At around 1:00pm on the 24th of August in the summer of 79 AD, Mt Vesuvius erupted after a number of small earthquakes throughout the morning. A huge column of gas , pumice and ash spurted out from the volcano and rose to a height of over 20km. The two main towns which were most significantly affected by the eruptions were Pompeii and Herculaneum. Pompeii is about 11km and Herculaneum is 6km away from Mt Vesuvius. The black cloud of ash and debris blew South and created a thick layer of darkness across the sky. The great cloud of ash and volcanic material continued to grow higher and higher as small volcanic stones and ash coupled with toxic gas rained down on the people of Pompeii, covering the town in a thin layer of ash. Although some people did flee, many ending up returning under the false impression that the worst was over. On the morning of the next day, the eruption column had hit a height of 32km in the air which stopped any daylight from shining through while ash was falling more quickly and beginning to form a thick blanket over Pompeii and Herculaneum. Those in Herculaneum fled to the boat sheds, thinking it would be a safe place for shelter, the skeletons of 300 people in total were found in the series of boat sheds lining the beach.
At approximately 4am in the morning, the massive eruption column could no longer support its own weight and subsequently causing the North side of Mt Vesuvius to collapse. This produced the first in a sequence of six pyroclastic currents. The pyroclastic current was an overwhelming wave of intensely heated (over 500°C) ash and gas which surged down the volcano slope to the Earth. This pyroclastic current hit the town of Herculaneum in less than 5 minutes, instantly killing and vaporising the flesh of all the inhabitants of Herculaneum with the current's deadly surge of heat. The fourth pyroclastic current and the other surges which came after it has the power to overcome the towns walls encompassing Pompeii in toxic gas and smothering ash. Due to the longer distance between Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii, the heat of the pyroclastic current has cooled from 500°C to 300°C so the inhabitants of Pompeii, although still killed instantly, their flesh was not vaporised.
Mt Vesuvius is classified as a stratovolcano as it's eruptions contain both explosive eruptions and pyroclastic flows. Mt Vesuvius erupted explosively and not with lava because of the gas bubbles in the magma. As the gas bubbles make their way to the surface, they become larger and larger until the volcano erupts and the gas bubbles expand immensely, splitting apart the magma into tiny bits of ash and pumice. If the volcano erupted with lava then the towns would have been completely destroyed instead of preserved by being buried 10 ft. deep (Pompeii) and 75 ft. deep (Herculaneum) under ash.
Pompeii had a population of roughly 12,000-15,000 and was a very busy commercial town which overlooked the Bay of Naples, the centre of their trading industry. The day of the eruption was a public holiday and the people of Pompeii were enjoying themselves while celebrating the Festival of the Divine Augustus. For at least four days prior to the eruption, there would have been small underground rumblings which would most likely have been ignored as earth tremors were considered normal and had been occurring almost every year. They did not suspect that this time it was different. This time Mt Vesuvius was going to explode.
Herculaneum was a much smaller town, around 1/4 of the size of Pompeii and had a populations of about 4,000 to 5,000 people. The town of Herculaneum was a luxurious holiday resort, seemingly made for the most wealthy citizens of the Roman Empire. It was a place to relax and enjoy an affluent lifestyle. This was discovered during the excavations of Herculaneum as many grand structures and luxuriant villas with views panning outwards to the sea were uncovered.
In 79AD all of Rome was under the rule of the Roman Empire which began in 68AD. The Roman emperor at the time of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius was Titus, who had succeeded his Father, Vespasian as emperor in June 24, 79 AD. So the frozen towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii are able to provide us with a picture, an inishgt into what life was like before the fall of the Roman Empire. This is unique to Pompeii and Herculaneum as much of what Roman social life was like prior to this time was destroyed due to wars and reconstruction as Romans changed their views and structural techniques.
The eruption of Mt Vesuvius was such a significant event as it preserved the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum and rendered them frozen in time so when the towns were dug up and discovered 2000 years later, an intimate and historically accurate view of Roman life was painted in great detail, enabling archaeologists and historians to learn so much and unravel a wide range of clues about life in ancient Rome.
At approximately 4am in the morning, the massive eruption column could no longer support its own weight and subsequently causing the North side of Mt Vesuvius to collapse. This produced the first in a sequence of six pyroclastic currents. The pyroclastic current was an overwhelming wave of intensely heated (over 500°C) ash and gas which surged down the volcano slope to the Earth. This pyroclastic current hit the town of Herculaneum in less than 5 minutes, instantly killing and vaporising the flesh of all the inhabitants of Herculaneum with the current's deadly surge of heat. The fourth pyroclastic current and the other surges which came after it has the power to overcome the towns walls encompassing Pompeii in toxic gas and smothering ash. Due to the longer distance between Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii, the heat of the pyroclastic current has cooled from 500°C to 300°C so the inhabitants of Pompeii, although still killed instantly, their flesh was not vaporised.
Mt Vesuvius is classified as a stratovolcano as it's eruptions contain both explosive eruptions and pyroclastic flows. Mt Vesuvius erupted explosively and not with lava because of the gas bubbles in the magma. As the gas bubbles make their way to the surface, they become larger and larger until the volcano erupts and the gas bubbles expand immensely, splitting apart the magma into tiny bits of ash and pumice. If the volcano erupted with lava then the towns would have been completely destroyed instead of preserved by being buried 10 ft. deep (Pompeii) and 75 ft. deep (Herculaneum) under ash.
Pompeii had a population of roughly 12,000-15,000 and was a very busy commercial town which overlooked the Bay of Naples, the centre of their trading industry. The day of the eruption was a public holiday and the people of Pompeii were enjoying themselves while celebrating the Festival of the Divine Augustus. For at least four days prior to the eruption, there would have been small underground rumblings which would most likely have been ignored as earth tremors were considered normal and had been occurring almost every year. They did not suspect that this time it was different. This time Mt Vesuvius was going to explode.
Herculaneum was a much smaller town, around 1/4 of the size of Pompeii and had a populations of about 4,000 to 5,000 people. The town of Herculaneum was a luxurious holiday resort, seemingly made for the most wealthy citizens of the Roman Empire. It was a place to relax and enjoy an affluent lifestyle. This was discovered during the excavations of Herculaneum as many grand structures and luxuriant villas with views panning outwards to the sea were uncovered.
In 79AD all of Rome was under the rule of the Roman Empire which began in 68AD. The Roman emperor at the time of the eruption of Mt Vesuvius was Titus, who had succeeded his Father, Vespasian as emperor in June 24, 79 AD. So the frozen towns of Herculaneum and Pompeii are able to provide us with a picture, an inishgt into what life was like before the fall of the Roman Empire. This is unique to Pompeii and Herculaneum as much of what Roman social life was like prior to this time was destroyed due to wars and reconstruction as Romans changed their views and structural techniques.
The eruption of Mt Vesuvius was such a significant event as it preserved the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum and rendered them frozen in time so when the towns were dug up and discovered 2000 years later, an intimate and historically accurate view of Roman life was painted in great detail, enabling archaeologists and historians to learn so much and unravel a wide range of clues about life in ancient Rome.