15 images of the agony frozen in time on the victims of Pompeii

The Romans celebrated the god of fire on August 23, every year. And in 79, the citizens of Pompeii celebrated the feast of Vulcan as always: with burning fires and festivals.

They hoped to win the favor of the blacksmith god, who "worked in his mountain smithy" (the term "volcano" derives from the name of this Roman god). But the people who worshiped him had no idea that they were about to fall victim to the most dangerous volcano in Europe.

Vulcan's forge explodes

An artistic representation of Vulcan's bloodiest holiday: the year 79. Photo: Swiss Educ

Vesuvius erupted on August 24, 79, and continued to spit lava and ash the next day.

The inhabitants of Pompeii (and of Herculaneum, the nearby town) who decided to stay put instead of fleeing, found their end after a colossal explosion of ash and toxic gases rushed over the area, with the speed of over 160 kilometers per hour.

A four-year-old resident of Pompeii. We can see the features of the face, the contour of the body, even the texture of the clothes he wore at the time of death. Photo: Fun Buzz Time

Everything that breathed perished then. The ashes of Vesuvius continued to fall over the cities until everything was completely covered, including the buildings.

The 3D scanner reveals even more details. On the right are visible the bones kept intact in the plaster cast. Photo: Cualesel

The irony is that although the eruption destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, it also helped keep them intact over the centuries. Their cities and citizens remained exactly as they were on that summer day in 79, frozen in time, under layers of ash, for almost two thousand years.

Nothing has changed since the fateful day of the eruption of Vesuvius. Photo: Daily Galaxy

But these lost cities of antiquity are a treasure for archaeologists, preserved intact for centuries, as in a time capsule. Pompeii has been so well preserved that even the inscriptions left on the walls by its former inhabitants can be seen.

But the excavations at Pompeii and Herculaneum gave the world a truly unique archaeological treasure: authentic Romans.

The agony remained imprinted on the faces of the Romans killed in the disaster. Photo: Hive Miner

The bodies at Pompeii were covered with a layer of fine ash, which calcified over the centuries, forming a protective crust around the bodies of the victims.

After being ground for a while, the soft tissues left some gaps in the layer of ash around them. Therefore, the exact position of the victims in the last moments of their lives was preserved.

Discovery of the corpses in Pompeii

"Vulcan's Forge", by the Spanish painter Velázquez. Photo: Artchive

Excavations at Pompeii began accidentally in the 18th century , when the city's ruins were discovered by workers working to build a palace.

In 1777, when the remains of a young woman were found, diggers realized that they could clearly see her figure in the ashes that covered the body.

It was not until 1864 that archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli came up with an ingenious idea for the reconstruction of bodies. After discovering several air gaps indicating the presence of human remains on a street called "Skeleton Alley", Fiorelli and his team decided to pour plaster into the empty spaces.

One of the victims from Pompeii. Photo: Webtenko

They allowed the plaster to harden, then removed the outer layers of ash. Thus, the figure of the victims of the volcano came to light right at the time of death.

The city of Pompeii has been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Photo: Wikimedia

Many of the victims remained frozen in contorted positions. Some tried to cover their faces with their hands. Amidst all these figures, archaeologists have discovered a mother who, in the last moments of her life, struggled desperately to protect her child.

Lacking a toga, tunic or other clothing that could indicate the period in which they lived, the corpses at Pompeii look as if they belonged to contemporaries.

The layer of ash that covered the city of Pompeii was between four and six meters. Photo: Hasshe

These sinister expressions of horror and pain have survived for centuries, and today they are exposed and can be studied by any visitor. We point out that, despite the millennia between us, the people of ancient Rome were no different from us.