What do we know about the ancient city of Pompeii? History tells us that once this prosperous city suddenly died with all the inhabitants under the lava of an awakened volcano. In fact, the history of Pompeii is very interesting and filled with a lot of details.

Foundation of Pompeii

Pompeii is one of the oldest Roman cities located in the province of Naples in the Campagna region. On the one hand, the coast (which was previously called Kumansky), and on the other, the Sarn River (in ancient times).

How was Pompeii founded? The history of the city tells that it was founded by the ancient Oski tribe in the 7th century BC. These facts are confirmed by the fragments of the temple of Apollo and the Doric temple, whose architecture corresponds to the period when Pompeii was founded. The city stood just at the intersection of several paths - to Nola, Stabiae and Kuma.

Wars and submission

The first harbinger of impending disaster was an earthquake that occurred on February 5, 63 BC.

Seneca in one of his writings noted that since Campania was a seismically active zone, such an earthquake is not uncommon for it. And earthquakes happened before, but their strength was very small, the inhabitants simply got used to them. But this time, expectations exceeded all expectations.

Then in the three neighboring cities - Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples - buildings suffered greatly. The destruction was such that over the next 16 years, the houses could not be fully restored. All 16 years there were active restoration works, reconstructions, cosmetic repairs. Also, the plans included the construction of several new buildings, for example, the Central Baths, which could not be completed until the day of the death of Pompeii.

The death of Pompeii. The first day

The inhabitants tried to restore Pompeii. The history of the death of the city indicates that the catastrophe began in 79 BC, in the afternoon, August 24, and lasted 2 days. The eruption of what was until then thought to be a dormant volcano destroyed everything. Then, under the lava, not only Pompeii perished, but also three more cities - Stabiae, Oplontia and Herculaneum.

During the day, a cloud of ash and steam appeared over the volcano, but no one paid much attention to it. A little later, a cloud covered the sky over the entire city, and ash flakes began to settle on the streets.

The tremors coming from underground continued. Gradually, they intensified to such an extent that carts overturned, finishing materials crumbled from houses. Along with the ashes, stones began to fall from the sky.

The streets and houses of the city were filled with suffocating sulphurous fumes, many people simply suffocated in their homes.

Many tried to leave the cities with valuables, while others who were unable to leave their property died in the ruins of their homes. The products of the volcanic eruption overtook people both in public places and outside the city. But still, most of the inhabitants were able to leave Pompeii. History confirms this fact.

The death of Pompeii. Second day

The next day, the air in the city became hot, the volcano itself erupted, destroying all living things, all buildings and property of people with lava. After the eruption, there was a lot of ash that covered the entire city, the thickness of the ash layer reached 3 meters.

After the catastrophe, a special commission arrived at the scene of events, which stated the "death" of the city and that it could not be restored. Then it was still possible to meet people who were trying to find their property on what was left of the streets of the former city.

Along with Pompeii, more cities perished. But they were discovered only thanks to the discovery of Herculaneum. This second city, which was also at the foot of Vesuvius, did not die from lava and ash. After the eruption, the volcano, like the affected cities, was covered with a three-meter layer of stones and ash, which hung menacingly like an avalanche that could come down at any moment.

And soon after the eruption, torrential rain began, which carried away a thick layer of ash from the slopes of the volcano and a column of water with dust and stones fell directly on Herculaneum. The depth of the stream was 15 meters, so the city was buried alive under the stream from Vesuvius.

How Pompeii was found

Stories and stories about the terrible events of that year have long been passed down from generation to generation. But after a few centuries, people lost the idea of ​​where the dead city of Pompeii was located. The history of the death of this city gradually began to lose facts. People lived their lives. Even in those cases when the remains of ancient buildings were found by people, for example, by digging wells, no one could even think that these were parts of the ancient city of Pompeii. The history of excavations began only in the 18th century and is indirectly connected with the name of Maria Amalia Christina.

She was the daughter of King August III of Saxony, who left the Dresden court after her marriage to Charles of Bourbon. Charles was king of the Two Sicilies.

The current queen was in love with art and looked around the halls of the palace, parks and other possessions with great interest. And one day she drew attention to the sculptures that were previously found before the last eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Some of these statues were found by chance, while others - at the suggestion of General d'Elbeuf. Queen Mary was so struck by the beauty of the sculptures that she asked her husband to find new ones for her.

Vesuvius last erupted at that time in 1737. During this incident, part of its top flew into the air, the slope was left bare. Since the volcano had not been active for a year and a half, the king agreed to start searching for sculptures. And they started from the place where the general had once finished his search.

Search for statues

Excavations took place with great difficulty, since it was necessary to destroy a thick (15 meters) layer of hardened lava. For this, the king used special tools, gunpowder, the power of workers. In the end, the workers stumbled upon something metallic in the artificial shafts. So three large fragments of giant bronze horses were found.

After that, it was decided to seek help from a specialist. For this, the Marquis Marcello Venuti, who was the keeper of the royal library, was invited. Further, three more marble statues of Romans in togas, the body of a bronze horse, as well as painted columns were found.

