New Pompeii discovery reveals the tragic true extent of human suffering
For one local Italian family, it was a day just like any other.
Food was being prepared in the kitchen. A young boy played in the atrium. The father inspected the progress of his home's renovations.
Then, a powerful explosion sent an enormous ash column high into the sky above the idyllic mountain backdrop to their Roman city.
Soon, ash clouds and a hail of small pumice stones began raining down and the deadly fallout steadily increased in size and intensity.
Many simply grabbed what they could and ran for the coast in the hope of finding a boat.
This family, however, chose to stay put, as new findings reveal.
The fiery ash and pumice quickly clogged the streets and rose up the walls. Then the weight of volcanic rock caused part of their home's roof to collapse.
Four adults and the child retreated into a bedroom. There, they desperately sought to wedge a bed against the door to hold back the growing weight of rubble.
'They didn't make it,' said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii. He's overseeing an extensive new excavation of the city.
Pompeii
It was a playground for the rich and famous. A scenic sea change for Rome's upwardly mobile and thriving community had grown around it to meet the exacting demands of the empire's elites.
The year was 79AD.
Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus had succeeded his father months earlier. Rome was at its heights of wealth, power and influence.
Then, the sudden disappearance of Pompeii and the nearby town of Herculaneum rocked the empire to its core.
However, the opulence and technical marvels of the towns they lived in have been flash-frozen in that moment.
For the past 250 years, archaeologists have marvelled at the well-preserved architecture, murals, furniture and technology buried there.
But the discovery of this family's fight for survival has rammed home the human tragedy it represents.
House of sacrifice
The address is a medium-sized townhouse (domus) on one of Pompeii's main roads, the Via del Vesuvio.
It's been dubbed the House of Phrixus and Helle after the colourful frescoes of the Greek mythological twins found on the walls of its dining room (triclinium).
The story of the youths is itself a tragedy.
Their minor goddess stepmother had ordered them to be sacrificed to end a drought, but their birth mother sent a winged ram to save them.
Helle, however, looked down and fell to her death in the sea below (the Hellespont). Phrixus survived, sacrificed the ram and took its golden fleece.
Given the quality and extent of the murals, the domus was almost certainly owned by high-status and socially active members of the Pompeii community.
They lived in comfort and opulence. The house's central courtyard (atrium) had a rainwater basin (impluvium).
The kitchenware is made of finely shaped bronze and several amphorae hold the remains of a Roman luxury - fermented fish sauce (garum).
The sturdy timber bed, however, could not save the family.
'Finally, the pyroclastic flow arrived — a violent wave of scorching ash that filled every room,' Zuchtregel explained.
Their desperate bid to survive was revealed when archaeologists poured plaster into a void left by the bed's decomposed timbers in the baked earth.
The remains of at least four adults were found nearby. A bronze amulet (bulla) found with a fifth body is of a type worn by male children before they came of age.
Two of the victims were found huddled together, backed up against one of the bedroom's opulently painted walls.
'To excavate Pompeii and visit it means confronting the beauty of art but also the fragility of our lives,' Zuchtregel added.
Struggle for survival
Pompeii is no Atlantis. Details of the tragedy were burnt into history by those who observed and survived the eruption.
Seventeen-year-old Pliny the Younger was visiting the town of Misenum, across the Bay of Naples from the eruption, with his family at the time.
His letters detailing the exploits of his uncle have survived through the centuries. Pliny the Elder, a naval commander, was killed by noxious pyroclastic fumes as he led an emergency evacuation by sea.
Pompeii alone is believed to have been inhabited by about 20,000 people. Most escaped.
But archaeologists estimate that about 2000 lingered too long, or decided to ride the disaster out.
There were warning signs, but these may not have been understood.
The House of Phrixus and Helle is alongside a larger villa dubbed the House of Leda.
It's also covered with exotic frescoes - most famously one of the Spartan Queen Leda and the god Zeus disguised as a Swan.
Both buildings were being renovated at the time of the eruption.
