Pompeii: the story of the death of the city with a photo. History of excavations of Pompeii. Pompeii: alternative history

What do we know about the ancient city of Pompeii? History tells us that once this thriving city in a moment died with all the inhabitants under the lava of an awakened volcano. In fact, the history of Pompeii is very interesting and full of many details.

Founding of Pompeii

Pompeii is one of the oldest Roman cities, which is located in the province of Naples in the region of Campania. On the one hand, the coast of the Gulf of Naples (which was formerly called Kumansky), and on the other - the river Sarn (in ancient times).

How were Pompeii founded? The history of the city tells us that it was founded by an ancient tribe of an ossu in the 7th century BC. These facts confirm the fragments of the temple of Apollo and the Doric temple, the architecture of which corresponds to the period when Pompeii was founded. The city was standing at the intersection of several paths - in Nola, Stabia and Kuma.

Wars and submission

In the 6th century BC Pompeii was conquered by the Etruscan tribe, and a little later by the Greeks from the city of Kuma.

In the years 343-290 BC there were Samnitic wars, where the city acted as an ally of Rome. In the same status, Pompeii was also in the Second Punic War, which took place in 218-201 BC.

But during the Allied war, Pompeii took the side of the opponents of Rome, and it so happened that later they turned into a Roman colony created by Lucius Cornelius Sulla in 80 BC.

This was not his first attempt to conquer Pompeii. In 89 BC Sulla led the siege of the city during the war, but he resisted and was fortified with an additional 12 towers. But soon the city was conquered and populated by veterans of the Allied War on the orders of Sulla.

Since then, Pompeii has become a seaport, through which goods were delivered to Rome and Italy along the Appian Way. Also, the city was an important center for the production of wine and olive oil.

Pompeii: a story of the prosperity of the city

Mighty it was a settlement. In the period from the first century AD and until the year of his death Pompeii flourished most brightly. The history of the city says that in those years all the basic types of structures that were characteristic of the Roman city of those times were built: the temple of Jupiter, the basilica, the indoor market of goods. Of course, cultural and administrative buildings were built in Pompeii.

There were 2 theaters in the city, one of which, smaller, was covered and used as an odeon. The amphitheater (the oldest among all known stories), which was designed for 20 thousand spectators, as well as 3 terms, was preserved.

The city was decorated with various sculptures and masterpieces of art, the streets were cobbled. But at that time the life of the settlement of Pompeii was coming to an end, the history of the city (the date of death was getting closer).

Also in Pompeii there were many houses, shops, which were named after certain events, personalities or works, for example - Villa Mysteries, Faun's House, Menandra's House, Epigram House.

The owners of rich houses decorated their homes with various frescoes and mosaics.

The earthquake in Pompeii is the harbinger of the end

Prosperous and beautiful was the city of Pompeii. The story of his death is terrible. And the instrument of mass destruction was the volcano Vesuvius.

The first precursor of the impending catastrophe was an earthquake that occurred on February 5, 63 BC.

Seneca in one of his works noted that since Campania was a seismically active zone, such an earthquake is not uncommon for it. And earthquakes occurred earlier, but their power was very small, the inhabitants to them just got used to. But this time expectations exceeded all expectations.

Then in three neighboring cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples - the buildings were very damaged. The destruction was such that the house could not be completely restored in the next 16 years. All 16 years there were active restoration works, reconstruction, cosmetic repairs. Also in the plans were to build several new buildings, for example, the Central Baths, which until the death of Pompeii was never completed.

The death of Pompeii. The first day

The inhabitants tried to restore Pompeii. History of the death of the city indicates that the disaster began in 79 BC, on the day of August 24 and lasted 2 days. The eruption, as it was believed before, of a sleeping volcano, destroyed everything. Then, not only Pompeii, but also three other cities - Stabia, Oplontia and Herculaneum - died under the lava.

In the afternoon, a cloud appeared above the volcano, consisting of ash and steam, but no one paid special attention to it. A little later the cloud covered the sky over the whole city, and ash flakes began to settle on the streets.

The shocks from the ground continued. Gradually, they increased to such an extent that the wagons were turned over, and the finishing materials fell from the houses. Together with the ashes, stones began to fall from the sky.

Streets and houses of the city filled the suffocating sulfur fumes, many people were simply choking in their homes.

Many tried to leave cities with valuable things, while others who were unable to leave their property, perished in the ruins of their homes. The products of the volcanic eruption overtook people both in public places and outside the city. But still most of the inhabitants were able to leave Pompeii. History confirms this fact.

The death of Pompeii. Second day

The next day the air in the city became hot, the volcanic eruption itself took place, which destroyed all living things, all the buildings and property of people. After the eruption, there was a lot of ash that covered the whole city, the thickness of the ash layer reached 3 meters.

After the disaster, a special commission arrived at the scene of the events, stating the "death" of the city and the fact that it is not subject to restoration. Then it was still possible on what was left of the streets of the former city, to meet people who were trying to find their property.

Together with Pompeii, more cities were lost. But they were discovered only thanks to the discovery of Herculaneum. This second city, also at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, did not perish from lava and ash. After the eruption, the volcano, like the affected cities, was covered with a three-meter layer of rocks and ash, which loomed dangerously, like an avalanche, which can go away at any time.

