Pompeii

=__**POMPEII**__=

Originally Pompeii was built as a small market town on the base of an active volcano called Mount Vesuvius, which was located in Campania Region, South of Italy. This small town slowly developed into an industrial city through large businesses they held where they became prosperous and rich. Pompeii was influenced from the Greeks in the 8th century but in 290 BC, Pompeii became part of the Roman Empire. The Roman traditions were greatly influenced in Pompeii and their daily life used most of the Roman technology.

Pompeii had numerous numbers of temples that were built a short distance away from the city. Among the temples laid a large open-air theatre that could seat up to 20,000 people. A palaestra was built among the many buildings and homes in Rome, which was used to train, wrestle, and to do other athletics. There were buildings for gladiators to train in and there were many market stalls that would sell goods like nuts, fruits, and loaves of bread.



There were many natural disasters that occurred in Pompeii and in 69 BC an earthquake struck Pompeii. But one natural disaster that would change Pompeii forever occurred in the year of 79 A.D.

The disaster that was known to have changed Pompeii forever, occurred on August 24th.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted. Most citizens of Pompeii panicked and fled from the city in search of safety. But the citizens that took refuge in houses and on roads only suffocated to death or were rained on with volcanic ash and stones.

Roman commanders tried to rescue the people whom had taken refugee in houses but to only find that Pompeii was buried 20 feet deep. Citizens that had survived only recovered some of their belongings they could smuggle out of the 20-foot layer of ash and rocks. About 2,000 people died in this incident and Pompeii was abandoned and forgotten for many centuries.



In 1748, a peasant found traces of the forgotten city buried under his vineyard. Excavations to uncover the lost city were made, in the late 1700s but were interrupted with wars that paused the excavations in Pompeii. In the1990s 2/3 of the lost city was unburied and in the late 1900s the Italian government announced that tourists could see Pompeii from then on.

Pompeii was declared a World Heritage site in 1997 and the best archaeological site that was preserved best in the entire world.

By Maya

Citations Used:

"Pompeii and Herculaneum." Compton's by Britannica. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. 29 Oct. 2007 <[|http://britannicaschool.eb.com/all/comptons/article-9276498>.]

"Pompeii." Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. 29 Oct. 2007 <[|http://britannicaschool.eb.com/all/elementary/article?articleId=353654>.]

=Bunson, Matthew. A Dictionary of the Roman Empire. New York: Oxford, 1994.=