Archaeologists believe this is evidence that the region had been hit by a series of damaging earthquakes in the months before Vesuvius erupted.
Now the buildings face a new threat.
Their excavation is part of a recent emergency archaeological effort. Moisture is seeping through the volcanic rock from nearby illegal housing developments, which is eating away at the ancient remains.
About two-thirds of Pompeii has been excavated.
But the race is on to uncover and preserve a buried neighbourhood of some 1070 Roman homes containing about 13,000 rooms while we still can.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
ABC News
7 days ago
- ABC News
Street in Italy named after Tassie farmer for kindness shown to Italian POW
In a small hilltop town above Italy's Adriatic coast, where streets named after foreigners are almost nonexistent, one bears the decidedly un-Italian moniker of a farmer from Tasmania's north-west. The street, Via Harvey Ling (Harvey Ling Way), in Montenero di Bisaccia, honours a remarkable friendship that started a world away during the dark days of World War II, survived decades across continents and continues today through two families. Some of those relatives of Francis "Harvey" Ling gathered recently in the street with his name to commemorate a story that began with young village man Croce Travaglini joining the Italian military, being captured by the Allies in Libya, shipped to India, then Australia in 1944 as a prisoner of war, and, finally, to a corner of Tasmania. There, Harvey and his family toiled on their 30-hectare dairy and vegetable farm at West Pine, near Penguin, doing their best to help the war effort during a labour shortage. Harvey applied to a government scheme assigning POWs as farm workers and was sent Croce. For three years Croce, who died at the age of 90 in 2010, worked and lived with the Lings before returning to his home at the end of the war. His great-nephew, Giuseppe Chiappini, says Croce carried a love for the Ling family for the rest of his life and, to ensure the "incredible" story of their friendship was kept from the "dark of the past", he asked the local authorities to name a street after Harvey. Author Joanne Tapiolas, who has researched the history of Italian POWs in Australia for her book Walking in Their Boots, says their personal tales give colour to stories captured mostly in black-and-white images. During World War II, as fighting drained the country's workforce, more than 13,000 Italian POWs were sent to work on farms or government projects, such as wood chopping for industry, or growing produce. After a successful trial in Victoria and New South Wales in 1943, farmers were invited to apply to have an Italian POW work on their property. Joanne said some farmers refused to take part, but the "dire" shortage of agricultural labour left most with no option. Positive feedback from the trial also encouraged uptake. "It was for the betterment of everyone that these men weren't behind barbed wire but they were out physically doing something important and worthwhile," Joanne said. Some Italian POWs worried about how they would be treated and were reluctant to work on farms, but the sight of a family on their arrival at a farm often made their fears melt away, Joanne said. "It was not like they were home but they were in a family environment and they would be safe." A letter written by an Italian POW in Tasmania to fellow POWs in a camp in NSW shows how deeply affecting and comforting the presence of family could be. "He said, 'The work keeps me busy … at the end of the day, I pick up the little girl, I put her in my arms and I sing her Italian songs,'" Joanne said. "He said: 'I am happy, I am happy'." Many farms and rural communities welcomed the Italian POWs, but townsfolk were not always accepting, Joanne said. While farmers had little option but to employ a POW or face potential bankruptcy from reduced output or a spoiled harvest due to lack of workers, some distrusted or disliked the Italians. For many, they represented the enemy and an affront to returned soldiers or soldiers still fighting abroad. The healthy appearance of the POWs, who had access to fresh and plentiful food on farms that "townies" could not access, stirred further resentment. "They've got fresh eggs, fresh milk, butter, chickens and access to bacon," Joanne said. "But town people, they've got rations, they can't have butter, but they've heard the Italian POWs have butter." Julie Orr, granddaughter of Harvey, said Croce experienced discrimination in Tasmania, but what stood out to the Italian POW was Harvey's outrage and support. "[Pop] took a load of potatoes down to the wharf and the wharfies refused to load it because he had Croce with him, he was furious," Julie said. Croce kept contact with the Ling family through letters and cards until his death in 2010, more than six