And soon after the eruption there was a pouring rain, which carried a thick layer of ash from the slopes of the volcano and the water column with dust and stones, fell directly to Herculaneum. The depth of the stream was 15 meters, so the city was buried alive under the flood from Vesuvius.

How Pompeii was found

The stories and stories of the terrible events of that year were passed down from generation to generation for a long time. But after several centuries people lost the idea of where the dead city of Pompeii was. The history of the death of this city gradually began to lose its facts. People lived their own lives. Even in cases when the remains of ancient buildings were found by people, for example, digging wells, no one could even think that these were parts of the ancient city of Pompeii. The history of excavations began only in the 18th century and is indirectly connected with the name of Maria Amalia Hristina.

It was the daughter of King Augustus of the Saxon Third, who left the Dresden Court after her marriage with Carl of Bourbon. Charles was the king of both Sicilies.

The present Queen was in love with art and with great interest inspected the palace halls, parks and other her possessions. And one day she drew attention to the sculptures that were previously found before the last eruption of the volcano Vesuvius. Some of these statues were found by chance, and others - from the submission of General d'Elbeffe. Queen Mary was so impressed with the beauty of the sculptures that she asked her husband to find new ones for her.

Last time at that time, Vesuvius erupted in 1737. During this incident, part of its peak flew into the air, the slope remained naked. Since the volcano had not been active for a year and a half, the king agreed to start looking for sculptures. And they started from the place where the general had once completed his search.

Search for statues

Excavations took place with great difficulty, since it was necessary to destroy a thick (15 meters) layer of hardened lava. For this, the king used special tools, gunpowder, the strength of the workers. In the end, the workers came across something metallic in artificial mines. So three large pieces of bronze horses of a giant size were found.

After this, it was decided to seek help from a specialist. For this, the Marquis Marcello Venuti, who was the keeper of the royal library, was invited. Further, three more marble statues of Romans in toga, the trunk of a bronze horse, and also painted columns were found.

Detection of Herculaneum

At that moment it became clear that there would be even more. The royal couple arrived at the excavation site on December 22, 1738, inspected the discovered staircase and an inscription stating that a certain Rufus had erected Theater The Herculanense at his own expense. Specialists continued excavations, because they knew that the theater meant the existence of a city. There were a lot of statues, which brought a water flow to the rear wall of the theater. This was how Herculaneum was discovered. Thanks to this find, it was possible to organize a museum, which had no equal at that time.

But the Pompeii were at a shallower depth than Herculaneum. And the king, having consulted the chief of his technical detachment, decided to postpone the excavations, taking into account the scientists' notes on the location of the city of Pompeii. History has noted all the memorable events by the hands of scientists.

Excavations of Pompeii

So, the search for Pompeii began on April 1, 1748. After 5 days, the first fragment of the wall painting was found, and on April 19 - the remains of a man from whose hands several silver coins rolled out. It was the center of the city of Pompeii. Unfortunately, not realizing the importance of the find, experts considered that it was necessary to look elsewhere, and they filled this place.

A little later was found an amphitheater and a villa, which was later called the House of Cicero. The walls of this building were beautifully painted and decorated with frescoes. All the art objects were seized, and the villa immediately fell asleep back.

After that, for 4 years the excavations and the history of Pompeii were abandoned, attention was transferred to Herculaneum, where a house with the library "Villa dei Papiri" was found.

In 1754, experts again returned to the excavations of the city of Pompeii, to its southern part, where an ancient wall and remains of several graves were found. Since then, for the excavation of the city of Pompeii took an active part.

Pompeii: alternative history of the city

Today, nevertheless, there is an opinion that the year of Pompey's death is an invention based on the letter of Pliny the Younger, who allegedly describes the volcanic eruption, Tacitus. There are questions about why, in these letters, Pliny does not mention the names of the cities of Pompeii or Herculaneum, nor the fact that Uncle Pliny the Elder lived there, who died in Pompeii.

Some scholars deny the fact that the catastrophe occurred precisely in 79 BC, in view of the fact that in different sources one can find information about 11 eruptions that occurred in the period from 202 to 1140 AD (after the case that destroyed Pompeii). And the next eruption is dated only in 1631, after which the volcano remained active until 1944. As you can see, the facts show that the volcano, which was active, fell asleep for 500 years.

Pompeii in the modern world

Very interesting today are the history of the city of Herculaneum and the history of Pompeii. Photos, videos and various scientific materials can be found in the library or on the Internet. Many scientists-historians are still trying to solve the riddle of the ancient city, to learn its culture as much as possible.

Many artists, including K. Bryullov, in addition to other works, depicted the last day of Pompeii. The story is that in 1828 K. Bryullov visited the sites of excavation and even then made sketches. In the period from 1830 to 1833 he created his artistic masterpiece.

Today the city has been restored to its maximum, it is one of the most famous cultural monuments (on a par with the Colosseum or Venice). The city has not yet been fully excavated, but many buildings are available for inspection. Through the streets of the city you can walk and admire the beauty, which is more than 2000 years!