The Destruction of Pompeii | A Short Documentary | Fascinating Horror

"On or around the 17th of October, 79AD, Mount Vesuvius – a volcano in southern Italy – erupted. Ash, dust and poisonous gases were blasted high into the sky..."

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TRANSLATIONS:

SOCIAL MEDIA:

CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Intro
00:43 - Background
02:34 - The Eruption of Mount Vesuvius
08:03 - After the Disaster

MUSIC:
► "Glass Pond" by Public Memory
► "The Plan's Working" by Cooper Cannell

SOURCES:

​​​​​​​#Documentary​​​​ #History​​​​​​​​​ #TrueStories​

[TXninenine]

Granted it’s more well known, Pompeii was just one of several cities in the area that were covered by Vesuvius. Herculaneum was another and many historians consider it better preserved than Pompeii. When visiting Naples, that was where my family and I visited. Didn’t have the huge crowds of tourists that Pompeii had.

[shewolfsiren]

You know, you REALLY should do the sequel to this: The Destruction of Herculaneum. Everyone keeps talking about Pompeii, and as a result, they forget about her sister city, that was ALSO destroyed when Vesuvius blew its top—-but was destroyed in a completely different manner by that volcano

[absenttk]

I really like this. It’s rare to see historical disasters covered in the same way as modern ones.
People often approach them simply as history lessons, which kind of distances you from the lives of the actual people involved.

[nsjcgeo]

Props to Fascinating Horror for traveling back in time to get us all of this information for our entertainment. Respect ✊

[Fuzzy_Spork]

I think I was 10 yr old when I first saw a documentary on TV about Pompeii. I was completely mesmerized and horrified by it. And for years after I absorbed any information I could find about Pompeii. I finally got to visit there in person about 10 years ago and it was one of those bucket list moments! So surreal after seeing only photos for so long yet there I was actually touching the stones and seeing the plaster bodies in person.

[thenatespecial]

Fascinating Horror out here becoming our History teacher for future studies to rely on. Good job, FH.

[CallumMack]

"From the aftermath, in February 80AD, the Roman Empire Health and Safety Authority decreed that homes should not be built within 5000 emperors feet of volcanoes."

[BeruKri]

For all those who are surprised by the date of the eruption:
August was widely accepted until 2010, when new discoveries put a question mark on the real month. These findings were against the idea that it happened during summer as they are proof that it can't be before the 17th of October.
Since then the general consensus of archeologists approved the new date in autumn.
Probably it has not been publicised enough abroad and people are simply not aware of this. In Italy we followed the ongoing discussions for some months!!

[LoneWanderer]

Hearing that Pliny the Elder trying to sail back to Pompeii to try to rescue survivors but dying is such a human moment. Even in horrific, almost apocalyptic moments our ancient ancestors still tried to help others.

[LadyDragonbane]

The part I've always found fascinating is trying to imagine how people reacted to the event, but I'd never heard the bit about some of them being so afraid to die they prayed for death. That level of fear must be truly horrible....

[aperturius]

Pliny's account sounds as real and as modern as if it could have been an interview with someone after the Mt St Helens explosion.

[demitrilevantis]

I visited Pompeii and climbed up Vesuvius on a high school trip. There was sulphur vapour rising from the pit at the top and one of the guides said it might be close to another eruption, but that was over 15 years ago. It's an eerie feeling wandering the streets of Pompeii as it's fascinating seeing something so well preserved, yet destroyed in such carnage.

[Taladar]

It would be interesting to have more of these historic disasters, especially the ones that are not as well known as this one (but still well documented enough for you to find information of course).

[Cecily-Pimprenelle]

When you speak of bodies ”partially turned to glass” the associated picture is actually one of a plaster cast - archaeologists noticed there was a cavity (body decayed after the ashes were tassed around it, leaving only bones) and filled it as they would have with a mold.

Fascinating as always, thank you!

[StarGuardianKassadin]

wow. I live in Italy, we study this in elementary school, but nobody had never explained these events THAT CLEARLY AND in such DETAIL.
Thank you!

[Fusilier]

You should also cover the eruption of Mount Pelee, which destroyed the city of Saint Pierre, Martinique on 8 May 1902. A Pyroclastic flow cascaded down the volcano, leaving the city in ruins, and killing over 30, 000 inhabitants, it was the greatest volcanic catastrophe of the twentieth century.

[RoccosVideos]

It’s 5:18 AM here in the east coast of the US. Watching your videos are part of my Tuesday morning routine.

[Dachusblot]

I took a trip to Pompeii a while back, and I remember one of the nicer houses in the city still had a sign up that said basically, "Vote Julius for Senate." And suddenly I thought, this city was alive just yesterday.
I also got to climb up to the top of Mt. Vesuvius, and when I was looking down into the crater, some British lady next to me was like, "Aww, I was hoping there'd be some smoke or something!" And I was like, "UM NO, NO YOU DON'T."

[gary]

That first hand account is awesome. It puts you right in the scene of devastation he was witnessing.

[loganstroganoff]

One of the most fascinating things about pompeii and ancient Rome in general is the quality of life they enjoyed. In many ways they lived better than a huge swaths of the world even into the 20th century.