Run, sail, or hide? How to survive the destruction of Pompeii - Gary Devore

It’s a bustling day in Pompeii.

Fabia visits the Temple of Venus and offers a sacrificial dove to the goddess,

asking her to bless her brother’s upcoming wedding.

After a quick visit to the market,

she spots her brothers, Lucius and Marcus, crossing the Forum.

They’re off to relax at the public baths.

Marcus spent the morning helping a master craftsman lay a grand mosaic floor

while Lucius worked in the brickyard.

It’s been 17 years since an earthquake hit Pompeii and its neighbor Herculaneum,

and there’s still construction and repair work to do.

Fabia and her brothers discuss the recent tremors everyone’s been feeling.

Lucius jokes that there’ll always be work for men who rebuild walls in Pompeii.

He tells them how eager he is to bind hands with his sponsa, or bride-to-be.

The siblings begin discussing tomorrow’s wedding—

but a deafening boom interrupts them.

They watch Vesuvius spew smoke, ash, and rock high into the air—

and realize they've been living in the shadow of a volcano.

They embrace and pray to Venus for protection and Vulcan for mercy.

Each must now choose how to survive.

They have three options: seek shelter, escape to the south on foot,

or flee to the west by sea.

Lucius rushes home but can’t find his sponsa.

He decides to wait for her and lights an oil lamp.

Ash and pumice begin raining over Pompeii.

Fabia shelters with her husband, Claudius, and their daughters.

But after a few hours, their roof groans under the weight of volcanic debris,

and they realize they can't stay.

They decide to travel southeast, away from the volcano.

The family joins swarms of people wading through hot ash on the cardo maximus

and begins navigating towards one of Pompeii’s southern gates.

Marcus finally reaches his home in Herculaneum

and gathers his wife and children.

They decide to escape by sea.

But as they approach the docks,

they discover waves brimming with volcanic matter,

making it impossible for boats to navigate close enough to shore.

Trying to keep calm for their children, they huddle underneath covered boat docks.

Now, the deadliest phase of the disaster begins.

At this point, the force throwing the volcanic material, or tephra,

into the air diminishes, and it comes crashing down.

Hot ash and noxious gas billow out in a wave known as a pyroclastic surge.

This first surge engulfs Herculaneum.

One hour later, another three times as strong

collapses the town’s remaining structures.

These have yet to reach Pompeii,

but buildings are ablaze in the hot, sulfurous air.

Lucius climbs out of his closet and tries his front door,

but a deep blanket of ash and stone won’t let it budge.

His lamp flickers and dies.

After more than 14 hours, at times walking through ash up to their chests,

Fabia, her family, and the others who left early enough,

climb the southern Latarri mountains.

They reach a peak and pause to look back.

Another pyroclastic surge rushes across the valley, crashes into Pompei,

and sheers off the upper levels of the town’s buildings.

Fighting back tears, Fabia continues to push her family on towards safety,

praying for her brothers and fellow townspeople.

According to modern analysis, the eruption may have lasted days or weeks.

When it was over, almost 300 square kilometers were decimated,

and Pompeii and Herculaneum lay under up to 65 feet of tephra.

Despite some disorganized looting and digging,

these towns remained buried until official excavations began in the mid-1800s.

Archaeologists have since analyzed skeletal evidence and volcanic deposits

to reconstruct a timeline of Herculaneum and Pompeii’s final moments.

They've revealed a poignant glimpse at the experiences of the eruption's victims.

Much of our understanding of ancient Roman life—

from food and furniture to architecture and economics—

comes from these ruins.

In their time, they were simply provincial towns in the Bay of Naples.

But their rediscovery has given us an unparalleled view into the ancient world

and the lives that were devastated by disaster.