Discovery of Herculaneum

At that moment, it became clear that there would be more to come. The royal couple, arriving at the excavation site on December 22, 1738, examined the discovered stairs and an inscription stating that a certain Rufus built the Theatrum Herculanense theater at his own expense. Experts continued excavations, because they knew that the theater means the presence of the city. There were a lot of statues that the water current brought to the back wall of the theatre. This is how Herculaneum was discovered. Thanks to this find, it was possible to organize a museum, which had no equal at that time.

But Pompeii was at a shallower depth than Herculaneum. And the king, after consulting with the head of his technical detachment, decided to postpone the excavations, taking into account the notes of scientists regarding the location of the city of Pompeii. History has marked all memorable events with the hands of scientists.

Pompeii excavations

So, the search for Pompeii began on April 1, 1748. After 5 days, the first fragment of the wall painting was found, and on April 19, the remains of a man, from whose hands several silver coins rolled out. It was the center of the city of Pompeii. Unfortunately, not realizing the importance of the find, the experts decided that they needed to look elsewhere, and filled up this place.

A little later, an amphitheater and a villa were found, which was later called the House of Cicero. The walls of this building were beautifully painted and decorated with frescoes. All art objects were seized, and the villa was immediately filled back.

After that, for 4 years, the excavations and the history of Pompeii were abandoned, attention shifted to Herculaneum, where a house with the Villa dei Papiri library was found.

In 1754, experts again returned to the excavations of the city of Pompeii, to its southern part, where an ancient wall and the remains of several graves were found. Since then, the excavations of the city of Pompeii have been actively undertaken.

Pompeii: an alternative history of the city

Today, there is still an opinion that the year of the death of Pompeii is a fiction based on a letter that allegedly describes the volcanic eruption to Tacitus. Here questions arise about why in these letters Pliny does not mention either the names of the cities of Pompeii or Herculaneum, or the fact that it was there that the uncle of Pliny the Elder lived, who died in Pompeii.

Some scholars refute the fact that the catastrophe occurred precisely in 79 BC, due to the fact that in various sources you can find information about 11 eruptions that occurred in the period from 202 to 1140 AD (after the incident that destroyed Pompeii). And the next eruption dates only to 1631, after which the volcano remained active until 1944. As you can see, the facts show that the volcano, which was actively active, fell asleep for 500 years.

Pompeii in the modern world

The history of the city of Herculaneum and the history of Pompeii remain very interesting today. Photos, videos and various scientific materials can be found in the library or the Internet. Many historians are still trying to unravel the mystery of the ancient city, to study its culture as much as possible.

Many artists, including K. Bryullov, in addition to their other works, depicted the last day of Pompeii. The story is that in 1828 K. Bryullov visited the excavation sites and even then made sketches. In the period from 1830 to 1833, his artistic masterpiece was created.

Today the city has been restored as much as possible, it is one of the most famous monuments of culture (along with the Colosseum or Venice). The city has not yet been fully excavated, but many buildings are available for inspection. You can walk along the streets of the city and admire the beauty, which is more than 2000 years old!

Presumably, the founders of Pompeii were Osci, one of the peoples of ancient Italy. Already the ancients expressed different opinions about the origin of the name Pompeii. Some erected it to the triumphal procession (pomp) of Hercules after the victory over Geryon. Others refer to the Oscan word for "five" (pum-pe). According to this version, Pompeii was formed as an association of five communities.

According to a writer in the 1st century A.D. e. Geographer Strabo founded the city Oska. Later, the Etruscans seized control of it, and then, after victories over the Etruscans, the Greeks. Later, the city was taken from the Greeks by the Samnites, a people related to the Oscans. This happened in the 5th century BC. e. Archeology records the decline of urban life in this century. Perhaps Pompeii was abandoned for some time.

In the IV century BC. e. Pompeii became part of the Samnite federation. The city served as a port for the Samnite cities located up the Sarno River. In the IV century BC. e. A series of wars took place between the Roman Republic and the Samnites. During them, in 310 BC. e. Roman troops landed near Pompeii. The Romans devastated the lands of Nuceria, neighboring Pompeii. Later, the inhabitants of the rural district of Pompeii attacked the legionnaires returning with the loot, took away the loot and drove them onto the ships.

Source: wikipedia.com

The Romans defeated and subjugated the Samnites and their allies to their power. From now on, Pompeii, along with other Campanian cities, became part of the Roman-Italian confederation. The city maintained self-government. Pompeii were to be Rome's allies and also provide auxiliaries.

During the Samnite era, Pompeii was ruled by a city council. Among the issues of his conduct was, in particular, construction. The direct supervision of the construction work and their payment was carried out by the quaistur (Latin version - quaestor), an official in charge of the city treasury. The supreme power in the city belonged to an official with the name "meddissa tuvtiksa", which translates as "city governor".

Accession to Rome gave impetus to the development of the city in the III century BC. e. At the end of the century, the population of Pompeii grew. In the II century BC. e. new public buildings appeared - temples, theaters, baths. Luxurious mansions appear. Among them is the famous "House of the Faun", on the wall of which there is a fresco depicting the battle of the Macedonians and Persians at Issus.

