It is often portrayed as a catastrophic event, and no one managed to escape the ancient city of Pompeii’s rapid submersion during Mt. Vesuvius’ volcanic eruption.
However, according to research conducted by a classics professor from Miami University, out of the 200 or so Roman people who survived, very few went far.
That researcher claimed to have discovered proof of more than 200 survivors in twelve different locations after eight years of poring through databases containing many thousands of Roman markings on anything from walls to tombstones.
Estimates indicate that Mount Vesuvius’s explosion on August 24th, 79 AD, was an 18-hour nightmare that sent smoke, ash, and debris approximately 20 miles into the air.
Pompeii, a city in southern Italy not far from Naples, was established around 600 BC by the Greeks and Etruscans. Over time, it evolved into a thriving Roman port and commerce center.
Even while Herculaneum and Pompeii each had populations of 5,000 and 30,000, respectively, the fossilized remains discovered within the buried towns only represent a small proportion of their populations.
Classics expert Steven Tuck, who sought for survivor documents, also found that many identifying tangible items were removed from residences in these major cities. Things you would have thought would have stayed and been preserved in ash were not there.
He pointed out that the stables had lost all of their carts and horses, that the docks had no ships, and that the safes had been emptied of their valuables. Evidence points to a mass exodus.
Typically, Tuck would find evidence of Pompeii’s evacuees in a dozen different towns that were located north of Mount Vesuvius, beyond the region of the most tremendous damage.
Roads, water systems, amphitheaters, and temples were among the many public works projects undertaken by the Roman emperors to aid evacuees and restore homes and businesses destroyed in the eruption.
Vesuvius’ last eruption was in 1944.
