Pompeii History, Life & Afterlife

The very preservation of so much of Pompeii after the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 has made it difficult to reconstruct its long earlier history. There are signs of Etruscan presence in the sixth century BC, and the town expanded as early as the late third century BC. After the Social War and the siege of Pompeii, a colonia was planted there and a major building programme followed - which was to be enhanced in the early Empire after the instability of the civil wars. Roger Ling describes the day-to-day life of the city's in-habitants on the eve of the fatal eruption, as well as the eruption itself and its aftermath. The city was rediscovered in the late sixteenth century and since then archaeologists have discovered more and more of the city's past. The author concludes with an assessment of the conflicting demands of conservation and public access.