Accidental discovery

After being severely devastated by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, all efforts by the Roman government to settle Pompeii, Herculaneum as well as many areas of Campania and along the Gulf of Naples failed. From then on, the name Pompeii began to be forgotten even though it once existed as an extremely prosperous city. The city’s former residents also left the country, leaving all their houses and property buried under volcanic ash.

It was not until 1748, exactly 1669 years after the disaster, that Pompeii began to be excavated again. However, this city was only found by chance. Meaning that Pompeii reappeared completely without human intention.

The story begins by going back in time a few hundred years earlier, in the 16th century. At that time, architect Domenico Fontana and his workers were digging a system of canals to bring water from the Sarno River, accidentally passing by Pompeii, more precisely its ruins.

There are documents claiming that Fontana found a stele engraved with the words “decurio Pompeis” – meaning “City Council of Pompeii”. However, he decided to give up exploring the ruins due to lack of complete records.

Still, Fontana’s findings are intriguing. Thanks to what he found, Herculaneum was discovered in 1709 and excavated in 1738. 10 years later, in 1748, the process of “reviving” Pompeii began.

The person in charge at that time was military engineer Rocco Gioacchino de Alcubiere, under the orders of Spanish King Charles III. Over the next 200 years, excavations continued and until today, geologists, archaeologists and many experts continue to explore this ancient citadel.

Intact with time

Today’s Pompeii archaeological area has an area of about 60 to 68 hectares and is considered one of the largest archaeological areas in the world today. The discovery and study of Pompeii is considered to have an extremely important role for humanity.

One surprising thing when Pompeii was excavated was that most of the buildings, houses and even the bodies of the victims remained intact despite experiencing one of the scariest disasters in human history. . As it turns out, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD didn’t actually destroy Pompeii. A layer of ash and lava engulfed the city, but also protected it from destruction by the elements.

What archaeologists obtained after excavating Pompeii included houses, temples, paved roads, and the bodies of victims. In addition, they also found many splendid villas and an unfinished meal.

Many objects with artistic value such as paintings, fountains, etc. were also excavated at Pompeii. Everything collected opens our eyes to the life not only of the city, but almost of the entire Roman empire in the early years of our era.

One of the most valuable structures dug and found in Pompeii is the city arena. With an elliptical structure, this is one of the typical architectural styles for Roman arenas. According to BBC, the arena at Pompeii was built in 70 BC and is the oldest arena in history, meaning it is older than the Colosseum in Rome.

The arena at Pompeii where gladiators competed and many evidences painted on the city walls show that this was a very popular sport. According to estimates, this arena could accommodate up to 20 thousand people and served not only the people of Pompeii but also the surrounding areas (in 79 AD when the disaster struck, the population in Pompeii was only about 15 thousand people).

The attraction from competitions is like that, but it also leaves not very good consequences. In 59 AD, a fierce conflict broke out in the arena between local residents and those from nearby Nuceria. As a result, Emperor Nero decided to ban gladiator sports for 10 years in Pompeii. However, the importance of the arena is indisputable. That’s why after the 1962 earthquake caused huge destruction, the arena was the first place in the city to be restored even though no one had played here for 3 years.

The body has a “weird” position

Although the excavation of Pompeii provided much insight, some of the findings left experts shaking their heads.

In April of this year, social networking sites began to “stir up” about a body in a very “odd” position in Pompeii. This person seemed to pass away in a lying position, but his right hand seemed to be holding… his private area.

The photo was quickly shared and created a fever, mainly on Facebook and Twitter. Social network users began to pose hypotheses, but perhaps most of them were joking, claiming that this person died while busy… masturbating. Humorous status lines appeared everywhere, with some people quipping that this guy died while doing what he “loved the most”, while others called him “holding his lover’s hand” while dying.

Experts, of course, do not agree with this type of vague hypothesis. According to BBC, of the 1,150 bodies found at Pompeii, 756 victims died from the flow of lava falling from the crater. Based on that, Mr. Petrone, a doctor specializing in volcanology and having studied Vesuvius for 25 years, believes that the above victim may have had body shrinkage due to exposure to too high temperatures.

“Most of the victims at Pompeii had very strange postures of their arms and legs. The cause is due to shrinkage of the limbs as a result of the body being exposed to high temperatures after death,” Mr. Petrone explained.

No one knows what the unfortunate victim in the photo was doing before he died. But now people know that after being dead and buried for more than 2,000 years, this guy became a phenomenon, a famous person thanks to…the internet.