00:00In the year 79 A.D., an entire Roman city was erased in less than 24 hours
00:07and perfectly preserved for nearly 1,700 years.
00:12On August 24, 79 A.D., according to the Roman writer Pliny the Younger,
00:19the volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted without warning.
00:23Across the Bay of Naples stood the thriving Roman city of Pompeii.
00:28It was home to nearly 11,000 people.
00:32At first, ash began falling like snow.
00:36Many residents watched from rooftops.
00:39Then came the deadly phase.
00:42Vesuvius released a massive column of ash and gas nearly 30 kilometers into the sky.
00:48Hours later, superheated pyroclastic surges,
00:52fast-moving clouds of gas and volcanic debris rushed down the mountain at speeds over 100 kilometers per hour.
01:01Temperatures reached over 300 degrees Celsius.
01:05People did not slowly suffocate.
01:08Modern forensic studies show many died instantly from thermal shock.
01:13The city was buried under four to six meters of ash.
01:18Homes, markets, bathhouses, even loaves of bread were left inside ovens.
01:25Nearby, Pliny the Elder attempted a rescue by ship.
01:29He died during the disaster, likely from toxic gases.
01:32After that day, Pompeii disappeared from history.
01:37Until 1748.
01:40That year, systematic excavations began under the Bourbon king Charles VII of Naples.
01:47Archaeologists eventually discovered hollow spaces in hardened ash,
01:52the voids left by decomposed bodies.
01:56They poured plaster into them.
01:58The result?
01:59Human forms frozen in their final moments.
02:03Pompeii did not just die.
02:06It was sealed.
02:07And because of that catastrophe,
02:09it became one of the most detailed snapshots of everyday Roman life ever discovered.
02:16History didn't just record that day.
02:19It preserved it.
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