The sudden eruption of Mount Suvai caused the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum to disappear in lava and volcanic ash. Since then, these two prosperous cities have left people's sight, and their names have gradually been forgotten. After more than 1,600 years, these two cities that were frozen by the disaster reappeared and became "living fossils" that reproduced the social life of the ancient Romans.
Pompei and Herculaneum are 8 kilometers apart and located at the foot of Mount Vesuvius southeast of Naples, Italy.
Pompei was founded in the 6th century BC. It gradually came under the influence of Roman influence in the 4th century BC. In 89 BC, it was merged into Rome together with Herculaneum. Because it is close to the bay, has bright sunshine and pleasant climate, it quickly attracted the powerful and wealthy people of Rome. They built luxurious amusement parks and mansions here, the city continued to expand, and the streets became increasingly prosperous. In August 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius continued to emit streams of white smoke, indicating a precursor to a volcanic eruption. Residents who are used to living a stable and peaceful life do not pay too much attention to it. They live and work as usual. This kind of phenomenon often happened here before, but it disappeared after a while. But this time, the residents of the two cities never even dreamed that bad luck would befall them. On August 24, residents of the two cities started their day as usual. At noon, the devastating disaster struck. With a deafening explosion, lava surged out of Vesuvius Crater and shot straight into the sky. Black smoke that covered the sky and the sun carried hot volcanic ash and hit people. In an instant, the sky was darkened and the earth was shaking. Afterwards, the volcanic eruption triggered heavy rains, which swept away rocks, silt, and volcanic ash from the mountains, forming huge mudslides that rolled down the mountains and toward the foothill plains. Pliny the Younger (nephew of Pliny the Elder), an eyewitness of the catastrophe, vividly described the situation when the volcano erupted in a letter to the historian Tacitus six years later: "A large dark cloud in the shape of a cedar suddenly Huge flames appeared on the horizon, and the flames were particularly dazzling as the sky became dark. Earthquakes occurred frequently, and we were afraid to go out because the burning rubble was pounding from the sky like hailstones. Come down..." Pliny the Younger experienced this feeling in another city 20 kilometers away from Pompeii. You can imagine the feelings of the residents of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which are located near the volcano.
After the smoke dissipated and the land cooled, Pompeii and Herculaneum, two formerly bustling cities, were buried by hot magma, volcanic ash and mudslides, and their histories were abruptly interrupted. Since then, Vesuvius erupted many times in AD 203, 305, 472, and 512. Due to the repeated coverage of volcanic ash and lava, the ancient city was buried deeper underground, and future generations will no longer be able to see any trace of the ancient city from the ground. For thousands of years, people have only known about the existence of these two ancient cities from ancient books and folklore, but where they were and what they looked like has always been an unsolved mystery.
The years pass by and the seasons pass by. In the blink of an eye, more than 1,600 years have passed. An accidental discovery brought the long-forgotten ancient city of Pompeii back to the world. In 1709, a group of craftsmen digging out a number of carefully carved marble blocks while building a well near Naples. Word spread quickly that there was treasure underground, and more and more people came here to dig. Soon, someone dug out a stone with the word "Pompei" engraved on it. Only then did people realize that this was the ancient Roman city of Pompeii that was buried by the lava after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Soon, the city of Herculaneum not far away was also discovered.
Initially, the excavation of the two cities was completely predatory and destructive, and countless precious cultural relics were destroyed by indiscriminate excavation. From 1860 onwards, some insightful people and officials intervened, and the excavation work gradually got on the right track. After more than 100 years of large-scale and systematic excavation, Pompeii, an ancient city that has been sleeping for thousands of years, has gradually revealed its true colors. Because Pompeii was mainly buried by soft volcanic ash and sepiolite, the excavation work went relatively smoothly; in contrast, Herculaneum was covered by solid lava more than 10 meters thick, making the excavation work very difficult. Only part of it has been excavated so far. Due to the protection of the volcanic dust gravel, Pompeii's city structure, architectural decoration and even the daily necessities of the residents have been preserved in their original state, and even the colors of the paintings are still as bright as before. This city, which was suddenly "solidified" by external forces, is just like a natural history museum, vividly showing people the scene of Pompeii on August 24, 79 AD. This ancient city covers an area of ??1.8 square kilometers and is built on a pentagonal platform. The city site is slightly rectangular, about 2,600 meters long from east to west and 1,600 meters long from north to south. It is surrounded by a 4,800 meter long stone wall. There are 8 city gates excavated in Pompeii, each with two city towers. Its urban area is planned in an orderly manner, with two flat and straight streets running east-west and north-south, dividing the city into nine urban districts, each of which is connected vertically and horizontally by many streets and alleys. The street pavement is paved with gravel, and there are also stones on the roadside that are higher than the road surface, probably for people to walk on rainy days. The road surface has been rutted by various vehicles.
Amazingly, Pompeii had a complete water supply system.
Spring water is introduced from the mountains outside the city into the water tower in the city through an elevated aqueduct, and then distributed to various parts of the city through lead water supply pipes. There is usually a stone water tank with a statue at the intersection, nearly 1 meter high and about 2 meters long, for citizens to drink. There are three public bathrooms in the city, each of which uses a boiler to boil water and guide hot water and warm water to the men's and women's bathrooms. The public bathroom has complete facilities, including hot and cold baths and steam baths, as well as a dressing room and massage room. It is gorgeously decorated and is almost the same as a modern public bathroom.
There is a rectangular square in the southwest of the city. According to the remaining huge marble columns and exquisitely carved arches, it is speculated that the original buildings here are very grand and should be the center of the city's political, economic and religious activities. . There are government office buildings and courts around the square.
In the northeast corner of the square is a commodity distribution center. Archaeologists have discovered dried almonds, chestnuts, figs, walnuts, grapes and other fruits here. It can be imagined that there were many shops here, with a wide range of goods, cars and people coming and going, and it was a bustling scene< /p>