When Mount Vesuvius erupted cataclysmically in the summer of A.D. 79, the nearby Roman town of Pompeii was buried under several feet of ash and rock. The ruined city remained frozen in time until it was discovered by a surveying engineer in 1748. As archaeologists excavated the site, they found it was strewn with air pockets where victims' bodies had decomposed within the hardened volcanic debris. By filling these hollows with plaster, they were able to create casts, such as the one shown here, that reveal with remarkable detail the suffering of Pompeii's citizens in their last moments.
Photograph by Time & Life Pictures/Getty Images
I have been to Pompeii on different occasions. A visitor cannot help but be captivated by being immersed into such a long lost decadent city. The more graphic sexual images are covered with a locked box. For a few lira, the tour guide willingly opens the box to reveal the image.
Personally, I do not believe there is a link between the fall of Jerusalem and the collapse of the Pompeiian society.
The sadest thing at the Pompeii exhibition were the casts of the people and animals that died after the explosion of Vesuvius. Especially the cast of the dog (at right) and of the slave who was still in his shackles.