Paradoxically, the war between Rome and Hannibal gave impetus to the development of Pompeii. After crossing the Alps and victories over the Roman troops, the Carthaginian commander invaded Campania. Capua, the strongest city in the region, went over to his side. Nuceria remained faithful to Rome and was destroyed by Hannibal for this. During the war, the Romans took Capua and punished an unfaithful ally.

Pompeii itself was not taken by the Carthaginians and became a refuge for refugees from other Campanian cities. This explains the growth of urban construction at the end of the 3rd century BC. e.

The elite of the Campanian city received their share of the wealth from the expansion of Rome into the Mediterranean in the 2nd century BC. e. Evidence of contacts between Pompeian merchants and eastern markets has been preserved. In particular, with the island of Delos. Oriental spices fall into Pompeii themselves. The frescoes in the House of the Faun speak of the artistic taste and interest of its owner in history.

Allied War: Pompeii vs. Sulla

In 91 BC. e. a number of Italian communities (including Pompeii) revolted against Rome. This conflict went down in history as the Allied War. The allies who rebelled against Rome sought equal status with the Romans in the state. After three years of war, the Romans defeated the rebellious allies. But after that they gave them the rights of Roman citizenship.

In 89 BC. e. During the war, Pompeii was besieged by the Roman general Lucius Cornelius Sulla. In a series of battles near the city, Sulla defeated the Campanian commander Cluentius, who was trying to lift the siege of Pompeii. The city surrendered shortly after the defeat and death of Cluentius.

Pompeii was not destroyed and received Roman citizenship. After 10 years, Sulla, who defeated his opponents and became a dictator, founded a colony of his veterans in the city. From now on, Pompeii received the status of a Roman colony, and the former Oscan magistrates were replaced by new Roman ones. Office work in the city is transferred to Latin. And in the last century of the city, the number of records in Oska is declining.

Roman time city: Pompeii under the empire

In the era of the empire, Pompeii was a modest provincial town. The famous garum sauce and wine were produced here. In part, the inhabitants of the colony tried to copy the buildings of Rome itself. There was a forum in the city, on which stood the temples of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva. In the wall niches of one of the buildings stood statues of the founders of Rome - Aeneas and Romulus. Below them were carved inscriptions describing their deeds. The same inscriptions, telling about Aeneas and Romulus, were on the Roman forum.

The Italian cities were connected with Rome and the imperial house. In particular, the nephew and one of the possible heirs of Augustus, Marcellus, held the semi-official position of patron (patron) of Pompey.

Source: wikipedia.com

In 59 a.d. e. Pompeii was infamous for the carnage within the walls of the city. It was during the gladiator fights, but the battle began between the townspeople of Pompeii and Nuceria. The inhabitants of the cities began to bully each other, then took up the stones, and then - and swords with daggers. The Pompeians won the fight.

Information about the massacre reached the emperor Nero, who instructed the Senate to investigate. As a result, the Senate banned Pompeii from holding gladiatorial games for 10 years, and their organizer, Livinei Regulus, went into exile.

Interestingly, Livinei Regulus had been stripped of the title of senator a few years earlier. That is, a disgraced representative of the ruling class could take refuge in Pompeii and become a benefactor of the townspeople.

Pompeii was located 240 kilometers from Rome. Residents of the capital could reach the Campanian city within a week. Therefore, many noble and wealthy Romans built their villas in the vicinity of Pompeii. In particular, even in the era of the Republic, Cicero acquired such a villa.

Source: wikipedia.com

The highest officials in Pompeii were its two elected rulers - the duumvirs. They convened the city council and presided over it. To become a duumvir, a careerist from Pompeii had to go through the post of aedile, which opened the way for her performer to the city council. Members of the city council bore this title for life. The aediles were responsible for urban improvement - the supply of bread, the maintenance of streets and baths, and organized spectacles.

In civil cases with a small claim amount, duumvirs were chairmen. Criminal cases and more complex civil cases were heard in Rome. The duumvirs also answered the city treasury.

Source: wikipedia.com

Once every five years, the chosen duumvirs were called quinquennals (five-year-olds). They updated the city council lists - adding new people, deleting the dead and those who had lost their right to membership in the council for crimes. They also compiled lists of citizens of the city.

Members of the council accepted the reports of officials, exercised supreme supervision over city affairs. A wealthy freedman was not entitled to take office and get into the council, but he could achieve this for his son. The inscription preserved the curious case of a certain Celsin, who became a decurion (member of the council) at the age of 6 for restoring the temple of Isis, which had been damaged by an earthquake.

In Pompeii and other Roman cities, the positions of duumvir and quinquennal opened doors to the urban elite, but demanded wealth from the applicant. Duumvir Pompey contributed 10,000 sesterces upon taking office.

During the exercise of his office, the citizen Pompey held festivities at his own expense. For example, Aul Clodius Flaccus was duumvir three times. During his first magistracy, he organized games in the forum in honor of Apollo, including bullfighting, musical competitions and a performance by the artist Pylades (apparently a local celebrity). The second time, in addition to games at the forum, he organized the persecution of animals and gladiator fights in the amphitheater. The third time was the most modest - the performance of artists and musicians. Another quinquennal in his inscription emphasized that he had conducted gladiator fights without spending public funds.

Passions boiled over the election of officials, comparable to the election of consuls in republican Rome. The walls of the city preserved records calling for voting for one or another of the citizens of Pompeii who wanted to become a duumvir or aedile. Interestingly, most of the campaigning concerned the post of aedile.

About 12 thousand people lived in Pompeii, and about 24 thousand - in the rural district. Half of them were slaves. Most of the rest were women and children. Thus, the electorate during the elections was about 2,500 residents of the city and 5,000 in the rural district.

The inscriptions were painted over and new ones were written on top of them. The campaign inscription could have been addressed to a specific citizen of Pompeii. A city dweller could carve an inscription on the wall of his house to show his position.

Sample caricature on a wall in Pompeii. (wikipedia.com)

Campaigned for candidates and professional associations. For example, carpenters, cab drivers, bakers or jewelers. Members of the Youth union, which included young people from noble families, offered their candidates to the townspeople.

Sometimes poems were composed in favor of the candidates or their professional and moral qualities were emphasized in prose. And sometimes they called on a respected citizen to vote for a candidate, because "choose Sabin as an aedile, and he will choose you."

There were original entries in support of the candidates, which were supposed to discredit them. These are words of encouragement written on behalf of pickpockets, runaway slaves, drunkards or loafers.

Elections in Pompeii resembled elections in other cities of the Roman world. The civil community was divided into curia, each of which chose its own candidate.

Elections were held in March, and in July the magistrates took office. Pompeians could become duumvirs again, but not two years in a row.

The eruption of Mount Vesuvius: the death of the city

Approximately 80 years before the eruption, Vesuvius was visited by the geographer Strabo. The scientist wrote that almost to the very top, the volcano is covered with flowering fields. Only the ashen peak itself reminded that this place had once spewed fire.

Vulcan announced his awakening in 63 CE. e. earthquake. It destroyed several cities in Pompeii, Herculaneum and Naples. Some of them have not been restored for 16 years.

Evidence of the catastrophe was left by her contemporary Pliny the Younger, who then lived in the seaside Mizenum (about 30 kilometers from Pompeii). Mizena was the base of the Roman fleet, and one of the ships was commanded by Pliny's uncle, Pliny the Elder.

On August 24, people saw a cloud rise above the volcano. Pliny the Elder took his ship towards Pompeii. His nephew wrote that the scientists were driven by a desire to save people from the city and scientific curiosity. Pliny the Elder ordered to record all the changes that occur in the cloud.

At night, an earthquake began, and the next day people did not see the sun. At first there was twilight, then darkness fell, and ashes began to fall from the sky. When it dissipated, it turned out that there were no neighboring cities, and the Sarno valley was covered with ash. First, the city was covered with pieces of pumice, then with ashes.

Most of the inhabitants fled the city on the first day. Those who decided to stay and sit out the catastrophe in their homes died, and those who decided to escape too late. Their feet got stuck in the pumice, and then they were finished off by a rain of ash and water. Some Pompeians fled to the harbor, but the ships were either not there or had already been put out of action by the ash and stones.

Pompeii is studied in school textbooks, and ancient finds in excavation sites have not ceased to amaze scientists and ordinary modern people for more than one century. The history of this city is really worthy of close attention.

Vesuvius volcano

Vesuvius is an active volcano in the vicinity of Naples, with a height of 1281 meters. This is one of the most dangerous continental volcanoes in Europe, and one of the most famous, largely due to the fact that almost 2000 years ago it buried several ancient cities and nearby villages. Among them are such cities as Stabiae, Herculaneum, and the most famous of them - Pompeii, which was located closest to Vesuvius of all other settlements.

Pompeii city

Pompeii was a typical ancient Roman city, until the tragic events of 79 AD, when during the day the whole city was littered with ash and covered with red-hot lava of the volcano. Excavations of the city began at the end of the 16th century, when, during the creation of the Sarno River and the construction of a well, fragments of the city wall were discovered, as well as several buildings underground.

However, no excavations were carried out there until the middle of the 18th century. Initially, scientists involved in the excavations assumed that this was the city of Stabia, and not Pompeii. And only the excavation of an ancient statue with an inscription, preserved in excellent condition, proved that it was Pompeii. The main emphasis in the excavations fell on the neighboring Herculaneum, and only three sites were excavated in Pompeii itself.
During the cataclysm, most of the inhabitants left their homes, but more than 2,000 people were buried alive under many meters of volcanic ash.

It is worth noting that thanks to this fact, everything in the city has been preserved as it was before the eruption. It is difficult to answer the question, people did not leave, seeing a large-scale catastrophe. Perhaps the residents thought that this was another earthquake that had happened many times before, or they simply did not realize the full scale of the disaster. Either way, no one will know for sure. The city was “mothballed” to some extent, so now tourists have the opportunity to see with their own eyes the life of ancient people. There you can even observe the plaster bodies of people in their last moments of life.

