This is a picture I took when I visited in May 2012 overlooking part of the town of Pompeii.
In ancient times, Pompeii was a city with a population around 20,000 people. The city had a complex water system, amphitheater, gymnasium, and port. The Temple of Apollo was the most important religious structure in the city before Pompeii was taken over as a Roman Republic.
Temple of Apollo with Mount Vesuvius barely visible behind.
After Pompeii was turned into a Roman Republic aqueducts were built which allowed water to flow into the city and allowing them to have that complex water system that I mentioned above.
The ash that covered the city of Pompeii helped to preserve many structures and items of daily life throughout the years. Much of the city remains exactly how it was before 79 AD. The Forum, Baths, houses, and some large villas remain today.
Part of the Forum that still stands today.
Many aspects of their daily life also remain. Apart from homes themselves remaining there are also objects and engravings inside those homes that signify what type of business those people were involved in. Some indicate trading companies, since Pompeii had its own port, while others indicate wine makers and other tradespeople. Many frescoes and votives remain partially in tact and even fully intact. The thing that I found interesting, but very sad at the same time, was that some people were also preserved because of the ash and can be viewed in the pose in which they died during the volcanic eruption in 79 AD.
Many votives of different shapes and sizes have been discovered intact.
A mosaic that remains from a villa in Pompeii.
Here are two bodies displayed that have been preserved by the ash of Mount Vesuvius. Behind them are wall frescoes that have been well preserved.
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