Pompeii

Pompeii, a seaside town in Campania on the Bay of Naples, and at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, towards the end of the republic became a favourite resort for wealthy citizens. In 63 A.D. it suffered severely from an earthquake. Before it could recover from this calamity an eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 A.D. buried the whole town in volcanic ashes so effectually that the very site was forgotten. It was not until 1748 that an accident revealed its existence. The city had ii circumference of about two miles, and was girt by a wall with towers at varying intervals and eight gates. In this area, besides many private villas and shops, have been discovered a forum, an amphitheatre, a theatre proper, temples of Hercules, Jupiter, and Venus, etc. public baths, and markets. The streets, intersecting one another at right angles, are very narrow, and the architecture, distinctly Greek, is marred by the poorness of building materials. Most of the relics found in the city are collected at the Museo Borbonico at Naples.