Historical

Thinking Project
Pompeii
By Almas
Significance
Significance

Pompeii became an archeological site due to an eruption in A.D 79 on Mt Vesuvius. The eruption
impacted 16.000 people in the region of the eruption. Pompeii is really important and we should
remember it because it gave us a snapshot of the ancient times of how people lived back than in the old
times. It showed us how people lived socially, economically, and what did they do for jobs and for fun.
Pompeii showed us what the people believed and what they worshipped back then. We should also
remember Pompeii because it is kept in great condition by the ash such as the buildings, the items, and
the tools. The rediscovery of Pompeii helped us learn so much about the ancient life in Roman Empire.
Causes and Consequences
Causes

The Pompeii was all caused by an eruption at Mt Vesuvius. Mt Vesuvius erupted because a major
earthquake caused the volcano’s magma chamber to inflate starting the eruption on the cities around the
volcano.
Consequences

There were a lot of consequences for Pompeii. The short term consequences were that around 2,000
people in Pompeii died and 16,000 people died in the region of the Mt Vesuvius eruption. After the
eruption the town of Pompeii was buried in ash and the other towns were buried in mud or ash. The long
term consequence of the eruption on Pompeii was that it stopped all crop growth so no one came back to
Pompeii after the eruption because it stopped the development of the town. The eruption caused the
Roman empire to lose one of their big trade cities which hurt them economically. However, a good
consequence that happened a long time after the eruption was that the it became a great historical site
where people all over the world come and visit the town of Pompeii to see the ancient life of the people
who lived in it frozen in time. The historical site shows the people who visit how people were doing
socially, economically, and their religion back than.
Change and Continuity
Change

There have been many changes to Pompeii after the eruption. There has been a change of perspective
after the eruption of Pompeii. After the eruption people came and looted the town of Pompeii ,but now
people see it as an amazing site of the ancient world and protect it much as possible. Pompeii was a
developing town ,but after the eruption all the vegetation were destroyed and no one came back to
Pompeii leaving the town abandoned. The eruption left Pompeii ghosted and lost ,but the change is that
archaeologists rediscovered it in 1748. Since then it became one of the most famous historical sites of the
Roman empire in the world. After the eruption the trading port of Pompeii was closed trades from all
over the Mediterranean stopped.
Continuity

Even though there were a lot of changes there are also some things that stayed the same. What stayed
the same after the eruption was that the people who lived the eruption or got out in time still all believed
in their religion and kept worshipping their gods. After the eruption in Pompeii the people who lived kept
on their same lifestyles, habits, and jobs ,but just at a different location. The people who lived the
eruption all still had the same leaders. People kept living in the area of Mt Vesuvius after the eruption
even though it was very dangerous place to live at. One important thing that stayed the same was even
in the ancient world is the human aspects of people, for example mothers held on to their kids and tried
to protect them and many people held onto to their loved ones which shows that the emotions of people
never changed. People to this day still shows the same emotions like the mothers protecting their kids
and people holding onto their loved ones.
Perspective
Perspectives

There are some perspectives of Pompeii like the people who were there, tourists, and archaeologists. In
the perspective of the people who went through the eruption was that the sky filled up in smoke,
buildings were getting destroyed, people were running around screaming and people were holding onto
their family while ash was coming down everywhere. In perspective of the tourists they saw people and
buildings in ash. They saw the people who were frozen is ash hugging and holding onto the people they
love and mothers were hugging their kids tightly. As a tourist you would see the buildings destroyed and
see the tools they used back in the ancient world. In the perspective of the archaeologists they would see
a city in mud and ash and found people in casts of ash and skeletons in tomes.
Ethical judgement
Ethical Judgement

My judgment on Pompeii is that it is really interesting and some things I find interesting is that how it
showed us how people lived socially, economically, and for fun, for example people were hugging the
people they love and you would see the buildings broken. I also find how the town of Pompeii went from
being looted after the eruption to becoming one of the most historical sites in the world really
interesting. I also find the emotions of the people buried in ash interesting, for example you could see the
fear in peoples faces and the emotion in it. I find the rediscovery of Pompeii really interesting because it
just shows how the city was kept in a really good condition over time by the ash, for example you could
see the items, tools and what they were meant for. So that is what I think about the eruption of Pompeii.