When was pompeii made

This remarkable development had immediate results: outside, it led to an increase in the level of prestige of Pompeii compared with other Campanian towns; within, as a consequence of growing wealth, there was a general increase in the standard of living for many of the social classes. As a result the "middle-class", that is to say the class of merchants and entrepreneurs who had built Pompeii's fortune and had reaped their reward, was able to establish itself in an increasingly prominent way.

Pompeii's flourishing economy led to a decisive population increase, widespread affluence and in addition the remarkable embellishment of the town. It is true to say that the middle-class derived great pleasure from competing with the nobility in the construction of splendid villas. The nouveaux riches, in their desire to outdo the aristocratic class who traditionally held power, vied in displaying their own wealth through the opulence of their houses and the preciousness of their ornaments and jewellery.

The urban building expansion took place for the most part along Via dell'Abbondanza, a symbolic centre of the new emerging class.

However, the life and splendour of Pompeii was destined to come to an end. The first inklings of the tragedy were felt in about 62 A.

It was no mean feat to recover from this blow. The least well-off class suffered the most serious consequences, having seen their houses destroyed. Most of the public and private buildings were still at the strengthening and restoration stage when Vesuvius became active, and in the space of a few hours sowed death and destruction on the city.

It was the 24th August in the year 79 A. From the amphitheater where gladiators engaged in lethal combat, to the brothel decorated with frescoes of couples in erotic poses, Pompeii offers unparalleled glimpses of a distant time. And Pompeii continues to amaze with fresh revelations. A team of archaeologists recently studied the latrines and drains of several houses in the city in an effort to investigate the dietary habits of the Roman empire.

Middle- and lower-class residents, they found, had a simple yet healthy diet that included lentils, fish and olives.

The wealthy favored fattier fare, such as suckling pig, and dined on delicacies including sea urchins and, apparently, a giraffe—although DNA evidence is currently being tested. But the Pompeii experience has lately become less transporting. Pompeii has suffered devastating losses since the Schola Armaturarum collapsed in Every year since then has witnessed additional damage.

As recently as February, portions of a garden wall at the villa known as the Casa di Severus gave way after heavy rains. Many other dwellings are disasters in the making, propped up by wooden struts or steel supports. Closed-off roads have been colonized by moss and grass, shrubs sprout from cracks in marble pedestals, stray dogs snarl at passing visitors. The grounds are littered with ungainly construction projects that squandered millions of euros but were never completed or used.

Rather than creating a state-of-the-art concert venue, as officials claimed, the work actually harmed the historic integrity of the site. He has denied the accusations. Caccavo, the Salerno-based construction firm that obtained the emergency-fund contracts, allegedly overcharged the state on everything from gasoline to fire-prevention materials.

Its director was placed under house arrest. Eight individuals are facing prosecution for charges including misallocation of public funding in connection with the scandal. Administrative malpractice is not unheard of in Italy, of course. But because of the historic importance and popular appeal of Pompeii, the negligence and decay in evidence there are beyond the pale. Packard, has taken charge of the ancient Roman resort town by the Bay of Naples and restored a semblance of its former grandeur.

Scientists had employed every imaginable tactic to unlock the secrets of the scrolls—prying them apart with unrolling machines, soaking them in chemicals—but the writing, inscribed in carbon-based ink and indistinguishable from the carbonized papyrus fibers, remained unreadable. And unspooling the papyrus caused further damage to the fragile material.

The researchers, headed by physicist Vito Mocella, applied a state-of-the-art method, X-ray phase-contrast tomography, to examine the writing without harming the papyrus. At the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France, high-energy beams bombarded the scrolls and, by distinguishing contrasts between the slightly raised inked letters and the surface of the papyrus, enabled scientists to identify words, written in Greek. It was on the afternoon of August 24, A. Volcanologists estimate that the eruptive column was expelled from the cone with such force that it rose as high as 20 miles.

Soon a rain of soft pumice, or lapilli , and ash began falling over the countryside. Many people fled as soon as they saw the eruption.

But the lapilli gathered deadly force, the weight collapsing roofs and crushing stragglers as they sought protection beneath staircases and under beds. Others choked to death on thickening ash and noxious clouds of sulfurous gas. Shortly after midnight on August 25, the eruption column collapsed, and a turbulent, superheated flood of hot gases and molten rock—a pyroclastic surge—rolled down the slopes of Vesuvius, instantly killing everyone in its path.

Pliny the Younger observed the suffocating ash that had engulfed Pompeii as it swept across the bay toward Misenum on the morning of August Then my mother implored, entreated and commanded me to escape as best I could Located just east of the Roman Forum, the massive stone amphitheater known as the Colosseum was commissioned around A.

He is best known for his debaucheries, political murders, persecution of Christians and a passion for music that led to the probably He shrewdly combined military The son of a great military leader, he escaped family intrigues to take the throne, but his Greek philosophy and rhetoric moved fully into Latin for the first time in the speeches, letters and dialogues of Cicero B. A brilliant lawyer and the first of his family to achieve Roman office, Cicero was one of the Julius Caesar was a renowned general, politician and scholar in ancient Rome who conquered the vast region of Gaul and helped initiate the end of the Roman Republic when he became dictator of the Roman Empire.

Despite his brilliant military prowess, his political skills and his The Roman politician and general Mark Antony 83—30 B. His romantic and political In B. He then marched his massive army across the Pyrenees and Alps into central Italy in what would be remembered as one of the most By the time the First Punic War broke out, Rome had become the dominant power throughout the Italian Live TV. This Day In History.

History Vault. Life in Pompeii Greek settlers made the town part of the Hellenistic sphere in the 8th century B. Mount Vesuvius The Vesuvius volcano did not form overnight, of course. Recommended for you. Coroner's Report: Pompeii. The Visigoths Sack Rome.