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.