March 22, 2012, the Young at Heart group met a church for an early lunch before driving down to the Cincinnati Museum Center to see the special display of “A Day in Pompeii”. We had a good group of 34 people. This exceeded the capacity of our bus but didn’t justify the use of another mini-bus, so I drove our SUV to bring four of us. It was a nice time together. Bob Turner drove the bus. Thank you Bob.
I thought it would be interesting to note a bit of history regarding Pompeii. There is evidence of civilizations living at this site since the 8th to 6th century BC. Prior the destruction of Pompeii when Mt. Vesuvius erupted in the year 79, Pompeii had been seriously damaged by an earthquake in the year 62AD. Some of the damage from that earthquake still had not been repaired when the eruption of Vesuvius occurred. Pompeii was often a vacation spot for other Romans and was a place where many prosperous people had summer homes, etc. At the time of the eruption, there were probably about 20,000 inhabitants. I was pleasantly surprised to learn via the exhibits that the homes were somewhat modern, even by today’s standards. Many homes even had running water.
We know a lot about Pompeii because of the way it was preserved after being locked in time under many feet of ash. There was even artwork that portrayed what life was like in Pompeii at that time.
Think of this – at the time of the destruction of Pompeii, one or two of the Christ’s Apostles were still alive! Perhaps, one or more of them may have even visited there.
Pompeii is in Italy near what is now Naples. Remember as you see images below, you can click on them to get a larger view.
The following pictures show what the city and homes would look like at the time of the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius.
The following panel shows the city during the Earthquake in 62.
Then, it 79 the eruption began!
I doctored this image to provide a little modesty
After the volcano, the ash covered everything, including the bodies of humans and animals. Excavation of the site uncovered many human and animal remains. Of course, many other articles were also recovered. Most wooden articles were destroyed by the fire and heat but metal furnishing and decorations were intact.
On the left we see what may be a husband attempting to protect his wife, center is a dog (even with a collar), and on the right are people attempting to escape at the bay.
Let’s take an additional look around the displays with some of our people!
This is a wall relief depicting Vulcan the God of Fire and Metalwork.
And, another god who I didn’t take note of. 
The picture in the middle shows the leg protection worn by Roman soldiers, and on the right we see Arthur examining the Wine Decanters.
Left – Scale, Center- Serving Dish, Right – Millstone (grinder)
Looking up the street toward Mt. Vesuvius, today!
We hope you enjoyed our little travelogue to Pompeii and all the way back to 79AD, in history.
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