Classical historian Stephen Tuck of the University of Miami has uncovered new evidence about residents of Pompeii who survived the eruption of Vesuvius. More than two hundred citizens of the ancient city not only escaped the disaster but settled nearby afterward, Tuck says.
“After eight years of studying databases containing tens of thousands of Roman inscriptions on walls and tombstones, I found evidence of over 200 people who survived in 12 cities,” Dr. Tuck said.
The eruption of Vesuvius on August 24, 79 AD was a roughly 24-hour catastrophe, burying Pompeii, Herculaneum, and several neighboring towns under volcanic ash. The disaster killed thousands; the exact death toll is unknown. Estimates from Pliny the Younger suggest more than 10,000 people perished in the eruption.
Before 79 AD, around 30,000 people lived in Pompeii and about 5,000 in nearby Herculaneum, but only a fraction of those numbers were found in the buried cities.
Tuck says archaeologists also noticed that many items that would normally remain in homes were gone. Carts and horses were missing from stables, and many houses lacked cash and valuables. Those absences suggested that large numbers of people had fled, the Daily Mail reported.
What the Researcher Discovered
Dr. Tuck focused on names that were common in Pompeii and Herculaneum, like Numerius Popidius and Aulus Umbricius. He then searched for records of people with those names—or their relatives—living in towns around the affected area soon after the eruption. He also looked for signs of infrastructure changes in nearby communities that might indicate refugee resettlement.
North of Vesuvius, “beyond the area of greatest destruction,” Tuck identified 12 towns with evidence of refugees from Pompeii. Some of those places treated the newcomers poorly, but others offered opportunities for success.
For example, the Caltilii family, who fled to the port city of Ostia, accumulated enough wealth to pay for an elaborate tomb for their relatives.
Tuck argues that those who escaped the searing ash and choking clouds were not simply abandoned.
Roman authorities invested significant resources in the region, repairing damaged buildings and building new infrastructure for the displaced population, including roads, water systems, amphitheaters, and temples.
“This model of disaster recovery could serve as a blueprint for today,” Dr. Tuck said.
