Ashes of an Ancient Empire
Trip Start
Aug 08, 2006
1
22
36
Trip End
Oct 11, 2006
Pompeii, Italy
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
On August 24, 79 A.D. at around noon, Mt. Vesuvius erupted with the force of a modern-day nuclear detonation. The mountain's top split open and a monstrous cloud raced upward. The inhabitants of Pompeii were showered with ash, stones, and pumice. A river of mud was beginning to bury the city of Herculaneum nearby. Many inhabitants in the vicinity did not have time to escape, so they perished under the force of nature. This mountain had erupted more than 50 times since the eruption in 79 A.D. After Pompeii was buried and lost to history, the volcano continued to erupt every 100 years until about 1037 A.D., when it entered a 600-year period of quiescence. In 1631, the volcano killed an additional 4000 unsuspecting inhabitants. Who knows when the next eruption will take place....
Pompeii was thus forever frozen in time, as the clock stood still on that fateful day. To visit Pompeii was like being transported almost 2000 years back in history. I was amazed at how "modern" and similar that city and our civilization nowadays were. There were bars, clinics, fitness centers, saunas, and even a "red light district" spread all over the city. The engineering feat of the city was also awe-inspiring. Plumbing pipes carried water indoor to the houses, thus adding a touch of modernity to this ancient city.