Many of the city's structures have been excavated and have been preserved in stunning condition. In particular, the basilica, the city hall, the temple of Lares, the temple of Vespasian, the Macellum market, the comitia, the temple of Apollo, the temple of Jupiter, the Great and Small theaters, many statues and sculptures, as well as other structures.

Excavations are ongoing today, about 20% of the territory remains unexcavated, and the city itself is an open-air museum and a UNESCO heritage list. The tragic death of the city was reflected in his works by the famous Russian artist Karl Bryullov, and the work itself is called “The Last Day of Pompeii”.

Throughout the history of its existence, mankind has experienced many cataclysms. But the most tragic of them is the death of Pompeii. Some information about this catastrophe, which occurred in Italy in 79, has come down to our time. Then, in the middle of the country, a huge mass of lava rushed to the city from the mouth of the volcano Vesuvius. The townspeople fled in fear, who had previously believed in the steadfastness of their state. Lava warmed the blooming Pompeii under it.

Features of Pompeii

It was a beautiful ancient city. Thanks to him, our contemporaries can more accurately determine the life of the Romans in ancient times. At the site of the city, during excavations, curious artifacts are found. They claim how huge and rich the city was. Buildings, frescoes, amphorae, furniture, household items covered with ashes have survived to our time. Archaeologists seek to visit the excavation of the ancient city. You can also visit the ruins of the city with the Merry Tourist Travel Agency.

The city was formed in the 4th century BC. Then near Naples, its first inhabitants settled. Subsequently, five small settlements merged together, forming one administrative center. The owners were the Etruscans - an ancient tribe whose culture was borrowed by the Romans.

History of Pompeii

At the end of the fifth century BC, the city was taken over by the Samnites. A hundred years later, Pompeii entered into an alliance with the Roman Republic, although this was only formally. The inhabitants of Pompeii were called up to serve in the army, but they were not entitled to any material benefits. The protests of the inhabitants of Pompeii were pacified by the Romans in 89 BC by troops. The majestic city was declared a colony of Rome, although the life of the inhabitants has not changed. They also continued to live carelessly and freely on fertile soil, close to the sea and with a warm climate. Pompeii developed rapidly until the eruption of Vulcan.

Suburbs of Pompeii

Near Pompeii was the city of Herculaneum. There lived retired legionnaires and former slaves who ransomed their freedom. Nearby was the city of Stabia. The rich inhabitants of Rome lived there. They erected villas in the city, luxuriously furnished them, planted many plants nearby. Nearby, in smaller houses, poor citizens lived, who served the well-to-do nouveaux riches.

During the volcanic eruption, Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia were buried under the ashes. Only those who, leaving their belongings, left the city at the beginning of the eruption survived.

City infrastructure

In Pompeii, construction was actively carried out, many buildings were built.

1. A large amphitheater was erected there, where 20 thousand spectators could fit.

2. They built the Bolshoi and Maly theaters, which housed five thousand and one and a half thousand spectators, respectively.

3. Many temples dedicated to different gods were built in the city for believers.

4. A huge square adorned the central part of the city. Around the square stood public buildings where they traded, politicians met.

5. In the baths, people not only washed themselves, but also talked about commerce and discussed the news.

City streets intersect at right angles. An aqueduct was built in the city, supplying residents with water from mountain rivers. From the aqueduct, moisture flowed into a huge reservoir and flowed through pipes to the homes of wealthy residents. The poor people took water from the fountain. The city baked bread and produced textiles.

The last day of Pompeii

There have been volcanic eruptions before. But before the catastrophe in 79, the volcano did not cause concern for 1500 years. A day before the eruption, the city felt several tremors of the earth's crust, which caused the temperature in the Gulf of Naples to rise, up to boiling. All waterways have dried up. From the depths of the earth came sounds like groans.

The history of the last day of the city can be found in the records of Pliny the Younger. The eruption began at 2 o'clock on August 24. A white cloud with gray spots rose above the volcano. The cloud expanded rapidly.

The shaking of the soil was heard even as far as Miseno, located 30 km away, where Pliny the Younger lived. Jets of gas and a large number of pumice fragments began to escape from the crater, raising them to a height of about 20 km. This went on for 11 hours.

loss of life

According to statistics, about 20 thousand inhabitants died in the city, that is, approximately every tenth inhabitant was covered with ashes. This was found out by experts from the sources of Pliny. These are the townspeople not only of Pompeii, but also of Herculaneum and Stabia.

The townspeople acted like this.

1. People in a panic hurried to the harbor. They wanted to leave the dangerous city by sea. This became known when archaeologists unearthed many human remains on the shores of the bay. But the ships could not save all the inhabitants who ran ashore.

2. Some residents hid in closed houses and cellars. Then they wanted to get out, but they were too late.

3. There were intervals between explosions in the crater of the volcano. Therefore, many citizens were able to escape to a safe distance, leaving slaves in the city to guard things.

