Historian Answers Google's Most Popular Questions About Pompeii

Comments · 654

• SI

  @SiqueScarface · 1 year ago

  Pompeii is also one of the largest source of Vulgar Latin. Most literature which survived the Roman Empire was very formalized: speeches, letters between highly educated people, scientific work, poems and epic written for the entertainment of the upper class. But in Pompeii, everyday writing survived and with it a spelling more close to the actual accents of the people and their way of speaking Latin and its local dialects.

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• BL

  @bluestrife28 · 1 year ago

  I think the Pompeiian picture I saw of the impression in ash of a mother holding her baby will be stuck in my mind forever.

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• RA

  @raquelhoffmann4 · 1 year ago

  The thing that breaks my heart about Pompeii and Herculaneum is that they didn't know Vesuvius was a volcano. Imagine living next to a beautiful mountain, hiking it or near it, admiring it and then BOOM. The fright, the horror. It really breaks my heart. My great grandmother lived on a village next to Vesuvius before coming to Brazil and she used to say that knowing the mountain could erupt was a constant reminder for them.

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• ET

  @Etherallyblonde · 1 year ago

  Her voice is so calm! A complete contrast to the topic

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• VI

  @victormanteca7395 · 1 year ago

  As for the date: not only we have Autumn season fruit and vegetables, there's the citizens themselves: those that have been preserved in castings seem to wear full wool clothings and many seemingly have their legs wrapped. Summers are hot in the Mediterranean shores, but the victims are dressed like weather was somewhat cooler, so that also points to a mid-late Autumn date.

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• LY

  @lynnedelacy2841 · 1 year ago

  If you go to visit Pompeii and Herculaneum you must go and visit the museum in Naples as it houses all the portable treasures from Pompeii- you could spend days just looking at all the beautiful things

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• KO

  @kornykatz · 1 year ago

  I cant get over the fact we have a historian who mentions ancient historians. So much time has passed and we're really still the same.

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• TR

  @trenae77 · 1 year ago

  On the question of evacuation - even with advanced warning systems for disasters today there are still people who chose to stay. Either they don’t trust what they see/hear, don’t believe it will be as bad as anticipated and do not want to risk abandoning their property to looters. Or they have no way of evacuating or no where to go even if they leave. People who have lived in a place their whole lives are not prone to pick up stakes and leave without the right provocation.

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• DM

  @Dmimima · 1 year ago

  I had the privilege of visiting Pompeii a few years ago and I was shocked how big it was! My friends and I spent almost an entire afternoon walking around and didn’t even see all of it.

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• LO

  @lomablu · 1 year ago

  Love this expert, she’s so well-spoken and has THE most beautiful voice/demeanor. I could listen to her talk forever!!

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• EM

  @emo7636 · 1 year ago

  I just love that someone wrote in charcoal on the side of a villa that 'someone ate a lot' on that date. What an ordinary thing to say, it gives such a nice look into their mindset just before the disaster. It's also very sad, for obvious reasons. I also really enjoy the fact that she says 'next question' before each question. And I'm not being sarcastic. Because otherwise I tend to let everything run together in my head. This way, I know when the next bit of information is coming so I'm ready.

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• ST

  @StapelBricks · 1 year ago

  You see in her eyes, when something is really important to her. They begin to spark with joy. I love it.

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