Pompeii Case Study

Pompeii, the ancient Roman city of Campania, Italy, lies on the southeast of Naples and at the southeastern base of Mount Vesuvius. “The frozen city”, perhaps became famous after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Pompeii, however, did not start as a Roman city. The city is believed to have first been inhabited by a mixed population of Oscans, Greeks and Etruscans. It was at the end of the 5th century that the Samnities, an Italian tribe conquered Pompeii and its surrounding cities. The excavations of Pompeii and Herculaneum marked the beginning of modern Archaeology. However, the initial excavations, which were mostly carried out by armatures and treasure hunters were poorly done and managed. The objectives of the digging had nothing …show more content…
That really rubbed us the chance to determine with certainty as to whether Pompeii is a good case study to understanding of the Roman world. Sir William Hamilton, the British Ambassador to Naples from 1764 to 1800, who had observed both the eruptions and the excavations, expressed his frustrations about the lack of a systematic order of digging in a letter to Henry Temple, Lord Palmerstone on August …show more content…
Well, the answer to this question in some ways is self-explanatory. Archaeologists discovered and excavated a new city; one that was rebuild and in some cases being rebuild. The original city, the one that existed before the earthquakes struck was destroyed and buried and with it, tons of information and antiquities that could have given archaeologists a better understanding of Pompeii and its inhabitants. Furthermore, after the eruption, Pompeii was heavily looted. There are evidences of tunnels all over the city that were dug by explorers who were not even archaeologists but Roman treasure seekers. One can only imagine how much antiquities and valuable evidence they made away with and cringe at the extent of the damage they left behind living archaeologists with little or no valuable evidence or