4. Some residents who did not have slaves to protect the economy did not leave the city.

Flames erupted from the crater at night. The next morning, hot lava poured out of the crater. She caused the death of the people who remained in the city. At 6 o'clock ash fell from the sky, pumice balls. They covered Pompeii and Stabia with a thick layer. This nightmare continued for 3 hours.

5. Residents who remained in the city rushed around the city. Hoping to find salvation, they soon weakened and fell, covering their heads with their hands.

Water flowed into the city, heated to 700 degrees. She mixed with the ashes and enveloped everything that came across her path, including people who fell from impotence and suffocated from the ashes. The excavations show how people clasped their hands before death, opened their mouths and eyes wide in horror.

Volcano Vesuvius and the death of Pompeii. Who has not heard of this tragedy? The last day of the townspeople is scheduled literally by the minute. However, these minutes were in a completely different era.

Usually, new scientific truths win not in such a way that their opponents are convinced and they admit they are wrong, but for the most part in such a way that these opponents gradually die out, and the younger generation assimilates the truth immediately.Mark Plank

The time has come when critics of the New Chronology (NC) are attempting to restore historical justice - the return of the famous Pompeii to the year 79 AD.

The fact is that in recent decades, not only individual evidence of the later death of Pompeii and Herculaneum has been discovered, but also special works have been created that clearly show that the ancient Roman cities were buried under the lavas of Vesuvius by no means in the 1st, but in the 17th century AD. X.

In order to kill any theory, it is enough to find at least a single contradiction in it, and there are so many of them in the modern scientific paradigm that they have already turned it into a banal pseudoscience based on juggling and fitting.

In historical science, as in any other, an important element of the argument should be the logic of the progressive development of events.

In the history of Antiquity and the Middle Ages, this is the principle of the reasonable formation and promotion of technologies inherent in these eras and the development of appropriate infrastructures in them.

As always, the death of supposedly very ancient Pompeii was determined by historians in ancient times, in the year 79. Named even the exact date - August 24! On what basis is this done?

Historians have two versions of this.

The first says that Pompeii was founded by some Osci in the 6th century BC e., and the name of the city from the local dialect denotes the number five, which should indicate the formation of Pompeii as a result of the merger of five settlements.

The second version tells of an ancient legend existing in Italy, according to which the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were founded by the ancient Greek hero Hercules, who defeated the giant Geryon.

Of course, you can believe in anything, even in ancient Greek heroes and fairy-tale giants. And we know, both from historiography and from religion, how people of even a very remarkable mind, like shrimp on live bait, really easily found themselves in the clutches of the most primitive and deceitful ideologies. But isn't it time to put aside the old tales of the past and look at things with sober eyes?

We will show that the famous death of Pompeii has nothing to do with ancient times. We already know from previous publications that the territory of the Apennine Peninsula, which now belongs to modern Italy, was not inhabited by any advanced civilization in the 1st century A.D., to which the death of Pompeii is attributed, nor even in the 12th century.

The first more or less "civilized" tribes in the lands of Italy, named by Italian historians Etruscans, date back to the 13-14th century AD. Many magnificent, unique monuments of this ancient people have been preserved.

Even the famous Roman She-Wolf feeding Romulus and Remus, and many other ancient monuments, are not the achievements of the ancient Roman Italians, as the layman deceived by historians thinks, but genuine cultural achievements. Etruscans.

Note that all ancient archeology discovered in the last 400 years in Italy is deliberately dated by European historians to a much later time than it really is.

In order to keep afloat the idea of ​​​​the deep antiquity of Italy (the famous ancient Rome, the papal Vatican, and the Roman Empire as a whole), historians are forced to constantly warm up the myths they themselves once composed about the very deep antiquity of the ancient Italians.

Which, presumably, is important not only for the prestige of Italy itself in the eyes of the world community, but also for more mundane matters - thus luring an inexhaustible flow of tourists into “historical” places.

That is why any newly discovered "ancient" artifacts on the peninsula are so easily ranked as ancient eras, ranked according to the so-called precedent.

For example, if earlier in a certain Florentine Tuscany or somewhere in French Brittany, the coins found there were already dated, say, to the 6th century BC. e., then, therefore, any other similar coins excavated anywhere in Europe should give the same 6th century BC. e.

Historians of the current century count the death of Pompeii for almost 2000 years. So, when Pompeii was first excavated, they were about 1700 years old! As we said, traditional historiography even gives the absolutely exact date of the deadly volcanic eruption - August 24, 79!

But is it possible to assert from the objects preserved under the ashes that the inhabitants of the lost cities lived in the 1st century, that is, almost 2000 years ago? Naturally, everything that is excavated on the Apennine Peninsula immediately and certainly correlates with ancient times.

Among historians, there has long been a conspiracy "antique" when it comes to excavations in Europe. But ancient, ancient Russia-Russia, it turns out, has no place in traditional historiography. Here, historians conspire in the other direction - "under youth."

Even if very ancient evidence is dug up in Russian soil, they are automatically squeezed into a relatively late chronology already predetermined by him. As they say - in order not to violate reporting. The question arises - how is the history of Pompeii connected with the past of ancient Europe? Will the exposure of the antiquity of Pompeii somehow affect the annals of world history?

