The Worst Part Of Pompeii's Destruction Isn't What You Think
The sudden devastation of Pompeii by Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. was tragic. However, the rapidity of its destruction wasn't the most disturbing aspect; there were even more horrifying elements to the catastrophe.
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00:00The sudden devastation of Pompeii by Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD was tragic, however, the
00:06rapidity of its destruction wasn't the most disturbing aspect.
00:09There were even more horrifying elements to the catastrophe.
00:13The tragedy at Pompeii was worsened by two festivals occurring simultaneously.
00:17According to Pompeii, an archaeological guide, the Pompeians were celebrating a multi-day
00:22festival in honor of Emperor Augustus, who had died 65 years earlier and was recently
00:28deified.
00:29The town's streets were bustling with festivities, including street musicians, fortune-tellers,
00:35plays and athletic events.
00:37Performers, athletes, visitors and tourists from outside Pompeii had flocked to the town
00:42for the celebrations, significantly increasing the population.
00:46This influx of people resulted in a higher death toll when Mount Vesuvius erupted.
00:50Moreover, the day before the eruption was Vulcanalia, a festival dedicated to Vulcan,
00:56the god of fire and volcanoes.
00:58Despite visible signs of the impending eruption, such as smoke, small earthquakes and loud
01:03rumblings, the townspeople misinterpreted these warnings.
01:06Because of Vulcanalia, they saw these signs as positive omens from Vulcan, who they believed
01:11was busy at his forge inside Mount Vesuvius and pleased with their celebrations.
01:16This misinterpretation led them to feel secure rather than evacuate, ultimately contributing
01:21to the high number of casualties.
01:24The disaster at Pompeii was exacerbated not only by the timing of the festivals, but also
01:29by the weather conditions.
01:30Perspecta Weather notes that in August, winds in that region of Italy typically blow in
01:34a southwesterly direction.
01:36If this had happened during the eruption, the ash and deadly gas would have blown away
01:40from Pompeii.
01:41Although the city would still have faced the heat and lava, these weren't the primary causes
01:46of death.
01:47With the ash and gas blowing in the usual direction, many more people might have survived.
01:51However, on that fateful day, the wind blew northwest, directly toward Pompeii.
01:57This shift not only doomed the town, but also trapped many residents.
02:01Pompeii is situated on a bay and some people attempted to escape by ship.
02:05However, Pliny the Younger, the only eyewitness to document the event, reported that the wind
02:10was blowing not inshore, preventing terrified residents, including his own uncle, from fleeing
02:16by sea.
02:17This unexpected change in wind direction blocked the most effective escape route.
02:22The unusual wind pattern that day has led some historians to question the eruption's
02:26date.
02:27The Australian National Maritime Museum suggests that this atypical wind direction could indicate
02:32the eruption occurred in autumn, later in the year than initially believed.
02:36This theory arises from the unusual weather conditions that contributed to the high death
02:40toll, as the wind direction during autumn would have been different from the typical
02:44summer pattern.
02:46Given that the people of ancient Rome lived around 2,000 years ago, it's easy to feel
02:50disconnected from their lives.
02:52However, Pompeii offers a rare and intimate glimpse into their final moments.
02:56We don't just see skeletal remains, we can actually observe the terror etched on their
03:00faces at the moment of death, making the tragedy feel profoundly real.
03:05During excavations in the early 1800s, archaeologists discovered that skeletons were often encased
03:10in voids within the compacted ash.
03:12By pouring plaster of Paris into these spaces, they created detailed casts of the victims'
03:17last moments.
03:19These casts reveal the precise positions people took as the ash engulfed them, capturing their
03:24final, desperate attempts to escape.
03:26Among the findings are even animal casts, such as a dog writhing in apparent agony.
03:31These haunting details bring the destruction of Pompeii to life, bridging the gap between
03:36ancient history and our present-day understanding of human suffering.
03:39We find several groups together, three people together, four people together.
03:44It seems that they may be helping each other.
03:48Modern technology has taken our understanding of Pompeii's victims further.
03:52In 2015, CAT scans of the plaster casts revealed details about their ages, sexes and health.
03:58These scans allowed the reconstruction of faces like a terrified four-year-old boy and
04:03a baby asleep on its mother's lap.
04:05Giovanni Barbino, the lead radiologist on the project, noted the profound insights gained
04:10from these scans.
04:11Working with these casts was extremely moving.
04:14It felt like I was dealing with real patients.
04:17Pliny the Younger provides our only eyewitness account of Pompeii's destruction, written
04:22over two decades later.
04:24His account reveals the profound impact the event had on him.
04:27At 18, Pliny was living across the bay in Messanum, when the eruption began.
04:32His uncle, Pliny the Elder, a naval commander, sailed to Pompeii to rescue people, leaving
04:37Pliny and his mother to escape Messanum on their own.
04:40They eventually left their house due to the danger of earthquakes and the accumulating
04:43ash.
04:44As panic spread through the town, false rumors of fires in Messanum caused further chaos.
04:49Pliny described the harrowing experience, noting that the most terrifying aspect was
04:53the overwhelming noise.
04:55The strength of the earthquakes and the weight of the ash forced them to constantly move
04:59and shake off the ash to avoid being crushed.
05:02His vivid recollection underscores the sheer terror and confusion of that day, highlighting
05:07the human experience amid the natural disaster.
05:10He wrote,
05:11You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men.
