There are two theories about when the city of Pompeii was founded - one that it was by the Osci tribe in the 8th century BC, and another that it was by the Etruscans in the 7th century BC. Anyway, being on the coast at the mouth of the Sarno river, it was going to be fair game for the Greeks and others. Four hundred years after its founding, the Sannites from the mountains further north took it over, and nearer to the birth of Christ it resisted occupation by the Romans in the two Punic wars. It surrendered in 80BC, so only then did the area become "Roman".
The two displays above and below, which we saw in the Archaeological Museum in Naples, show what has been uncovered or known about to date. The model below is the other way on to the map above, as you can see from the position of the amphitheatre.
The only specific mention of Pompeii in ancient chronicles was that in AD59, a serious riot broke out between Pompeiians and neighbouring Nocerans in the amphitheatre, during a gladiatorial event, described by Tacitus. This led to the closure of the amphitheatre for ten years - football louts today have it soft! In AD62 there was an earthquake which seriously damaged parts of the city, which we know they had not yet fully repaired when Vesuvius erupted in AD79.
There is also a modern suburb of Naples, called Pompei (with one I) built on top of the older city which they did not know about until modern times, therefore we will never see the rest. Not wishing to shatter any illusions, the archaeological site is right by a main motorway, with a massive Auchan hypermarket a couple of kilometres away.
Before going any further, we picked up from here an excellent guide book, called "Pompeii - Herculaneum - Villa Jovis on Capri", English edition, ISBN 8884381290, published by Lozzi Roma. They mention it on Amazon, but don't stock it at the moment. It has plastic transparent overlays of how the room or building would look when occupied, which you can place over the photos of the ruins.
Below is a picture of Alun testing whether or not he can hear Enzo, our very knowledgeable, English-speaking guide for the day. Behind Alun you can just see a few of the outlets which have congregated outside the site, selling fast food, oranges, lemons, camera disposables and other souvenirs.
Above and below: This is Enzo (dressed in beige, standing on the stone on the left) calling his flock, channel 49, do you copy me.......
When Vesuvius erupted, the Pompeiians could see the ash and lava coming for some hours, but few escaped it unless they were already in ships able to beat a hasty retreat. Pliny the Younger got away, and it is his accounts which provide most of our information now. Below is a dog which didn't....
The way they manage to obtain these casts is that when the lava comes over, the body is of course whole. Now, the modern archaeologist finds bones within an empty space, into which they inject plaster. When the plaster is hardened, they chip away the rock, revealing the plaster cast.
I'll certainly think twice before using the term "petrified" again. Incidentally, not many bodies etc are on the Pompeii site. They are elsewhere in a museum, possibly at Stabiae nearby.
On going into the site via the Porta Marina, we went to the left a couple of blocks, then round clockwise in a large circle covering quite a few blocks, then back to the same gate. In doing that we were there a couple of hours, but still only saw the top left quarter on the map.
Above is a mosaic floor in amazing condition, considering that they let you walk on it, from one of the villas which we come to at a later stage.
Above we see a bakery which you can hardly see for tourists, which is why there aren't more shots of it, and therefore no separate page. In this part of the site I have devoted a page to a particular subject, partly to make pages easier to load, and partly to be able to theme them.
Above is one of the many drinking fountains which have been preserved. From the patterns of wear either side of the spout, we can see that there were far more right-handed people than left-handed in Pompeii. Enzo did give us a demonstration of how you lean round to drink the water.
So now you can go on a tour, visiting certain places in detail. Click here to go on to our first stop, the Basilica...