Pompeii: Frozen in Ash

When I was about six, my family and I went on a trip through Italy and were able to visit Pompeii. For those of you who don't know, Pompeii was a Roman city that was completely buried upon the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 AD. Though a completely devastating incident, the ash from the eruption perfectly preserved the city, down to the last details of people running away, or even the bread and wine that they left in their houses.

This site is fascinating because, while giving us further insight into Roman culture, it gives us the lesser understood picture of what happened in an everyday town. When walking around the city, some of the artifacts were almost eerie, such as the perfectly preserved bodies of people taken over by the ash, or the plaster molds of them that maintain astonishingly lifelike characteristics. Many of the people were buried while running away with their valued possessions, usually art or jewelry. Entire homes were preserved with artwork, food, and clothing still inside. Specialized buildings like bakeries or doctor's offices were preserved, and give insight to how sophisticated of a society they had developed in Pompeii.

Though a bit gruesome, I remember the trip vividly because, for me, it nearly demystifies a society that is talked about so often, yet little of it really remains accessible.