried up; but the warnings were not sharp enough, and the Roman world was stunned when on [[August 23]] a catastrophic volcanic eruption of the volcano buried the city and obscured the sun on a mild afternoon. Coincidentally, the date was that of the [[Vulcanalia]], the festival of the Roman god of fire.

The only reliable eyewitness account of the event was recorded by [[Pliny the Younger]] in a letter to the historian [[Gaius Cornelius Tacitus|Tacitus]]. Pliny saw a strange phenomenon occurring over Mt. Vesuvius: a large dark cloud shaped rather like a pine tree emanating from the mouth of the mountain. After some time the cloud rushed down the flanks of the mountain and covered everything around it, including the surrounding sea. 

The "cloud" that Pliny the Younger wrote about is known today as a [[pyroclastic flow]], which is a cloud of superheated gas, ash, and rock that erupts from a [[volcano]]. Pliny stated that several earth tremors were felt at the time of the eruption and were followed by a very violent shaking of the ground. He also noted that ash was falling in very thick sheets and the village he was in had to be evacuated. Also, the sea was sucked away and forced back by an "earthquake", a phenomenon which modern geologists call a [[tsunami]]. 

His description then turned to the fact that the sun was blocked out by the eruption and the daylight hours were left in darkness. His uncle [[Pliny the Elder]] had already taken several ships to investigate the phenomenon. On the other shore, Pliny the Elder apparently died from [[carbon dioxide]] asphyxiation after lying on the ground.

==Lost for 16 centuries==
[[Image:EuropaPompeiiFresco.jpg|thumb|left|Decorative fresco: Europa and the Bull]]
Thick layers of ash covered two towns located at the base of the mountain, and eventually their names and locations were forgotten. Then Herculaneum was rediscovered in [[1738]], and Pompeii in [[1748]]. These towns have since been excavated to reveal many intact buildings and wall paintings. The towns were actually found in [[1599]] by an architect named Fontana, who was digging a new course for the river [[Sarno]], but it took more than 150 years before a serious campaign was started to unearth them. Giuseppe Fiorelli took charge of the excavations in 1860. It was he who devised the technique of injecting plaster into the spaces left by the decomposed bodies to perfectly recreate the forms of Vesuvius's victims. Until that time, Pompeii and Herculaneum were assumed to be lost forever. 

[[Image:Pompeii-couple.jpg|thumb|A literate couple: the wax covering on the wooden writing tablets could be melted and reused.]]

Some have theorized, without proof, that Fontana initially found some of the famous erotic [[fresco]]es and, due to the strict modesty prevalent during his time, reburied them in an attempt at archaeological censorship. This view is bolstered by reports of later excavators who felt that sites they were working on had already been visited and re-buried. A detailed discussion of the erotic art of Pompeii, with pictures, can be found in a [[Erotic Art in Pompeii|separate article]].

The [[Forum]], the baths, many houses, and some [[villa]]s remained surprisingly well preserved. A hotel (of 1,000 square meters) was found a short distance from the town; it is now nicknamed the "Grand Hotel Murecine".

Pompeii is, in fact, the only ancient town of which the whole topographic structure is known precisely as it was, with no later modifications or additions.  It was not distributed on a regular plan as we are used to seeing in Roman towns, due to the difficult terrain. But its streets are straight and laid out in a grid, in the purest Roman tradition; they are laid with polygonal stones, and have houses and shops on both sides of the street. It followed its [[Decumanus Maximus|decumanus]] and its [[Cardus Maximus|cardus]].

==Earthquake damage and volcanic damage==

[[Image:PompeiiStreet.jpg|thumb|180px|left|''A quiet street in Pompeii'']]

An important current field of research concerns structures that were being restored at the time of the eruption (presumably damaged during the earthquake of 62). Some of the older, damaged, paintings could have been covered with newer ones, and modern instruments are being used to catch a glimpse of the long hidden frescoes. The probable reason why these structures were still being repaired 10 years after the earthquake was the increasing frequency of smaller quakes that led up to the eruption.

During early excavations of the site, occasional voids in the ash layer were found that contained human remains. Someone had the idea of filling the empty spaces with plaster. What resulted were highly accurate and eerie forms of the doomed ''Pompeiani'' who failed to escape, in their last moment of life (see [http://www.marketplace.it/pompeiruins/orto.htm], [http://www.marketplace.it/pompeiruins/orto2.htm], [http://www.marketplace.it/pompeiruins/orto3.htm]). For some of them the expression of terror is quite clearly visible.

==Unique snapshot==
Nevertheless, the town offers a snapshot of Roman life in the [[1st century]]. This moment in time shows that Pompeii was a lively place before the eruption, and evidence abounds of literally the smallest details of everyday life. For example, on the floor of one of the houses (Sirico's), a famous inscription ''Salve, lucru'' (Welcome, money), perhaps humorously intended, shows us a trading company owned by two partners, Sirico and Nummianus (but this could be a nickname, since ''nummus'' means coin, money). In other houses, details abound concerning professions and categories, such as for the "laundry" workers (''Fullones''). Wine jars have been found bearing what is apparently the world's earliest known marketing pun, ''Vesuvinum''. [[Graffiti]] carved on the walls shows us real street [[Latin]].

[[Image:Pompeii-woman.jpg|thumb|Pompeii's well-preserved frescoes offer an unparalleled insight into the culture of an ancient city.]]

At the time of the eruption, the town could have had some 20,000 inhabitants, and was located in an area in which Romans had their vacation villas. Many services were found: the ''Macellum'' (great food market), the ''Pistrinum'' (mill), the ''Thermopolia'' (sort of bar that served cold and hot beverages), the ''cauporioe'' (small restaurants), and an amphitheater.

In [[2002]] another important discovery at the mouth of Sarno river revealed that the port also was populated and that people lived in [[palafitte]]s, within a system of channels that suggested a likeness to [[Venice]] to some scientists. These studies are just beginning to produce results.

[[Image:Pompeiiamphitheatre.jpg|thumb|Teatro Grande with a large audience capacity, next to Teatro Piccolo]]

==Pompeii in popular entertainment==
Pompeii served as the background for the historic novel ''[[The Last Days of Pompeii]]'' and the [[Great Britain|British]] [[television series]] ''[[Up Pompeii]]'', and [[Robert Harris]]' recent novel, ''[[Pompeii (novel)|Pompeii]]'', a fictional account focused on ''aquarius'' ([[engineer]]) Marcus Attilius who must repair a fault in the largest aqueduct in the world, the Aqua Augusta, which has failed somewhere around Mount Vesuvius.

==See also==
*[[Erotic art in Pompeii]]
*[[Gallery of Pompeii and Herculaneum]]
*[[Pompeii: The Last Day]]

==External links==
*[http://www2.pompeiisites.org/ Pompeii official web site]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/3954659.stm Digitalizing Pompeii]

<!-- interwiki -->

[[da:Pompeji]]
[[de:Pompeji]]
[[es:Pompeya]]
[[eo:Pompejo (urbo)]]
[[fr:Pompéi]]
[[he:&#1508;&#1493;&#1502;&#1508;&#1497;&#1497;]]
[[it:Pompei]]
[[nl:Pompeii]]
[[ja:&#12509;&#12531;&#12506;&#12452;]]
[[pl:Pompeje]]
[[sl:Pompeji]]
[[sv:Pompeji]]
[[zh:&#24222;&#22521;]]