decades after living in Tasmania. Giuseppe assisted him in writing to the family by translating his messages into English. Today, he speaks with Harvey's descendants through video calls and online messaging but members of the two families have met in person over the decades. Of particular significance was a visit to Italy in the 1980s by a granddaughter of the Lings, Lisbeth Alley, who was able to locate Croce by asking neighbours and townsfolk about his whereabouts. "I took them to my great-uncle's house and you can't imagine how happy my uncle was when he had the opportunity to meet a member of the family that saved him from the war," Giuseppe said. Giuseppe said a street sign in Harvey Ling's name preserves the story of friendship between an Italian soldier and Australian family for future generations. "This incredible story of friendship couldn't die with [my great-uncle], it couldn't disappear with him. Joanne said that while some did not maintain a continuous connection, or any connection at all, there are examples of Italian POWs, farming families and younger generations continuing the legacy of friendship. Another farming family, the Dixon family of Tasmania, reunited with the family of Italian POW, Giuseppe "Josh" Quarta, in recent years. Joanne said the family was able to share photographs with Quarta's children that they'd never seen. She said she got "joy and satisfaction" from being able to assist families to reunite or from sharing information families did not know, through her research in archives and on social media. "When Antonio [Quarta's son] saw the photo of his father and the whole [Dixon] family he was like, 'So you mean he was welcomed in the whole family?' She said not all stories were positive and that some Italian POWs were treated badly, attempted violence against farmers or were sent back to internment camps because of bad behaviour. Repatriation of Italian POWs mostly occurred in 1946 and 1947. Some escaped return and a small number were naturalised after handing themselves in from the 1950s onwards. Croce had hoped to return to Tasmania, but Harvey could not afford to sponsor him and died at 63, just a decade after Croce's return to Italy. Joanne Tapiolas continues to look into the history and assist families with their research, in the hope of providing greater depth to the "black and white" records and images. "When you get this connection between Italian families and Australian families, suddenly you have the colour and that's the real story. "It's like the circle is closed."
ABC News
15-07-2025
- ABC News
Roman-era mosaic panel stolen by Nazis during World War II returns to Pompeii
A mosaic panel on travertine slabs depicting an erotic theme from the Roman era has been returned to the archaeological park of Pompeii, after being stolen by a Nazi German captain during World War II. The artwork was repatriated from Germany through diplomatic channels, arranged by the Italian Consulate in Stuttgart, Germany, after having been returned from the heirs of the last owner, a dead German citizen. The owner had received the mosaic as a gift from a Wehrmacht captain assigned to the military supply chain in Italy during the war. The mosaic — dating between the mid- to last century BC and the first century — is considered a work of "extraordinary cultural interest". "It is the moment when the theme of domestic love becomes an artistic subject," said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii and co-author of an essay dedicated to the returned work. "While the Hellenistic period, from the 4th to the first century BC, exulted the passion of mythological and heroic figures, now we see a new theme." The heirs of the mosaic's last owner in Germany contacted the Carabinieri unit in Rome dedicated to protecting cultural heritage, which was in charge of the investigation, asking for information on how to return the mosaic to the Italian state. Authorities carried out the necessary checks to establish its authenticity and provenance, and then worked to repatriate the mosaic in September 2023. The collaboration with the Archaeological Park of Pompeii was also key, as it made it possible to trace it to near the Mount Vesuvius volcano, despite the scarcity of data on the original context of its discovery, the Carabinieri said. The panel was then assigned to the Archaeological Park of Pompeii, where it will be protected and available for educational and research purposes. "Today's return is like healing an open wound," Mr Zuchtriegel said, adding that the mosaic would help historians reconstruct the story of that period, before Pompeii was destroyed by the Vesuvius eruption in AD 79. The park's director also highlighted how the artworks' return signalled an important change in "mentality" as "the sense of possession [of stolen art] becomes a heavy burden." "We see that often in the many letters we receive from people who may have stolen just a stone, to bring home a piece of Pompeii," Mr Zuchtriegel added. He recalled the so-called "Pompeii curse", which according to a popular superstition hits whoever steals artefacts in Pompeii. The legend suggests that those who steal finds from the ancient city of Pompeii will experience bad luck or misfortune. It has been fuelled over the years by several tourists who return stolen items, claiming they brought them bad luck and caused tragic events. AP
