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Mount Vesuvius erupts on this day in 79 AD

[[[image-0 medium right]]]On this day in 79 AD in southern Italy, Mount Vesuvius erupted – burying the nearby cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and killing thousands of people.

Within a few days, both cities were completely buried under up to 17 feet of ash and pumice, mud and volcanic material. While most of the city’s inhabitants fled, several thousand stayed in their homes to wait out the eruption – they were all killed when a cloud of toxic gas flooded over the cities in the early hours of August 25th.  The buried cities remained undisturbed and forgotten until the 18th century – when a local farmer discovered the ruins. Since then, countless treasures and building have been unearthed, giving a fascinating window into Roman life in the 1st century.

Pliny the Younger – the noted Roman writer – was visiting the area at the time, and much of what we know about the eruption comes from his letters, which are collected together in this ebook.