ano emerged; the flows were rapid-moving, dense, and scalding, toppling wholly or partly all structures in their path, incinerating or suffocating all population remaining there and altering the landscape, including the coastline. These were accompanied by additional light tremors and a mild tsunami in the Bay of Naples. By evening of the second day, the eruption was over, leaving only haze in the atmosphere through which the sun shone weakly/dimly.)

Vesuvius was dormant for centuries and no eruption was recorded in memory until 79 AD. Due to this unfortunate lack of information, the inhabitants of the Campanian towns could not foresee the fatal and grave consequences of a volcanic explosion; many remained stationed in their hometowns and houses, assuming that the catastrophe would be short-termed, and (only result in a mere fraction of the destruction that transpired in actuality.)

This catastrophic disaster lingered in the minds of many; in the years following, all tensions and dynamics of the Roman world became increasingly focused and intensified. As the society strove to rebuild and recover itself, a competitive, ambitious and treacherous world was revealed. New money challenged old values. The traditional hierarchies of power and status could no longer be taken for granted.

Centuries later, the name and location of the city had long since faded into obscurity — that was, until coincidences during the 16th and 17th centuries led to some chance discoveries of ancient building materials and artifacts from the buried Campanian city.

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During a construction project devised by Count Muzzio Tuttavilla, who planned to divert the water of the Sarno river to his villa in Torre Annunziata, the city of Pompeii was spotted for the first time in the centuries — the planned underground channel of the shortest route happened to pass across the ruins of Pompeii.

From 1592 to 1600, under the instruction of Italian architect Domenico Fontana, several inscriptions were unearthed by the laymen, who were unaware that they were excavating over the top surface of a 66 hectares ancient city lying deep below.

An inscription bearing two clearly visible words, ‘decurio pompeis’, referring to a Pompeian