Herculaneum was a city of 5, and a favorite summer destination for rich Romans. Named for the mythic hero Hercules , Herculaneum housed opulent villas and grand Roman baths. Gambling artifacts found in Herculaneum and a brothel unearthed in Pompeii attest to the decadent nature of the cities. There were smaller resort communities in the area as well, such as the quiet little town of Stabiae.
At noon on August 24, 79 A. Some 2, people stayed in Pompeii, holed up in cellars or stone structures, hoping to wait out the eruption. A westerly wind protected Herculaneum from the initial stage of the eruption, but then a giant cloud of hot ash and gas surged down the western flank of Vesuvius, engulfing the city and burning or asphyxiating all who remained.
This lethal cloud was followed by a flood of volcanic mud and rock, burying the city. The people who remained in Pompeii were killed on the morning of August 25 when a cloud of toxic gas poured into the city, suffocating all that remained. A flow of rock and ash followed, collapsing roofs and walls and burying the dead. Much of what we know about the eruption comes from an account by Pliny the Younger, who was staying west along the Bay of Naples when Vesuvius exploded.
Some bewailed their own fate. Others prayed to die. His uncle, Pliny the Elder, was less lucky. Pliny the Elder, a celebrated naturalist, at the time of the eruption was the commander of the Roman fleet in the Bay of Naples.
After Vesuvius exploded, he took his boats across the bay to Stabiae, to investigate the eruption and reassure terrified citizens. After going ashore, he was overcome by toxic gas and died. Pompeii was buried under 14 to 17 feet of ash and pumice, and the nearby seacoast was drastically changed.
Herculaneum was buried under more than 60 feet of mud and volcanic material. Some residents of Pompeii later returned to dig out their destroyed homes and salvage their valuables, but many treasures were left and then forgotten.
Archaeologists have long debated whether the mountain actually erupted on August Some have pointed to autumnal fruits discovered in the ruins as a sign that the date is too early. An inscription uncovered in also suggests the eruption could have taken place two months later in mid-October. It has erupted more than 50 times in the past, although it is most famous for its massively destructive and deadly eruption that destroyed the Roman city of Pompeii and Herculaneum.
Mount Vesuvius remained fairly dormant for centuries before its famed eruption in 79 A. During the height of the Roman empire , the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum thrived at the foot of the mountain along with its 20, inhabitants composed of farmers and merchants. They built magnificent structures, opulent Roman baths , and extravagant villas surrounded by vineyards and orchards that sprung out of its dark fertile soil.
Little did they know that the latter was the result of early eruptions that fortified the soil with volcanic materials. On August 24, A. By noon that day, Mount Vesuvius exploded spewing volcanic ash and clouds of gas. According to History, for 12 long hours, the city was showered with volcanic ash and a hail of pumice stones some of which were three inches in diameter.
While the city was mostly spared during the first few hours of the eruption, a cloud of dark gas eventually traveled down the side of the mountain, asphyxiating the people who stayed. The volcano soon spewed more rocks and ash catapulting them into the city which destroyed structures and buried the dead. Hot ash formed around their bodies which somehow preserved them. The hardened volcanic material around the victims captured their final moments in detail—down to their clothes, position, and for some, even their facial features.
Reconstruction was being carried out on several temples and public buildings. Seneca, a historian, recorded that the quakes lasted for several days and also heavily damaged the town of Herculaneum and did minor damage to the city of Naples before subsiding.
The major quake was followed by several minor shakes throughout the following years. Because seismic activity was so common in the area, citizens paid little attention in early August of 79 when several quakes shook the earth beneath Herculaneum and Pompeii. People were unprepared for the explosion that took place shortly after noon on the 24th of August.
Around 2, residents survived the first blast. Pliny the Elder , a Roman author, described the massive debris cloud. Like a very high tree the cloud went high and expanded in different branches … sometimes white, sometimes dark and stained by the sustained sand and ashes.
Shortly after midnight, a wall of volcanic mud engulfed the town of Herculaneum, obliterating the town as its citizens fled toward Pompeii. About a. Most victims died instantly as the superheated air burned their lungs and contracted their muscles, leaving the bodies in a semi-curled position to be quickly buried in ash and thus preserved in detail for hundreds of years.
Far away in Misenum, approximately 13 miles 21 kilometers from Pompeii, Pliny the Younger , the year-old nephew of Pliny the Elder, and his mother joined other refugees escaping the earthquakes rocking their city. They observed, "the sea retreating as if pushed by the earthquakes. Pliny writes of "black and horrible clouds, broken by sinuous shapes of flaming wind. On March 17, , a two-week-long eruption began with lava from the summit of Mount Vesuvius. Vesuvius Observatory, is quoted as saying, "A marvelous thing, my Vesuvius.
It covers land with precious ash that makes the earth fertile and grapes grow, and wine. That's why, after every eruption, people rebuild their homes on the slopes of the volcano. That is why they call the slopes of Vesuvius the compania felix — the happy land.
During the eruption, soldiers and airmen of the th Bomber Group were stationed at the Pompeii Airfield just a few miles from the base of the volcano. Diaries record the awesome sights and sounds they witnessed in this latest major eruption. Guards wore leather jackets and "steel pot" helmets to protect themselves from rains of hot ash and small rocks.
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