Knowra Pompeii Pompeii Pompeii was an ancient Roman city near Naples, buried by Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. Volcanic deposits preserved its streets, buildings, and many objects and human remains.
House of the Vettii : A lavish Pompeian house decorated with mythological frescoes and scenes of daily life. Its rooms and paintings show the wealth and domestic display preserved in Pompeii.
Mount Vesuvius : An active volcano on the Bay of Naples, known for its explosive eruption in 79 CE. Its eruption overwhelmed Pompeii with ash, pumice, and lethal surges.
Samnites : An ancient Italic people who lived in the central and southern Apennines. Samnite influence shaped Pompeii before its incorporation into the Roman state.
Pompeii excavations : The archaeological investigations that uncovered Pompeii from the eighteenth century onward. Excavation revealed the city while changing how its remains were recorded and conserved.
Villa of the Mysteries : A Roman villa outside Pompeii known for a large, vivid cycle of enigmatic frescoes. Its celebrated painted room offers one of the site’s most striking records of Roman ritual imagery.
Plinian eruption : A sustained explosive volcanic eruption that sends a high column of gas, ash, and pumice into the atmosphere. The eruption that buried Pompeii is a classic example of this eruption style.
Social War : A conflict from 91 to 88 BCE in which Rome’s Italian allies fought for citizenship. Pompeii joined the revolt and became a Roman colony after its defeat.
Giuseppe Fiorelli : An Italian archaeologist who directed Pompeii’s excavations from 1863 to 1875. Fiorelli introduced systematic excavation and the technique used to make many plaster casts.
Pompeii Forum : Pompeii’s civic and commercial center, lined with temples, public buildings, and colonnades. The forum reveals how civic, religious, and economic life met in the city.
Pyroclastic density current : A fast-moving, ground-hugging mixture of hot gas, ash, and volcanic fragments. Such currents reached Pompeii during the eruption and caused lethal heat exposure.
Show all 21