Lava Engulfing a Village

The villagers look very calm. Have they not heard of Pompei?



Melvin C. Shaffer /Lava Flow Engulfing a Village to the West of Vesuvius,1944

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Comments

  1. Pompeii was not engulfed by lava. It was covered under a cloud of hot ashes and stones (lapii). Lava is usually not very fast. It's not liquid stuff. These villagers are really quite safe. The photo is fantastic.

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  2. I wouldn't want to clean it up afterwards though. Thanks for the clarification.

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  3. I realized when I visited Pompeii last year that in fact the eruption didn't come as a surprise and that most of the inhabitants evacuated the town well ahead of it. The people who died, and whose remains we have found as imprints in the layers of volcanic ash were (almost only) slaves, told to stay behind to protect the possessions of the owners. And since I know you love trivia: we know they were slaves because they had good teeth. Sweets and white bread were the diet of the owning classes, slaves were fed vegetables and black bread. As a result their teeth stayed healthier than that of their owners. In a sweet form of justice :-)

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  4. I've wanted to visit Pompeii since I was a kid. Maybe I'll get there one day.

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