It is believed that in 1648, at the direction of the Neapolitan king Charles III, a certain Count of Alcubierre began excavations at a place that the locals called Civita (Cevita, ancient settlement), and soon discovered a city under a layer of ash and lava, later called the city of Pompeii.

Human memory is short and unreliable. Especially if information is hidden from her or simply hushed up. This is what happened to Pompeii.

After all, not so long ago, some 100-120 years ago, many Italians were well aware of the existence of Pompeii, and even remembered the death of several cities at once, located in relative proximity to Vesuvius.

But now, it would seem, quite a bit of time has passed, and new generations of Italians no longer remember anything. The old people have died out, the young people are busy with their own problems. And the grandchildren do not care about history at all.

There is a whole range of evidence, calculated on common sense and elementary logic, showing that Pompeii could not have died in the summer in the 1st century AD. e.:

It turns out that he couldn't. Under the ashes, archaeologists have found people wearing warm clothes that no one in Italy ever wears in the summer.

And the floors of the buried houses of the inhabitants of Pompeii, in turn, were covered with carpets. Anyone who has been to these parts of Italy knows that no one lays carpets there in the summer.

2. Remains of unfinished wine sealed in a bottle were found in the settlement.

It is known from historiography that wine in the 1st century A.D. e. they didn’t know how to preserve, it simply didn’t survive until the new harvest, simply turning into vinegar.

The “Feast of Young Wine” itself (modeled on the modern Beaujolais Nouveau holiday) is November 1st. Such old wine could not be stored until November 1st. On the feast they drank young wine.

3. 15 kilometers from Naples (on the road from Naples to Torre Annunziata) there is still a monument with an epitaph (on the facade of the villa of Pharaoh Mennel), dedicated to the eruption of Vesuvius on December 15, 1631.

This epitaph, carved in 1738, describes the events of a terrible volcanic eruption. Vesuvius lost 166 meters of its height, the mouth of the volcano expanded from 2 to 5.5 kilometers. Burning fragments of the volcano, it turns out, destroyed the roofs of houses within a radius of 90 kilometers from the epicenter of Vesuvius ...

4. One of the frescoes depicts a fruit a pineapple, which, as you know, appeared in Europe only after the discovery of America.

5. At the same time, under the ashes of Pompeii, a “fresco of Raphael” was discovered, which depicts the “Three Graces”, two of which stand with their faces, the third with their backs, and each has an apple in his hand.

At the same time, the graces half-embrace each other.

Three Graces from Pompeii (allegedly 79) containing a Raphael plot from the 16th century.

Now the real "Three Graces" of Raphael (1504) can be compared with a fresco from Pompeii.

The difference is that here in the hands of women, instead of young shoots, apples.

It must be assumed that Raphael simply peeped from the ancient Pompeian artists a plot with naked girls in order to draw exactly the same one for himself!

A joke is a joke, but historians have been well aware of these finds for a long time, but for some reason they are still silent like fish!

Also pay attention to the setting of the legs of the graces. In both pictures, the legs are both spaced and folded in the same way. The same can be said about the hands of young women. In fact, all this only says that the Pompeians themselves, who lived after Raphael, probably in the 16-17th century, borrowed the plot from this great painter.

6. In one of the restored texts on the Pompeian papyri, diacritics were found - stress and aspiration, which, along with punctuation and ligatures, came into use only in the Middle Ages, and were completed only with the beginning of printing! The question is, how did medieval writings get to the beginning of the "human" era, that is, to the 1st century AD?

7. During the excavations, various bronze tools were found that are indistinguishable from modern ones in terms of manufacturing technology. This is a corner with an ideal right angle, compasses, tweezers, scalpels, dental instruments ...

8. Rogal-Levitsky in the book "Modern Orchestra" reports that in 1738, during the excavations of Pompeii, two excellent trombones were found, forged from bronze, and with gold mouthpieces.

The king of Naples presented one of these trombones to the English king who was present at the excavations, and according to the legend that has survived since then, this ancient antique trombone is still kept in the collections of Windsor Castle.

9. A water tap has also been unearthed in Pompeii, which is a hermetic structure of three parts: a body, a bushing with a through hole and a shut-off cylindrical valve lapped to it.

Is it possible to make such a technological thing with primitive tools in the 1st century? It is known that the supply and main pipes in Pompeii were made of lead. In England, for example, many old houses still have the same lead chimneys.

The water supply system in Pompeii cannot but arouse the admiration of a contemporary. From the water distribution station in the form of a round reservoir with a diameter of 6 meters, closed by a dome at the Vesuvian Gate, water flowed by gravity through pipes 30 centimeters in diameter to local water towers, which serve to reduce excess pressure in the system and intermediate accumulation of water for each quarter.

10. Items made of bottle glass, perfume bottles of colored glass of different shades, many absolutely transparent thin-walled items were found in Pompeii.

The same glass vases are depicted in numerous Pompeian frescoes excavated under the ashes of the city.

But it is known that for the first time transparent glass was obtained only in the middle of the 15th century!

