Animation Showcases The Pompeii Disaster With Accurate 3D Rendering Of The Events

[bicicleur 2]

http://www.realmofhistory.com/2016/...ter-with-accurate-3d-rendering-of-the-events/

 

[Angela]

http://www.realmofhistory.com/2016/...ter-with-accurate-3d-rendering-of-the-events/

Yes, such a tragedy; a sophisticated, prosperous town with schools, libraries, shops, etc. destroyed in a day.

Of course, that video misses the human cost.

Pompeii: Buried Alive
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEmU4GL3V90

They were burned and gassed alive first, of course. I found that looking at the plaster casts of the bodies was almost unbearably moving, especially the ones found near the sea, under the arcade, where you see the mothers cradling and trying to protect the little ones. Awful, just awful.

 

[bicicleur 2]

they certainly didn't have any idea of what was coming, unlike the birds and the dogs who were already alarmed the 24th at 8 AM just before the first smoke plume appears
it seems to me, even at 1 PM when the earth is trembling during the 1st eruption and the first rubble falls it was still possible to escape even though they had to shield themselves from the rubble
what were they waiting for? an escape route? hoping a vessel would arrive at the coast?

 

[Angela]

they certainly didn't have any idea of what was coming, unlike the birds and the dogs who were already alarmed the 24th at 8 AM just before the first smoke plume appears
it seems to me, even at 1 PM when the earth is trembling during the 1st eruption and the first rubble falls it was still possible to escape even though they had to shield themselves from the rubble
what were they waiting for? an escape route? hoping a vessel would arrive at the coast?

A lot of people from the affected areas were indeed rescued by sea, some with fishing boats, but more by the fleet anchored at Misenum. Pliny the Elder, the Admiral of the Fleet, while not really understanding what was going on, directed the efforts, some of them personally from Stabiae, where he died, either from a heart attack or from exposure to the gas etc.

https://www.awesomestories.com/asset/view/THE-PEOPLE-OF-POMPEII-Pompeii

This is the letter of Pliny the Younger describing that day, although it was written twenty-five years later, so it may not be exact.

http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/pompeii.htm

There were stages to the mayhem.

"Archaeologists have recovered around 1150 bodies from Pompeii. [Out of around 11.000 if I remember correctly] Of these, 394 were victims of the early phase of the eruption, found buried beneath layers of pumice.


Falling lithics – pumice and rock spewed from the eruption column – killed 10% of these early casualties, while the other 90% died in buildings when roofs and floors collapsed from the weight of ash and from seismic tremors.


But the other 756 were victims of the final stage of the eruption, when Vesuvius’s collapsing eruption column released a series of pyroclastic surges- clouds of superheated gas and ash."


http://decodedpast.com/how-did-the-people-of-pompeii-die/7674

At a certain point, there was a massive explosion which resulted in either thermal shock or asphyxiation or both.

The people at the seashore were probably those who left it too late and were trapped when the explosion came. The women and children had been sheltered, and the men were out in the open, perhaps looking for boats, or because there wasn't enough room. All to no avail, of course, as they all died.

I find this utterly heartbreaking:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g9C1vLsBpO4

This is the best reconstruction of the city I've ever seen, placing it on the plain, showing the gates, the rectangular grid, the Temple, Basilica, the forum, dwellings, the Baths, the Theater, everything except the bordellos, of which there were many.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W30UvakY5p4

I particularly like the way that they show you the ruin and then superimpose the reconstruction. You don't have to understand Italian to "get" it.


I've been there twice to the ruins, and to Vesuvius, and it made an unforgettable impression on me. I think part of the reason is the contrast between this scene of utter devastation raining down on people who seem so similar to us and the extraordinary beauty of the surroundings.