The eruption of Vesuvius did not kill all the inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum

Nearly two thousand years later, the devastating eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD – recounted by the Roman historians Pliny the Younger and Don Cassius – continues to fascinate researchers. Steven L. Tuck, professor of classics at the University of Miami in the United States, has just synthesized evidence that would confirm that at least 200 people survived the deadly rain of ash that fell on the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii.

To support his thesis, the American researcher was interested in missing rather than existing remains. He noted in particular that some “safes” had been emptied; that carts and horses had disappeared from the stables; and that the remains of the boats had vanished.

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For the American professor, it is precisely these disappearances of remains which prove that a few inhabitants managed to leave the dangerous zone before the volcanic catastrophe. To reinforce his historical intuition, he worked on unique surnames such as Numerius Popidius and Aulus Umbricius, in order to see if there were any traces left in the surrounding cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. After a long investigation of some eight years, he succeeded in finding elements on tombstones or other remains of inscriptions which would prove the survival of inhabitants in twelve towns close to the destroyed cities. The professor cites, as an example, the installation in Ostia, located far north of the Bay of Naples, of the Caltilius family, who would eventually prosper in this port city dedicated to the wheat trade.

Still according to the Miami academic, the Roman emperors, particularly Titus then Domitian, measured the scale of the catastrophe by providing economic aid to the ravaged Campania. Rome thus rebuilt the roads, the aqueducts and also rebuilt the temples and amphitheaters of the cities which adjoined the Bay of Naples. And perhaps to the rare families who were able to leave Pompeii and Herculaneum in time.

Excerpt: Professor Tuck’s work was featured in the documentary Pompeii: The New Dig