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80 BCE
ROMAN PERIOD
Pompeii was one of the towns of Campania that rebelled against Rome in the Social Wars and in 89 BC it was besieged by Sulla who targeted the strategically vulnerable Porta Ercolano with his artillery as can still be seen by the impact craters of thousands of ballista shots in the walls. -
62 BCE
EARTQUAKE
The inhabitants of Pompeii had long been used to minor earthquakes , but on 5 February 62 a severe earthquake did considerable damage around the bay, and particularly to Pompeii. It is believed that the earthquake would have registered between about 5 and 6 on the Richter magnitude scale. -
72
Eruption of Mount Vesuvius
The eruption lasted for two days.The first phase was of pumice rain lasting about 18 hours, allowing most inhabitants to escape. That only approximately 1,150 bodies have so far been found on site seems to confirm this theory and most escapees probably managed to salvage some of their most valuable belongings; many skeletons were found with jewellery, coins and silverware. -
UNEARTHED
The next known date that any part was unearthed was in 1592, when architect Domenico Fontana while digging an underground aqueduct to the mills of Torre Annunziata ran into ancient walls covered with paintings and inscriptions. His aqueduct passed through and under a large part of the city and would have had to pass though many buildings and foundations, as still can be seen in many places today, but he kept quiet and nothing more came of the discovery. -
NOW
now a tourist destination with millions of tourists annually