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=Pompeii and the Eruption of Mt. Vesuvius: Introduction=

This pathfinder is designed to help high school Latin I students find resources relating to the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius on August 24, 79 AD and, more specifically, the eruption's effect on the town of Pompeii. Understanding the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius is part of the North Carolina Standard Course of Study for Latin I, as outlined below:


 * COMPETENCY GOAL 2: CULTURES - The student will gain knowledge and demonstrate understanding of the relationship among practices, products and perspectives of the Greco-Roman culture.**
 * Objective 2.04** Identify important people, events and achievements of the Greco-Roman world using print, non-print, electronic resources, and cultural artifacts.

This pathfinder serves as a guide to sources available at the **Wake Forest Branch Library** in **Wake Forest, NC**. This is not a complete list of all available sources, just a sampling to help you get started. Use the links at left to find resources. **Scroll past the slide show for some useful definitions.**

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What is Pompeii?
"Archaeologically the best-known Roman city, this port and regional centre in the Sarnus plain of south Campania, destroyed by the eruption of ad 79 , is central to the study of Roman art and domestic life, but surprisingly hard to fit in to general accounts of local politics, or economic and social history."

Source: Nicholas Purcell "Pompeii" The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth. © Oxford University Press 1949, 1970, 1996, 2005. The Oxford Classical Dictionary : (e-reference edition). Oxford University Press. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. 22 November 2009 []

What is Mt. Vesuvius?
"Vesuvius, the famous volcano on the bay of Naples, rises isolated out of the surrounding plain of Campania... On 5 February ad 63 a damaging earthquake presaged the first recorded eruption, the severe one of 24 August 79 that buried Pompeii in sand, stones, and mud, Herculaneum in liquid tufa, and Stabiae in ashes, asphyxiated Pliny (1) the Elder, and is described by Pliny (2) the Younger, an eyewitness, in letters to Tacitus (1) (Epistulae 6. 16, 20). Antiquity witnessed three subsequent eruptions (in 202 , 472 , and 512 ), and violent activity still periodically recurs."

Source: Edward Togo Salmon, Nicholas Purcell "Vesuvius" The Oxford Classical Dictionary. Simon Hornblower and Anthony Spawforth. © Oxford University Press 1949, 1970, 1996, 2005. The Oxford Classical Dictionary : (e-reference edition). Oxford University Press. University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill. 22 November 2009 []