The lessons of Pompeii

POMPEII, Italy — Is the message of this city that some things seemingly last forever? That long after you are gone, something telling may be left behind?

Or is it that life can turn on you in a hurry? That you should appreciate each day to its fullest?

Either way, there are powerful lessons here. And as you walk through the ruins of this once grand Roman city, those might be the things you think about. At the very least, you will appreciate the dramatic story of the lost-and-found Pompeii.

Located on the Bay of Naples, the city had been established in the sixth century B.C. by peoples of central Italy. It came under the rule of the Roman Empire in 80 B.C. and became a prosperous commercial center for goods that arrived by sea and were sent on to Rome on the Appian Way.

But for the citizens of Pompeii, the world ended on Aug. 24, A.D. 79, when nearby Vesuvius blew up. The volcanic eruption sent tons of ash and debris raining down onto the town, killing and covering those who could not escape — some 2,000 or so by best estimate — with a deposit more than 30 feet thick.

The eruption of Vesuvius — considered long-dormant and sacred to the memory of the god Hercules — was documented by Pliny the Younger, living in the port city of Misenum on the other side of the bay. In letters to the Roman historian Tacitus, he told of the "broad sheets of fire and leaping flame" and the ensuing panic they created. He talked of the piles of ash and the cries of suffering people. "We had scarcely sat down to rest when darkness fell, not the darkness of a moonless or cloudy night, but as if a lamp had been put out in a closed room. You could hear the shrieks of the women, the wailing of the infants and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognize them by their voice." And this was in Misenum, not the closer Pompeii.

Pliny also told of the death of his uncle, Pliny the Elder, who was in charge of the naval fleet stationed at Misenum, and attempted the rescue of the wife of a friend who lived at the foot of the mountain. He was able to land and make his way ashore, but then, wrote his nephew, "he stood leaning on two slaves and then suddenly collapsed, I imagine because the dense fumes choked his breathing by blocking his windpipe. ... When daylight returned on the 26th, his body was found intact and uninjured, still clothed and looking more like sleep than death." Some historians speculate that it might have been the exertion rather than the fumes that killed old Pliny, as his slaves seem to have survived, but apparently they were also all wearing pillows on their heads to protect him from falling debris, which creates an interesting picture of what was going on.