News.com.au
24-06-2025
- News.com.au
Tragic update on woman who fell into active volcano
Brazilian tourist Juliana Marins has died after slipping and falling into a ravine while hiking at Indonesia's Mount Rinjani – the second highest volcano in the country. According to Marins' family, who released a short statement on social media, Indonesian rescuers were able to reach the 26-year-old on Tuesday afternoon – although they were too late to save the young woman. 'Today, the rescue team managed to reach the place where Juliana Marins was,' the family said in a statement. 'With great sadness, we inform you that she did not survive.' 'We remain very grateful for all the prayers, messages of affection and support that we have received.' Marins had fallen in the early hours of Saturday morning, and there had been fears for her survival as rescuers battled to save her within a tight window of 72 hours – after which survival rates dramatically decline if victims are exposed to the elements and without food or water. Alfi Zakki, a staffer working on advocacy and campaigns at the Indonesian Forum for Environment (WALHI) in West Nusa Tenggara Province where Rinjani is located, said the authorities had suspected Marins' had succumbed to her injuries or the freezing temperatures on the mountainside. 'They had been able to locate her position using a drone. She had stopped moving but, because they hadn't yet been able to get to her, they couldn't be sure [that she had died],' he said. Zakki said he had hiked Rinjani many times and had assisted in the rescue of other foreign hikers who had gotten into trouble on the mountain. 'My understanding is that she fell and had become stuck some 500 metres down a ravine but, because of the extreme weather, they were not able to get to her. She had been able to move at first, but had then moved out of sight before being located using a drone when she was again seen alive.' It is thought that Marins had first tried to climb out of the ravine, although her movements had actually caused her to slip even further down its steep slopes. Zakki however said the footage of Marins moving around had given rescue teams hope that she could be extracted from the mountain safely. The Indonesian authorities had been quick to respond, sending three helicopters and rescuers from the army and Indonesia's Search and Rescue Agency. Rescuers had attempted both a vertical rescue, with teams repelling into the ravine to try and reach Marins, as well as an air rescue by helicopter. However, Zakki said the fluctuating weather and heavy fog had made either a vertical rescue or helicopter rescue impossibly challenging. Due to its elevation, the temperatures at Rinjani can drop to close to freezing at night, with heavy rain, fog and storms rolling through the area without warning. 'A vertical rescue on Rinjani is not easy because the terrain is so steep and she was so far down,' Zakki explained. 'She fell near the summit which is located at around 3,726 metres, but we do not know why -was it because she was tired and couldn't focus on the path? It is extremely sheer on both sides.' According to Zakki, treks to Rinjani usually take four days and three nights, and it takes around two days to reach the summit with rest stops along the way. Trekkers usually make their way to the summit on the second day of trekking, leaving camp at 1am in order to watch the sunrise at the summit at around 6am. There are four rest stops along the way, from the base of Rinjani to the summit, and Marins was believed to have been close to the fourth and final rest area when she fell. 'By the time you get to the third and fourth posts, the terrain is extremely narrow and steep, and made up of sand and loose rocks. It is not recommended that you attempt to hike Rinjani if you are not physically fit and have some experience of mountain climbing or trekking,' Zakki said. 'You shouldn't hike Rinjani recklessly, because it requires a huge amount of focus as many of the paths get progressively more challenging with sheer drops all around you.' In 2018, an earthquake hit the area around Rinjani, triggering landslides which destroyed the terrain close to the volcano's summit and made the hiking trails even narrower and steeper. 'Rinjani is a volcano that so many people want to visit, but behind its beauty there is always danger,' Zakki said.
