The following information is what any scholar or student of Italian or Roman history would be able to research and learn before the start of the event. The following is suitable to be given to these types of heroes as-is.
It was the 24th day in the month of Augustus. The year was 79, by the Christian reckoning, during the reign of Titus. The Festival of the Divine Augustus was well underway. It is also the day after Vulcanallia, birthday to the god of fire and furnaces
When the eruption started, the citizens were frozen with fear. Many recovered and fled the town. Many more sought shelter, and died. The ash fell for twelve hours, leaving a 6-foot layer all over the city. Behind this came a flow of lava that killed everyone that wasn’t suffocated by the ash. The lava came from the mountain at a speed approximating 100 mph. Those who had not already fled were killed.
After the destruction, the survivors told what had happened. The city of Pompeii entered into the providence of legend. By the fourth century it had been removed from all maps. When farmers began to find tops of buildings in the area, they didn’t connect it with the city of Pompeii. They called the area the Civitas, a reference to the obstacles that hindered their work.
The ash that covered the city was perfect for the cultivation of olive groves and vineyards. The agriculture was productive in spite of multiple political and military turmoil. The province was still heavily used when the Spanish viceroyalty of Naples was established. However, when Domenico Fontana constructed the new Sarno Canal and he discovered marble, frescoed walls, and statues, he failed to recognize the importance of his find. He had discovered buried Roman villas before.
Nearly a century later, in 1689, during the sinking of a well, a number of inscribed walls were found. The discovery was curious enough to gain the interest of architect Francesco Pichetti. He declared the find to be the legendary city of Pompeii because of an inscription reading, “decurio Pompeiis,” which Francesco Bianchini translated as “Councilor of Pompeii.”
He was criticized and questioned widely. It was generally believed that the inscription gave the name of the decurio, not the city. However, in 1693 a scholar who was studying Vesuvius came to see the inscriptions in person. The well was enlarged, revealing more frescoes. He agreed with Bianchini in a published report in 1699. The general idea of a buried city was scoffed at, however, and no further excavation occurred.
In 1709 the mocking stopped when another well uncovered the upper tier of seats of the theatre in Herculaneum, Pompeii’s sister city. In 1734, King Charles III (King of Naples) financed a program of exploration. He appointed a Spanish colonel, Roque Joachin de Alcubierre to head the search. Alcubierre was chosen for his skills as a military engineer and his ability to overcome large logistical problems and obstacles.
Alcubierre swiftly turned the well into a sixty foot gaping hole into which marched an army of men. In 1738 an inscription was discovered that identified the city as Herculaneum. The treasures that the workers found went on display at the National Archaeological Museum in Naples to prove that the king was cultured and enlightened.
Alcubierre mercilessly smashed through fresco-covered walls, tunneled through houses, removed brass lettering without first recording the inscription, and performed countless other thoughtless acts of destruction. When treasure became difficult to find in Herculaneum, he began to search elsewhere, and found that the ash-covered city of Pompeii was easier to “excavate” than its sister had been.
In 1750 a young Swiss engineer named Karl Weber was introduced to the king’s excavation team. He is credited with beginning the first documentation of the sites of Pompeii and Herculaneum. He drew up plans of buildings, maps of streets, and recorded frescoes and objects discovered. This earned him ridicule from Alcubierre who thought that Weber’s obsession was time consuming, irrelevant, and a hindrance to their true mission: the discovery of treasure for the king.
Alcubierre often caused destruction simply to prevent Weber from recording things.
During the 1750’s the curator of the king’s museum in Portici, Camillo Paderni, would go over the objects discovered, perform light documentation for tax purposes, and then select the finest objects for the king’s collection. The other objects were destroyed by hammer and discarded.
Substantial finds in 1755 and 1763 allowed the excavation to continue. King Charles III invited foreign dignitaries and visitors to show off his collection. He even allowed them to view the excavation sites. The international attention exposed the methods of the work to public scrutiny. Thus began heavy criticism of what many considered to be reckless destruction of artifacts. Johann Joachim Winckelmann, a German classicist, began the public destruction of Alcubierre with an open letter to Count Erico di Bruhl declaring, “This man, who has absolutely no experience working with antiques, is to blame for the many disasters and the loss of many beautiful things.”
It was also in 1763 that the city under the Civitas was positively identified when the following inscription was found: “respublica Pompeianorium” which translates to “the commonwealth of the Pompeian’s.”
Karl Weber died in 1764 and was replaced by a Spanish engineer named Francesco La Vega. La Vega brought a scientific and systematic approach. By December, La Vega’s work would guarantee his position at the court when he identified the Temple of Isis. This was the first complete Roman temple, intact with furnishings, decorations, and even corpses of priests.
In 1765, La Vega was appointed to the post of director of excavations in Pompeii. His methodology was officially sanctioned. Another important discovery in 1771, the Villa of Diomedes, proved to be a morbid pilgrimage for tourists.
When Napoleon conquered Naples, he quickly understood the significance of the work going on at Pompeii. He sought the advice of the director of royal museums, Michele Arditi who advocated a more aggressive executio of La Vega’s dream. When Napoleon appointed his sister Caroline and her husband Joachim to rule, they brought in a new era of activity at Pompeii. The work was elevated to a state priority.
At this time the method of excavation changed. The entire system of walls was uncovered, as was the main roads and gates. This allowed districts and buildings to be identified before excavation, so as to prioritize the work by importance.
When money was short, Queen Caroline personally financed some of the work. The workforce was increased to over two thousand. Joachim Murat betrayed Napoleon, signing a treaty with Austria, allowing him and his queen to remain in power briefly after Napoleon’s fall.
Activity reduced, but did not cease, when Ferdinand IV was restored to the throne. It was in 1815 that a private individual from England began secretly sponsoring the excavations. He could not afford much, but he did ensure that the work never completely stopped. Fifty years later, this man would be wealthy enough to directly sponsor a work force of 200, ensuring that the current director, Alexandre Dumas, never had less than 500 men working on the site. This family has continued his support of the historical work ever since.
Work continued without noteworthy changes until 1863 when Dumas resigned and Giuseppe Fiorelli became superintendent of excavations. He introduced a new method of excavation. Previously, buildings were uncovered down to the ground. Objects of interest were extracted and set aside with little reference to their original location in the building. Fiorelli believed that this information might be important, so he changed the process. Instead, each structure was uncovered by removing individual strata from the highest point to ground level. This process allowed understanding as to the evolution of the eruption and the progress of the events during the destruction.
The process also allowed cavities to be identified. Fiorelli had plaster poured into the cavities. Once the plaster hardened and the ash was cleared, casts of bodies were revealed. The same process gave plaster recreations of decomposed wooden structures and trees.
In 1875 Giuseppe Fiorelli became General Director of Antiquities and Fine Arts in Rome, overseeing work throughout newly unified Italy. One of his contributions in this role would be to further raise the standard of archaeological excavation and discovery.
(It will not be until 1997 for Pompeii to be recognized as having World Heritage status, which closes the city to tourists.)