View of the Bay of Naples and Vesuvius from space.

Can you spot Pompeii or Herculaneum? It's difficult... so use the link below to find out.

Pompeii and Herculaneum are marked. Vesuvius dominates the area.

Main roman towns marked.

More of the ancient Roman towns labelled.

Wall-painting from the lararium in the House of the Centenary in Pompeii, so painted sometime before the eruption buried it in 79 AD.
The vine-covered mountain could well be Vesuvius, and the grape-covered figure is Dionysos, god of wine: perhaps invoked to protect the vineyards - or even the family - from Vesuvius...

In the National Archaeological Museum, Naples.

Painted c.1774-6 by British artist, Joseph Wright of Derby. In the Huntington Library in Pasadena, California.

Painted in 1777 by Pierre-Jacques Volaire. In the North Carolina Museum of Art.  Loading this high resolution image may take a few seconds.

Engraving by Piranesi, colouring by J-L.Desprez. In the Britsh Museum. Shows eruption of 8th august 1779.

Painted in 1817 by British artist, J.M.W.Turner.

Painted in 1881 by French artist, Renoir.

In the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Painted in 1985 by American pop-artist, Andy Warhol.

Old newsreel movie showing Vesuvius' last eruption - in 1944.

Photo showing Vesuvius towering above modern Naples.

The volcano from Pompeii.

The crater.

The crater wall.

A really excellent and quite moving timelapse animation of the eruption.

Computer-generated imagery of what Vesuvius might have looked like the day it exploded.

Impressive cgi-video reconstruction of the eruption in 79 AD.

Great account of Vesuvius, the Romans' relationship with it, and the phases of the AD 79 eruption.

Written by one of the world's foremost experts on the Romans, Pompeii and Herculaneum, Professor Andrew Wallace-Hadrill.

Another account of the latest findings regarding the eruption. Scroll to page 6 to find the article "The Last Days of Pompeii" in Minerva magazine.

Extremely detailed.

Diagram illustrating the limits of the six major pyroclastic surges

3 minute clip from the BBC's Pompeii: The Last Day highlighting the pyraclastic flows that killed the inhabitants of Herculaneum.

How the people of Herculaneum died (and how many of the remaining inhabitants of Pompeii are now known to have died).

Graphic showing the make-up of the volcanic material from near Pompeii's amphitheater. We now know that the deeper layers of ash fell from the sky while some of the upper layers were deposited as pyroclastic surges rolled over the city.

This 2-minute "video-diary" of a Roman eyewitness to the eruption, is an evocative, shortened account of Pliny's letters to Tacitus. Excellent for appreciating the essence of these famous accounts.

Good re-telling of Pliny's famous letters about the eruption of Vesuvius.

To read english translations of Pliny's two letters (6.16 & 6.20) about the eruption of Vesuvius, see our main section on Pliny the Younger.

Exceptional and visually stunning! Interactive information on the earth's composition, tectonic plates, volcano types and structure. You can even build your own volcano setting its magma type and gas pressures - and then watch how it would erupt. Suitable for all.

Great descriptions and images about this type of eruption which destroyed Pompeii.

Short YouTube video on pyroclastic flows.

Herculaneum was destroyed by this type of eruption from Vesuvius. Everything you wanted to know...

From the United States Geological Survey.

A look at how modern vulcanologists gather information.

Everything volcanic you wanted to know and see!

When an excavator comes upon a cavity that may once have contained a body, plaster - or now resin - is poured to fill up the space and rediscover the shae of the victim.

Photos.

He's in the storeroom off the forum.

showing the Genius (spirit) of the Household and two Lares (protectors).

Two lares were found here also and are shown in a link below.

When it was discovered the shrine was relatively intact.

Unfortunately, today it looks rather forlorn.

Depicting the earthquake of 63 AD, this marble relief adorned the lararium in the House of Caecilius in Pompeii. The Temple of Jupiter in the Forum is clearly shown shaking!

Currently in storage since the theft of another part of the frieze.

Cast of CLC characters "worshipping" at Caecilius' Lararium in 1993

This traditional Roman god of the house, as is usual, is shown as a youth holding a drinking horn and a basket used in religious offerings; found in the "House of the Golden Cupids" in Pompeii, and now in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples.

The statuette represents the "genius", or spirit, of an important official. Such deities were honored in household cults during this period. The figure wears a toga that has been pulled up to cover his head, as worn by priests when taking part in religious sacrifices.

In the Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA.

Another protective deity of the household kept in a household shrine (lararium); he holds a cornucopia (horn of plenty) and a dish used for religious offerings; in the British Museum.

Silver statuette of a penates carrying a cornucopia and a patera (libation dish).

In the British Museum, London.

Description, plan and photos of this little temple.

- official Pompeii webpage.

Reconstruction of the Temple of Isis.

Excellent 5-minute podcast from the National Museum of Art in Washngton DC outlining the discovery of Pompeii and Herculaneum as well as their influence on the art and architecture of the following centuries.

Timeline of the history of Herculaneum and Pompeii's discovery and excavation. Includes pages on Pompeii's influence on the arts.

Description on the official Pompeii website of the various aspects of the excavations from 1748-1997.

It's bang up-to-date with news and you can search the archives for earlier discoveries.

A marble relief sculpture from the wall of a house in Herculaneum showing a scene from an Athenian festival called the Oscophoria ("vine-with-grapes-carrying")!

In this video you can see the plaque being excavated out of the pyraclastic flow and ashes that covered Herculaneum.

- It makes you want to be an archaeologist doesn't it?!

Found in the House of Menander at Pompeii next to the bones of the owner. The sides would have been enclosed with transparent, thin sheets of horn.

- lantern 2.

- lantern UK.

- lantern UK 2.

- modern reproduction.