When it reached a height of 27–33 kilometres (17–21 mi), the top of the column flattened, prompting Pliny to describe it to Tacitus as a stone pine tree. Īt around 1:00 pm, Mount Vesuvius began spewing volcanic material thousands of metres into the sky. Main article: Eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 ADīased on archaeological excavations and on two letters of Pliny the younger to the Roman historian Tacitus, the course of the eruption can be reconstructed. Ercolano was called Resina until 1969 when, in honour of the old city, the Italian modernisation of the ancient name was adopted. Today, the Italian towns of Ercolano and Portici lie above the site of Herculaneum. Excavations continued sporadically up to the present and today many streets and buildings are visible, although over 75% of the town remains buried. It lay hidden and largely intact until discoveries from wells and tunnels became gradually more widely known, and notably following the Prince d'Elbeuf's explorations in the early 18th century. In the 4th century BC, Herculaneum came under the domination of the Samnites until it became a Roman municipium in 89 BC, when, having participated in the Social War ("War of The Allies" against Rome), it was defeated by Titus Didius, a legate of Sulla.Īfter the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79, Herculaneum was buried under approximately 20 m (66 ft) of ash. The Greeks named the town Heraklion and used it as a trading post because of its proximity to the Gulf of Naples. However according to Strabo, the Oscans founded the first settlement and they were followed by Etruscan and then Greek control. Herculaneum plan showing the ancient site below the modern (1908) town and the 1631 "lava" flowĭionysius of Halicarnassus states that the Greek hero Heracles ( Hercules in Latin) founded the city. Famous buildings of the ancient city include the Villa of the Papyri and the so-called "boat houses", in which the skeletal remains of at least 300 people were found. It was a popular seaside retreat for the Roman elite, which is reflected in the extraordinary density of grand and luxurious houses with, for example, far more lavish use of coloured marble cladding.
Today, only part of the ancient site has been excavated, and attention and funds have shifted to the preservation of the already excavated parts of the city, rather than focusing on uncovering more areas.Īlthough it was smaller than Pompeii with a population of up to 5000, Herculaneum was a wealthier town. Regular excavations began in 1738, and have continued ever since, albeit intermittently. In the first years after its rediscovery, tunnels were dug at the site by treasure hunters, and many artifacts were removed. Remnants of the city, however, were already found during earlier earthworks.
The traditional story is that the city was rediscovered by chance in 1709, during the digging of a well. Unlike Pompeii, the mainly pyroclastic material that covered Herculaneum carbonized and preserved more wood in objects such as roofs, beds, and doors, as well as other organic-based materials such as food and papyrus. Although less well known today than Pompeii, it was the first, and for a long time the only, buried Vesuvian city to be found (in 1709), while Pompeii was only revealed from 1748 and identified in 1763. Like the nearby city of Pompeii, Herculaneum is famous as one of the few ancient cities to be preserved more or less intact as the ash that blanketed the town also protected it against looting and the elements. Herculaneum was buried under volcanic ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79. Herculaneum ( / h ɜːr k j ʊ ˈ l eɪ n i ə m/ Italian: Ercolano) was an ancient town, located in the modern-day comune of Ercolano, Campania, Italy. Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata