Pompeii: Secrets Of The Dead 1

Pompeii: Secrets Of The Dead

Salt Lake Community College

The Film

Pompeii was a booming city in Italy, just 14 miles away from Naples, on the

southeastern base of Mount Vesuvius. Pompeii boasted a population of over twelve thousand

people due to the rich and fertile soil of the land. Around noon, on August 24, 79 CE, the lives of

those living in Pompeii would change forever. Though the 2019 film “Pompeii: Secrets Of The

Dead,” directed by Ben Finney, begins long after these events occurred, about two thousand

years after to be exact. This film follows Dr. Estelle Lazer and her team as they use forensic

evidence and 3D printing to discover the lives behind the famous thirteen bodies found, “The

Fugitives.”

While figuring out the history behind the victims of Pompeii is important, along with

debunking the myths of the people made by nineteenth century scientists, that is only one

section of the movie. The other section is led by Volcanologist Kayla Iacovino, who talks about
Pompeii: Secrets Of The Dead 2

the science and geography of this tragic eruption. She explains how there are clues in the rock

to show us how this event turned so deadly.

The Eruptions

When the eruption began, you could see it shoot up into the air in the shape of an

umbrella. The people would have felt rumbling and shaking as the magma hit the ground and

exploded. There would have been a huge shadow stretched across the sky. As Pliny The

Younger, a Roman author who witnessed this historic event from across the bay of Naple said,

“Darkness fell, not the dark of a moonless or cloudy night, but as if the lamp had been put out

in a dark room.”

After this first eruption most of the population would have made their escape from the

city, it was the ones who stayed that ended up dead. For many years, it was believed that the

ones who stayed after the first eruption were people who were unable to escape, such as the

old or the extremely young. Through this recent forensic evidence it is found that many victims

were able bodied and could have escaped. The reason for them staying behind is chalked up to

the physiological belief that home is safe, that even during a natural disaster we would rather

stay in a place we are familiar with instead of fleeing into the unknown. For the second

eruption, high altitude winds would have dragged the mushroom cloud across all of Pompeii.

Then gravity would have done its job, dropping pumice stones all over the city. These stones

are light and airy with many holes in them, so one or two hitting you in the head wouldn’t do

much damage. But scientists discovered over five meters of pumice stones on rooftops, which is

enough weight to make these buildings collapse. This pumice storm would occur through the

rest of the day and night. Many victims' bodies were found on top of this pumice storm,
Pompeii: Secrets Of The Dead 3

meaning they survived through the night, thinking they had weathered through the storm. Little

did they know the worst was about to come.

The amazing thing about this catastrophe, is that you can point to the exact point in the

rock layers when the pumice rain ended, and the pyroclastic flow began. Once the pumice

rained out, the column of the eruption began to collapse in on itself, gathering up and then

shooting down the steep cliffs. As the eruption lost power, the central column gave way to

gravity. Clouds of ash and hot gas known as pyroclastic flows raced down Mount Vesuvius at

over one hundred miles an hour. This gas would have been two hundred or three hundred

degrees, making the muscles of the people still alive dehydrate immediately, causing their limbs

to bend towards their body in the poses we see them in today. Essentially, the people would

have been cooked alive in place by this pyroclastic flow.

The Warning Signs and Government Effect

Pompeii was built on a spur formed by prehistoric lava to the north of the mouth of

Sarnus, or our modern Sarno river. The Vesuvius Volcano is a part of the companion volcanic

arc that stretches along the convergence of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates on the

Italian Peninsula. This volcano has been erupting for thousands of years. For one instance, there

was one highly violent eruption in 1780 B.C called the “Avellino Eruption.” This shot millions of

tons of lava and volcanic ash about 22 miles into the sky. This destroyed everything within 15

miles of the mountain. This is actually why the soil in Pompeii was so fertile, because of

prehistoric volcanic ash being a part of the dirt.

Before Mount Vesuvius erupted on August 24, the city of Pompeii had been

experiencing many small earthquakes, causing citizens of that town to get used to small
Pompeii: Secrets Of The Dead 4

tremors occurring often. In 63 A.D, a massive earthquake struck the region in what scientists

have discovered to be a warning signal for what was to come.