05:16Some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize
05:20them by their voices.
05:21People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed
05:25for death in their terror of dying.
05:27Pliny besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left and
05:31that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness forevermore.
05:35Pliny the Elder perished at Pompeii, unable to save anyone.
05:39The exact causes of death for the people of Pompeii remain somewhat uncertain, but it
05:44is widely believed that most were smothered by ash and gas, crushed by collapsing buildings,
05:49or struck by falling debris.
05:51This explains why many bodies found by archaeologists appear largely intact.
05:55However, the fate of victims in other affected cities, like Herculaneum and Oplontis, was
06:01even more gruesome.
06:02According to National Geographic, these cities were likely hit by pyroclastic surges, devastating
06:07mixtures of ash, lava, and toxic gases.
06:10The most lethal aspects of these surges are their extreme heat and speed.
06:15This intense heat can flash-fry a person to death, causing bodily fluids to boil instantaneously
06:21and potentially causing heads to explode as the brain's fluids vaporize.
06:26Within ten minutes, all soft tissue would be incinerated.
06:29Strong evidence suggests that many victims in Herculaneum and Oplontis experienced this
06:34horrific fate, highlighting the varying and terrifying ways in which the eruption of Mount
06:38Vesuvius claimed lives across different regions.
06:42If Egypt has taught us anything, it's that the sanctity of the dead often goes unrespected,
06:47with tombs being looted almost immediately after they were sealed.
06:50The same holds true for Pompeii.
06:52Despite being a final resting place for thousands, grave robbers are more interested in the valuables
06:57buried with the victims.
06:58The residents fleeing the eruption often took their possessions with them, making it easy
07:02for thieves to locate these items.
07:05Pompeii, rediscovered in the 1700s, has seen grave robbers remain active to this day.
07:09The official Pompeii website describes archaeologists finding tunnels dug in the ash and skeletal
07:15remains of six individuals scattered around, evidence of human disturbance rather than
07:19volcanic damage.
07:20In 2016, a shop was uncovered showing signs of looting, although a hoard of gold coins
07:26was luckily missed by the thieves.
07:28In 2017, tomb raiding became so rampant that archaeologists raced to excavate new areas
07:34before they were found by criminals.
07:36Not all thefts involve digging tunnels.
07:38Some visitors simply pocket items as souvenirs.
07:41Many of these tourists later regret their actions.
07:43According to The Telegraph, authorities have received numerous packages containing returned
07:48items, with the repentant thieves believing the stolen objects brought them bad luck.
07:53This ongoing struggle with looting and theft highlights the challenges of preserving Pompeii's
07:58archaeological integrity while illustrating a broader human tendency to disregard the
08:03sacredness of the past in the pursuit of treasure.
08:06Perhaps the worst thing to happen to Pompeii since the eruption was its prolonged neglect.
08:11This wasn't the fault of the early archaeologists in the 1800s, but those overseeing the site
08:16during the latter half of the 20th century.
08:18In 2008, The Guardian reported that the Italian government had declared a state of emergency
08:23at Pompeii, not due to an impending eruption, but because of the site's severe disrepair.
08:29Conditions were described as squalid, with the historic area plagued by souvenir hawkers,
08:33fake parking attendants, and bogus tour guides.
08:36The site had few signs, minimal security, and only three bathrooms.
08:40Additionally, the still-buried third of Pompeii was being used as an illegal trash dump.
08:45Even more alarming, according to Reuters, was the decades of neglect suffered by this
08:49UNESCO World Heritage Site.
08:52Visitors were shocked by the decay, with frescoes and stones that had survived nearly 2,000 years
08:57deteriorating rapidly.
08:59Thousands of pieces were being lost annually.
09:01Restoration efforts that began in 1978 had made little progress.
09:05The culture minister at the time declared that calling the situation intolerable was
09:10an understatement, prompting a year-long state of emergency.
09:13A special commissioner was appointed to salvage the site before human negligence and selfishness
09:18could further damage Pompeii.
09:20This state of emergency underscored the urgent need for preservation efforts, as Pompeii
09:25faced destruction not from volcanic forces, but from human indifference.
09:30Mount Vesuvius, the volcano that obliterated Pompeii, remains one of the most dangerous
09:35in the world.
09:36Its infamous eruption in 79 AD buried towns and claimed thousands of lives, but the most
09:41destructive eruption occurred in 1631.
09:44Despite its lethal history, the area around Vesuvius is still considered prime real estate.
09:49Today, 6 million people live near Vesuvius, with 3 million at serious risk if it erupts
09:54again, according to Volcano Discovery.
09:56Vesuvius is particularly menacing because it tends to erupt with little warning.
10:00Unlike some volcanoes that give off smaller eruptions as a precursor, Vesuvius can remain
10:05quiet for long periods before unleashing a massive, deadly explosion.
10:09Its eruption cycle is also shorter than many other volcanoes.
10:13This makes Vesuvius more dangerous than some supervolcanoes.
10:16The Italian government has developed several evacuation plans for another potential eruption.
10:21At least 600,000 people would need to be evacuated from the immediate risk zone on the volcano's
10:26lower slopes.
10:27However, there is significant uncertainty about the effectiveness of these plans, and
10:32it seems likely that not everyone would be saved in such a scenario.
10:35The constant threat posed by Vesuvius underscores the need for vigilant monitoring and robust
10:41emergency preparedness to protect those living in its shadow.