Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Ancient Pompeii's Drains Back In Use After 2300 Years
news.binodon24live ^ | August 29, 2022 | Ashley Cowie

Posted on 08/29/2022 7:40:13 PM PDT by SunkenCiv

A 2,300-year-old drainage system carved into bedrock beneath Pompeii will be used again to divert increasing rainwater into the sea.

Mount Vesuvius on the west coast of Italy is the only active volcano in continental Europe and its eruption in the year AD 79 buried the city of Pompeii under thousands of tons of hot ashes and rocks. Seconds after the eruption the southern Italian town was engulfed in a 500°C "pyroclastic heat surge," when fast-moving currents of hot gases and volcanic matter (tephra) killed every one of the approximately 30,000 inhabitants, instantly.

This 170-acre archaeological site is mostly preserved within ash, which also entombed human bodies, and now that they have decayed away, natural human molds are found by excavators who make plaster casts bringing back to life the sheer terror that spread crosses the faces of the people who suffered in the volcanic catastrophe.

The recommissioned 1,500ft (457m) network of ancient tunnels and drainage channels is accessed through two manholes leading beneath the Civil Forum, near the Centaur statue and it leads downhill underneath Via Marina to the Imperial Villa.

The Civic Forum of Pompeii was a great rectangular plaza measuring 125ft (38m) wide by 466ft (142m) in length. While it was originally built in the 3rd century BC by the Samnites, evidence gathered from inside the tunnels showed final enhancements were executed by Roman architects in the years preceding the devastating 79AD eruption of Vesuvius.

Since 2018 the drainage network has been carefully assessed by several teams of scientists to assess if it was still capable of diverting rainwater into the nearby sea, and the restoration project has now been approved.

(Excerpt) Read more at news.binodon24live.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: godsgravesglyphs; pompeii; romanempire; samnites; vesuvius
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-36 last
To: johnthebaptistmoore

It took a lot of Drano to get that baby opened!


21 posted on 08/29/2022 9:12:30 PM PDT by Songcraft
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: algore

Pompeii as a city dates back 300 years before the disaster of 79 AD. That’s how they figure 2300 years.

CC


22 posted on 08/29/2022 9:20:17 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Only about 2000 people died in 79 AD. The rest evacuated.

CC


23 posted on 08/29/2022 9:22:52 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Larry Lucido

And the walls came tumbling down

https://youtu.be/F90Cw4l-8NY


24 posted on 08/29/2022 11:07:54 PM PDT by SaveFerris (Luke 17:28 ... as it was in the days of Lot; they did eat, they drank, they bought, they sold ......)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 18 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

They built good stuff to last back in those days, not CCCP, cheap Chinese crap products...................................


25 posted on 08/30/2022 5:20:08 AM PDT by Red Badger (Homeless veterans camp in the streets while illegal aliens are put up in hotels.....................)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Celtic Conservative

There’s no way to know that.


26 posted on 08/30/2022 7:43:23 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 23 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

bump


27 posted on 08/30/2022 3:22:59 PM PDT by Albion Wilde (Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free... Galatians 5:1 )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: johnthebaptistmoore

[singing] Pompeii, you’re my home...


28 posted on 08/30/2022 4:29:39 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Based on the number of bodies found in Pompeii, scientists estimate that approximately 2000 died. It’s a estimate, but one based on the best evidence available.

CC


29 posted on 08/30/2022 6:46:43 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 26 | View Replies]

To: Celtic Conservative
Some of the excavated ruined houses showed signs of former vertical shafts that were dug down into them, presumably by the owners (or under their orders) to retrieve cash or personal papers or whatnot. It's at least somewhat possible that some of those roofs lasted long enough, and survivors hidden inside the homes dug their way out. OTOH, these shafts may have been to search for missing family members.
It was formerly believed that the beginning of the eruption scared off most of the people in the Bay of Naples, and no remains had ever been found in Herculaneum, which was right on the slopes. Then in the last couple of decades of the 20th century, a group of remains were found in a newly-discovered storage room on what had been the Roman-era harbor. Apparently they were waiting for evac, or just found that to be the only available shelter.
The cities were damaged years earlier by the earthquake, which was probably a precursor of the eruption itself. While the population of Pompeii at one time may have been 20,000, there may not have been that many living there in 79 AD. The House of the Vettii was about 200 years old when it was buried and ruined, and by that time was owned by a couple of freedmen. Down the street, in another house, the owner's lending records were found, and the owners of the House of the Vettii were among his clients/borrowers.
Unfinished repairs from the quake are still in evidence. I wouldn't be too surprised if it turns out that most of Pompeii was semi-abandoned by the time of the eruption, and social rankings had changed a great deal. The imperial period was one of upward mobility, opportunity, wealth, and of course ostentatious displays, kinda like the rap/hiphop industry today.

30 posted on 08/30/2022 7:06:20 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 29 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Entirely plausible. On youtube there is a narrated video of a walking tour of Pompeii. It is nearly 5 hours in length! Search for “prowalk tours Pompeii”. It is incredibly informative and I highly recommend it.

CC


31 posted on 08/30/2022 8:21:39 PM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 30 | View Replies]

To: Celtic Conservative

I’ll look for that. Most of the walking tours of Pompeii (and most other cool places along the Seven Seas etc) are just vids taken by some YT tourist, and the only soundtrack is the ambient one of the other tourists and locals.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUYJ8LbF1Ys

preview
https://m.facebook.com/Prowalks/videos/634640597336941/


32 posted on 08/30/2022 9:47:22 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Tennessee Nana
Ive been to Pompeii a few times ...

Probably Herculaneum too?

I went to 6th, 7th and 8th grades in Naples and we lived in Pozzuoli. (Navy brat.) We had some cool field trips. LOL

We also studied the Vesuvius eruption in 6th grade history class while looking at it out of our classroom window.

33 posted on 08/30/2022 10:02:14 PM PDT by Allegra
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

https://youtu.be/sUYJ8LbF1Ys

This one has what you are looking at, facts and general knowledge if you turn on the closed captioning.


34 posted on 08/31/2022 12:31:16 AM PDT by Celtic Conservative (My cats are more amusing than 200 channels worth of TV.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 32 | View Replies]

To: Allegra

No not Herculaneum ...

I had planned to go there in 2020 but the Wu Hu Flu happened ...

I went to Pompeii for the first time in 1971 ...

3 more times since ...

Ive also been to Capri ...


35 posted on 08/31/2022 3:19:04 AM PDT by Tennessee Nana
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 33 | View Replies]

To: Celtic Conservative

Thanks. The Roku YT app is plagued by their tone-deaf ads and lack of access to CC.


36 posted on 08/31/2022 7:47:03 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 34 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-36 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson