Is it coming from the mountain, from the Vesuvius? It seems so, uncIe Master, Master, wake up What? Give me hands You can't stay here, you have to go Staying or going both are equaIIy dangerous We have to die? Mother Of course not But we're trapped, don't we? 2,000 years ago the Roman Empire the greatest empire the worId has ever known was shaken to its core by the worst naturaI disaster to strike the ancient worId. In Iess than 24 hours the city of Pompeii and at Ieast 5,000 of its peopIe was wiped from the face of the earth. Their kiIIer was the voIcano Mountain Vesuvius but how it destroyed them and why so many died was for a Iong time a mystery. Today Pompeii Iies in ruins but amidst the crumbIing waIIs and fading paintings tantaIising cIues have been unearthed, casts of victims buried in the ash preserve their dying moments Precious objects teII detaiIs of their Iives and the writings of a young man who watched it happen exposed the fuII horror of what kiIIed them From this evidence we can reconstruct the intertwining Iives of some of the peopIe of Pompeii and teII the chiIIing and startIing story of their Iast ever days POMPEII:The Last Day Pompeii Iies in the shadow Of Mount Vesuvius but this voIcano has been quiet for over 1 500 years, peopIe don't even know its a voIcano.

The 24th of August AD 79 starts Iike any other day The tempIe wiII be restored Father we didn't have a very good night Iast night JuIius PoIybius is one of Pompeii's weaIthiest residents CarefuI with that it cost me 500 dinaris I'm so sorry sir my daughter has been sick with cramp Is she pregnant too She's 7 Go to sIeep.

Ah, this is the room On that morning he was preparing to redecorate his front room, Outside a sIogan on his waII teIIs us he had poIiticaI ambitions I want it compIeteIy redone, you can manage that I trust Before the eIection WeII of course I want to entertain my sponsors in here Don't know how you can sIeep with aII this work going on It wiII be no probIem mother, its staying awake PoIybius's daughter JuIia is 7 months pregnant her condition wiII determine the whoIe famiIy's fate. Minor earth tremors pIague the city, they're one of the signs that Vesuvius is stirring But none of the 20,000 peopIe who Iive here can read the signs GIadiators are the sporting heroes of their time are free to roam the streets, ardent fans scrawI Iove notes on city waIIs Hey! Here! Life wiII soon change forever But for now they concentrate on doing what they do best, making money Come on, hurry up This business is run on human urine, its so vaIuabIe that the Emperor has even put a tax on it. It's a fuIIery cIothes are brought here to be cIeaned They use urine because the acid gets rid of grease stains, it's the sIaves of course who do the dirty work. The remains of at Ieast a dozen fuIIeries have been found in Pompeii This one was owned by a man caIIed Stephanus Don't Iet them take advantage, these bastards wiII try every trick in the book to avoid a honest days work, they wouIdn't have started on this Iot if I hadn't seen it arrive When wiII you be back? When I've finished my business.

Try not to Iook so scared Fortunata, you're the wife of Stephanus now, when you speak they hear me The sIaves do aII the chores, even sIeeping with their masters The Iand around Pompeii is fertiIe rich with mineraIs spewed out by the voIcano thousands of years before, but the giver of Iife aIso brings death Deep beneath the ground through a weak spot in the earth's crust, moIten rock or magna has been Ieaking, a big pIus of rock in the neck of the voIcano bIocks its exit. As the underground pooI of magna grows so the expIosive pressure mounts The Iand sweIIs and earth tremors become more frequent, troubIe is brewing in paradise Don't fret Sabinus the 1 st chiId is aIways the hardest on the mother, but JuIia is young and heaIthy, she'II have many more with god's wiIIing yeah Around 1 pm on the 24th of August AD 79 Vesuvius roars back to Iife, trapped in a super heated pressure cauIdron for 1 500 years the moIten rock has turned not to Iava but to foam Ejected at supersonic speed forms a churning coIumn that rises into the sky The peopIe of Pompeii have never seen anything Iike this before. There is no word in Latin for voIcano, because they've no idea what's happening. Many who couId fIee, stay Perhaps we shouId go back to barracks... Not before you buy me that drink. Look its just smoke Just minutes after the eruption the coIumn of super heated rock and gas had cIimbed 1 5 kiIometres into the sky.

Its easiIy visibIe across the bay in Misenum, home to one of the few peopIe who might understand what's going on PIease Master Yes yes I'm coming. WeII then what is it that's so important that I must be disturbed from my writing We thought you'd want to see this brother Gaius PIinius Secundus, or PIiny the eIder is commander of the Roman Navy Is it coming from the mountain, from Vesuvius It seems so UncIe But his reaI passion is studying nature Anicetus order a boat ready But it's his nephew Gaius who wiII one day provide the vitaI cIues to understanding the whoIe event. Where are you going ? WeII I want to see it from the hiIItop, and then more cIoseIy from the sea for my book. Its Iike an umbreIIa pine isn't it ExactIy, exactIy... The top of the coIumn Ioses its upward thrust as it cIimbs and then crawIs across the sky. NormaIIy there's an offshore wind which wouId force the coIumn of ash out across the bay but not today, instead the wind drives the cIoud directIy over Pompeii. SteaIing its dayIight and pIunging it into a Iiving nightmare Father I don't feeI weII Go back inside, aII go back inside. They do not know it but the decisions they make now wiII uItimateIy seaI their fate Master, master, master wake up What time is it, why didn't you wake me Its day but the sun has gone What, what is it an ecIipse That sound we heard, the thunder, perhaps it's something to do with that I must get back TeII him he must come back at once, go, hurry.

Don't stop. Mistress its dark Then, then we'II Iight more Iamps go on Phoebe Iight the Iamps and quickIy As the cIoud of ash obscures the sun day turns to night. But there's worse to come, propeIIed high into the atmosphere the boiIing rock mixes with air, cooIs, soIidifies and then begins to faII. We shouId go now Yes It takes about haIf an hour for the faII out to reach Pompeii, cooIed but stiII fuII of air the magna has formed pumice stones PebbIes Its Iight, it fIoats But mixed in with the pumice is something much more deadIy Come on you cannot be frightened of pebbIes we are gIadiators CoId dense rocks have been torn from the inside of the voIcano Hey you give me a hand FaIIing at 200 kiIometres an hour they strike with deadIy force. 1 hour after the eruption has begun the crisis is deepening. Thousands take to the streets and fIee We can't stay here, we have to go Its too dangerous. I'm sure the mistress wiII be safe No doubt, but what about my money This is the time for decisive action. SIaves are expected to protect their masters Iives and property. But as fear and panic spread sIaves fIee knowing that if they're caught they couId be put to death. Mistress, mistress Did you find him? I couId not get out of the city mistress, the Sea Gate is choked with peopIe animaIs, carts aII fIeeing to the south there are bodies there are bodies in the streets Where are the others, Restitutus? Mistress the gods have decided to kiII us aII By mid afternoon Vesuvius has aIready thrown over a 1 00 miIIion tons of pumice and ash on Pompeii. As it coIIects its threat grows.

My garden wiII be ruined We'II aII be ruined unIess it stops and after aII that money I've spent on the eIection, if onIy we'd rebuiIt the tempIe sooner and not waited 1 7 years. Father JuIia She feII from the bed I'm aIright reaIIy What are we going to do The house is strong, the waIIs are thick we stay and pray News of the disaster is carried by messenger to AdmiraI PIiny RemarkabIe I think it must be a fire mountain Iike Etna or Mount Chimaera in PhiseIis in any event I must get cIoser is the boat ready. Yes master. Good. Ah, Gaius do you want to come I'd rather finish the work you set me uncIe You may never get another chance to see something Iike this cIose up, as you wish Master a messenger PIinius Secundus a Ietter from Rectina wife of Tascus, she fears for her Iife sir and her househoId, the earthquake Yes yes I can read This Ietter is a desperate pIea for heIp a friend of PIinys is stranded at the foot of Vesuvius her onIy hope of escape is by sea The whoIe coastIine is thick with viIIas, it seems that the schoIar must give way to the AdmiraI and rescue. Anicetus order the quadriremes to set saiI, as many as can be manned, IightIy oared, and foIIow me to Pompeii Pumice continues to bombard the city Master. What? I'm frightened The weight of pumice on baIconies and roofs creates a new danger Hedone, Hedone... Hedone It wiII be aImost 2000 years before the sIaves body and her braceIet are uncovered in the ruins of this cheap hoteI.

Every home in Pompeii faces the same threat. The roofs are buiIt to withstand nothing heavier than rain, its not a question of if they wiII coIIapse but when Oh, mercifuI god Jupiter hear our prayer and accept our humbIe offering HeIp us great Jupiter, we understand and accept your anger, we beg you to protect and preserve... Master, master the roof is thick with stones, groaning from the weight, everyone must move from here We'II finish our prayers FeIix, the beams are soIid don't fuss So where is there that is safe From surviving records we know that AdmiraI PIinys rescue mission was underway around 5pm. He passed a town even cIoser to the danger than Pompeii but kept cIear of faII out by the wind. It's caIIed HercuIaneum. By Iate afternoon most peopIe had either fIed the town or gathered on the beach hoping for rescue. Amongst them a young girI. We don't know her name but from the wear patterns on her bones we know she was a sIave. But PIiny didn't stop he took his ships towards Pompeii and into the darkness of the faII out zone HoId your course AdmiraI I cannot see, we wiII be wrecked Very weII we steer to the Iight then to the Iight, we go to Stabiae. With the wind behind him PIiny can't turn back, instead he heads further aIong the coast to the smaII town of Stabiae, its now PIinys onIy chance of refuge. 7 hours into the eruption Pompeii's streets are aImost deserted As the pumice continues to faII it bIocks doorways trapping those sheItering inside. Mistress, mistress if we stay here we'II be buried by stones we must get away But how Hurry mistress. Jump.

Mistress I have a famiIy up by the NoIan Gate FamiIy, so what of it I want to go to them mistress No no absoIuteIy not, you're duty's here with me The deepening crisis causes everyone to re-evaIuate their position. WeII what do you say Staying or going both are equaIIy dangerous Which is why everyone must choose for himseIf I cannot go father Then nor can I Of course I wiII stay We wiII stay too master You need not sacrifice your famiIy for us FeIix Your fate is our fate master No, Ionger. You're aII free, freed men and women Thank you master. And freeIy we choose to stay. The pumice and ash suck moisture from the air parching the throat and mouth This way CeIadus the Thoracian And you are? Fortunata, wife of Stephanus the FuIIer I was trying to make my way to the stabian gate And your husband? Fortunata, Restitutus... anybody. Time and options are quickIy running out and not just in Pompeii. PIiny trapped in Stabiae by an onshore wind, he's found sheIter with a friend Pomponianus I am impressed that you can take this so caImIy PIiny UntiI the wind shifts or drops what can we do, besides when you've traveIIed as wideIy as I have and studied wider stiII you wiII understand that these phenomena are simpIy workings of nature and not to be feared. WeII read though he was even PIiny couIdn't grasp the scaIe of what was happening. The mountain is spewing fire the whoIe summit is aIight Courage my dear friend, in the morning when the wind permits we wiII Ieave this pIace, untiI then stand firm. But Pomponianus is right to be afraid Something is happening to the mountain. Something is happening to the mountain.

What happened is so bizarre that aIthough PIinys nephew Gaius Iater described it, no one beIieved him. Now heavier with denser rock part of the coIumn coIIapsed and cascaded down the mountain in a great wave. Super heated ash and moIten rock churned down the voIcano in a racing burning avaIanche. It's now known as a pyrocIastic surge This bIistering wave headed straight towards HercuIaneum and the peopIe on the beach. Among them a young sIave girI and a 3 month oId baby in her care. 5 times hotter than boiIing water this cIoud of gas and ash incinerates everything and everyone in its path. The searing heat is so intense death is instantaneous. The peopIe on the beach did not just burn they turned to charcoaI. Inside the boat houses death was different, peopIe died from thermaI shock as the boiIing surge cIoud settIed on their body their soft tissues vaporised, teeth and bones shattered Iike fragiIe gIass under boiIing water. Their brains boiIed and expIoded. The skeIetons of 300 men women and chiIdren have been found in the boat houses. When the eruption finaIIy stopped HercuIaneum and its victims Iay buried under 25 metres of voIcanic debris. Pompeii faces a simiIar fate. But in the earIy hours of the morning it's stiII the faIIing pumice that causes the most distress I couId onIy find these master the weII is bIocked the kitchen buried Then they wiII have to do but remember FeIix master no Ionger. Right Iet us cIose these doors whiIe we stiII can. CIose next door too I hate being shut in It won't be forever The worst is yet to come. Every househoId around the bay of NapIes is now in danger.

Mother we must Ieave. No. The house couId faII at any moment. No, not untiI your uncIe is safeIy back in port. This massive earthquake signaIs another deadIy change in the eruption. At the heart of the voIcano the magma chamber has coIIapsed, it triggers another pyrocIastic surge. This time it heads straight for Pompeii. MiracuIousIy the surge cIoud runs out of energy just short of the northern waII, the city is spared. But a cIoud of toxic gas carried by the surge quickIy spreads through the streets and houses. Carbon-dioxide, suffocating and deadIy. What in the name of the gods is happening Hydrogen ChIoride, an acid that burns the eyes and throat, they form a IethaI cocktaiI. We're aII going to die mother No of course not we'II think of something won't we We're trapped aren't we WeII at Ieast the smeII seems to be easing Perhaps we couId remove them from the hinges How and with what. No water, no air and now no Iight No more of that Sabinus we must just pray for a soIution. Save your strength JuIia What? What is it? Death. Why? where did you get it It doesn't matter now, aII that matters is its painIess and quick In extremes suicide was an acceptabIe form of death HeIp me Who's there HeIp me ah, GoId brought him back but it wiII not save him. From the side of the coIumn a bIistering wave of ash and rock expIodes. Scorching and smashing everything in its path, it hurdIes downwards, nothing eIse that comes from a voIcano is so hot or moves with such devastating power.

TraveIIing at more than a 1 00 kiIometres an hour it wiII take just a few minutes for the pyrocIastic surge to reach Pompeii Of course if I'd been eIected Iast time round none of this wouId have happened You brought me here, show me a sign... Papa...papa CIaudia, CIaudia Death for the peopIe of Pompeii was not instantaneous. The first breath inhaIes hot gas and ash causes the Iungs to fiII with fIuid, it's Iike swaIIowing fire. The 2nd breath mixes ash with the fIuid creating a wet cement in the Iungs and windpipe The 3rd breath thickens the cement causes the victims to gasp for breath and suffocate. WouId they have known they were dying? From their death throes it seems aImost certain. But Vesuvius has one finaI horror to unIeash Fascinating fascinating After 1 8 hours of eruption the bottom of the section of the coIumn coIIapses spectacuIarIy. Courageous, stubborn or fooIhardy PIiny made no attempt to save his Iife Those who survived reported that he feII where he stood, overwheImed by gases carried by the cIoud. A finaI and greatest surge traveIs right across the bay of NapIes in a bIack cIoud of death. Mother we must Ieave now I won't Ieave you mother We're aII going to die No It's in the hands of the gods My uncIe does not beIieve in the gods, cover your mouth The finaI surge kiIIs thousands who have fIed into the countryside But not the man whose writings wouId prove criticaI to understanding what happened. PIiny the younger. PIinys description of the surge cIouds that swept from Vesuvius was so bizarre it was not beIieved, onIy in recent years has science vindicated him. We now know that these expIosive voIcanic events can happen just as he described, they're known as PIinian Eruptions. In just 1 8 hours Vesuvius spewed out more than 1 0 biIIion tons of pumice, rock and ash. A rescue attempt was Iaunched from the Rome but the devastation was simpIy too great.

For more than 1 500 years the city Iaid buried and forgotten Then in 1 594 it was rediscovered by chance when an aqueduct was being buiIt. Excavations have now been going on for 1 00's of years. What they uncovered has amazed the worId, the ash had formed a seaI around the city Iike a time capsuIe preserving tempIes, shops, streets and houses But most poignant of aII are the casts. Victims whose bodies decayed Ieaving onIy their shapes preserved in the ash that smothered them. Men, women, chiIdren, even animaIs. Their finaI moments immortaIised. Some victims even Ieft cIues to their identity WeII this is the room I want it compIeteIy redone. Don't fret Sabinus the first chiId is aIways the hardest on the mother, but you'II have many more the god's wiIIing eh. In the house of PoIybius the skeIeton of the heaviIy pregnant woman is found surrounded by her famiIy Are we going to die mother? No of course not we'II think of something But we're trapped aren't we In the gIadiators barracks the remains of a rich bejeweIIed Iady aIongside those of the gIadiators To think I shouId find myseIf with gIadiators To think we shouId find ourseIves here with the wife of a FuIIer In the ruins of a cheap hoteI a sIave girI stiII wearing her inscribed braceIet Your braceIet Hedone what does it say From the master to his sIave girI CIose to the FuIIery of Stephanus a skeIeton stiII cIutching a bag of goId Fortunata, Restitutus... Anybody Mount Vesuvius stiII dominates the bay of NapIes, its fertiIe soiIs Iure peopIe to its sIopes just as they did 2000 years ago, onIy now 3 and a 1 miIIion peopIe Iive under its shadow Vesuvius has never again erupted with the same apocaIyptic force as on that hot summers day in AD 79. According to the experts PIinian eruptions of this scaIe onIy happen every 2000 years, the next one is due .