And the secret of the production of such glass for a long time, like the apple of an eye, was protected from their competitors by the Venetians. In addition, large standard window panes were found in Herculaneum - 45x44 cm and 80x80 cm.

But how did the Italians manage to produce even flat glass in the 1st century?

The first known window ( lunar) glass (from cloudy glass) for church windows, even as early as 1330, was made using the primitive method of “centrifugation on a stick”. Well, the first real window glass using the modern rolling method was produced only in 1688 at Saint-Gobain.

Glass vase from Pompeii, kept in the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Historians assure us that the production of such vases was common for the ancient Pompeians.

Listing all the "strange" finds collected from the ruins of Pompeii and nearby settlements is not possible here.

Among other things, this is also a cold weapon of the 16-17th centuries, graffiti in the Etruscan language, this is a red-hot medieval brick made on a belt press.

It also turns out that the pompeians iron they made themselves locks, door handles, hinges, bolts, latches, etc. What can I say? We have become accustomed not to be surprised at the miracles of historical science.

But even this is not surprising, but how historians, as if by agreement, do not want to revise history for anything, despite such obvious contradictions.

It is noteworthy that recently some expositions of Italian museum cities affected by Vesuvius are becoming less and less accessible to tourists. There are more and more reports that local rangers do not allow tourists, and especially those of them who show targeted curiosity, to the most “dangerous” objects from a revelatory point of view.

One must think that the curators of museums in Italy have already been instructed (as in the same Egypt and China) about the possible danger of exposing the so-called Italian antiquity.

More and more independent researchers appear who question not only the antiquity of individual Italian structures or piece artifacts, not only antiquity the so-called ancient Roman culture, but also the declared antiquities of England, France, Spain, Germany and many others.

However, the owners and keepers of these antiquities quickly learn to work in the new conditions. Realizing that the time of deceit and speculation on antiquities will somehow end one way or another, they are trying to prevent tourists and researchers from visiting the most dangerous “ancient” expositions, forbid taking photographs, lock specific museum halls and sites until further notice from the authorities ...

For some reason, it is forbidden to take pictures in the Historical Museum of Thessaloniki, which stores exhibits that are scarce, but important from a historical point of view. Why did it happen? And if we also prohibit foreigners from filming, for example, our Arkaim in the Urals, won’t we then be suspected of hiding historical truth?

If at least to resolve such a “trifle”, based, however, on the most frank evidence, like the Fall of Pompeii in the 17th, and not in the 1st century A.D., then even this seemingly insignificant chronological clarification, suddenly introduced into the official historiography of Europe, is capable of shaking the entire edifice of historical science.

We will have to revise a lot and a lot, try to re-link the once so convenient, "harmonious" and "logical" picture of the past with new data. And this revision will affect not only one Europe.

A chain reaction will begin. The laws of logic will require historians to link thousands of newly emerged and contradictory facts, events, references, will force them to rewrite hundreds of thousands of fundamental historical, archaeological, linguistic and related works. And this is already millions of ruined textbooks, manuals, travel agencies and museum repositories. It is hard to even imagine how much money and effort it will take.

For a thinking person, even such a brief overview of the Pompey problem is already able to sort everything out. Simple logic suggests an equally obvious conclusion - the listed evidence refers the death of cities not only to the 1st century, and not even to the early Middle Ages.

All the facts speak for the fact that Pompeii, Herculaneum and other supposedly ancient settlements of Italy, nearby Vesuvius, perished in the rather late Middle Ages. "Technology of material culture" is a serious thing, with its own strict laws. As they say, you cannot eat a bun without first growing bread in the field and roasting it in the oven. No one has canceled the laws of development yet.

The last 15-20 years have been marked by an unprecedented rise in the self-awareness of representatives of a certain part of society. There aren't as many of them as you would like. But enough to cause a headache in the heads of historians.

The indispensable desire of inquisitive contemporaries to seek and get to the bottom of the truth personally, despite the views, authorities and dogmas that have been established in science and culture, it sweeps away any obstacles in its path.

The most "cynical" of them go further - they do not trust anything at all, questioning, for example, the fundamental foundations of physics, chemistry, astronomy. It is no longer enough for a person to simply listen to the truths chewed by someone, he wants to reach and reveal the secret himself. It is even possible to rediscover the basics (which often happens in practice), to find a completely new solution that was not previously known.

And even then, where and how did science obtain its knowledge about the world? Didn't she use her authority, swollen in offices, at times to the detriment of true knowledge? And where is the guarantee that science simply did not fool the layman with its "stunning discoveries" for the sake of gaining fame and bread?

It's good when this is a real experiment with the object under study, and not an armchair conclusion. But what are the grounds for believing, say, in a scientific theory about the structure of the Earth, built on very approximate and unverified data?

Or, for example, that the reserves of oil, gas and some other "rare" reserves in the bowels of the planet remain only for a few decades?

Have we ever wondered how many scientific discoveries, dissertations and monographs have been defended and put on the shelf in the history of science? There are millions of them. We know almost nothing about them.

And there are many such questions, just have time to substitute your hands.

Leading editor of the column "How much does a person cost"
Fedor Izbushkin