The history behind the governing rule of Pompeii is very complicated and very vast. In

four seventy four B.C, the Eutruscan society forfeited their right to Pompeii, making Pompeii a

part of the Samnite confederation. Following Hannibal's attacks, Pompeii became a part of

Rome governance. During this period Augustus, the great nephew of Julius Caesar, helped

modernize Pompeii's architecture, making it more stable. Though unfortunately this didn’t help

much during the eruption. Since this was such a surprise event to everyone, and there was no

way scientifically for people to predict the eruption, there was no way for the government to

step in and help the community.

Video and Graph

Pompeii: New Studies Reveal Secrets From a Dead City | National Geographic
Pompeii: Secrets Of The Dead 6

Sources

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Pompeii. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved

History.com Editors. (2010, August 27). Pompeii. History.com. Retrieved December 7, 2021,
from https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-history/pompeii.

Comma, Shovava, Day, T. is A., & Colorsheets, V. (2021, April 3). How a volcanic eruption
Pompeii: Secrets Of The Dead 7

preserved the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. My Modern Met. Retrieved December 7,
2021, from https://mymodernmet.com/pompeii-history/.

The founding and history of pompeii until 79 AD. Omeka RSS. (n.d.). Retrieved December 10,
2021, from http://omeka.wellesley.edu/piranesi-rome/exhibits/show/discovery-of-
pompeii-and-hercu/founding-pompeii.

Owens, J. (2021, May 4). Archaeologists investigate Ancient Roman life preserved at Pompeii.
History. Retrieved December 10, 2021, from
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/pompeii.

Annotated Bibliography

Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. (n.d.). Pompeii. Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved December 7,

2021, from https://www.britannica.com/place/Pompeii.

Pompeii was built on a spur formed by prehistoric lava to the north of the mouth of Sarnus, or
our modern Sarno river. Herculaneum, Stabiae, Torre Annunziata, were destroyed along with
pompeii. Around noon on August 24, 79 CE, a huge eruption from Mount Vesuvius, showering
the town and neighboring towns in volcanic debris, followed by blistering hot gases. The
population either ended up being crushed or asphyxiated under a 9 feet, 3 metres, pile of ash
and pumice, perfectly preserving them for centuries.
Pompeii: Secrets Of The Dead 8

History.com Editors. (2010, August 27). Pompeii. History.com. Retrieved December 7,

The Vesuvius Volcano is a part of the companion volcanic arc that stretches along the
convergence of the African and Eurasian tectonic plates on the Italian Peninsula. This volcano
has been erupting for thousands of years. For one instance, there was one highly violent
eruption in 1780 B.C called the “Avellino Eruption.” This shot millions of tons of lava and
volcanic ash about 22 miles into the sky. This destroyed everything within 15 miles of the
mountain. In 63 A.D, a massive earthquake struck the region in what scientists have discovered
to be a warning signal for what was to come. The first Pompeii eruption, which has now been
renamed to a “Plinian eruption” after the author Pliny the Younger who gave us many first hand
accounts of the eruption, did not prove to be lethal. At this time, people still had time to flee.
For those who stayed behind, conditions would prove to become far worse. Ash fell harder and
harder from the sky, coating the city and making it impossible for people to breathe. Then after
the “pyroclastic surge”, a 100-mile-per-hour wave of superheated gas and pulverized rock came
down the mountain swallowing everything and everyone in its path.

Comma, Shovava, Day, T. is A., & Colorsheets, V. (2021, April 3). How a volcanic eruption
preserved the ancient Roman city of Pompeii. My Modern Met. Retrieved December 7,
2021, from https://mymodernmet.com/pompeii-history/.

Before Mount Vesuvius erupted August 24,the city of Pompeii had been experiencing many
small earthquakes, causing citizens of that town to get used to small tremors occurring often.
This was seen as a warning signal for what was to come later. Though during the time of the
eruption, there were believed to be around 15,000 people living there. This was actually
because of the abundant fertile soil this city had, the ash from Mount Vesuvius said to help
grow crops greatly. This led to a very prosperous and desirable city, this is shown through the
number of different rulers and monarchs this city had through the years.