SciShow lists '10 Things You Didn't Know About Pompeii' for the Ides of March

Beware the Ides of March! I'm continuing the theme of death and destruction in the Roman world with a sequel to last year's NOVA warns of 'The Next Pompeii' for the Ides of March, SciShow's list of 10 Things You Didn't Know About Pompeii.

You've heard of Pompeii and the volcano that wiped it out, but how much do you REALLY know about this incredibly famous place? Turns out there are a lot of mysteries that researchers are still studying, from the timing and causes of the deaths, to the geology of Mt. Vesuvius, and even stretching back to the origins of archaeology. So let's dig down through the ashes and get to the bottom of the coolest things you didn't know about Pompeii!

Hosted by: Hank Green (he/him)

Time to list what I learned from this video. First, I knew about Herculaneum being another city destroyed by Vesuvius, but this is the first I recall hearing of Oplontis and Stabiae. Second, while I knew that Vesuvius was a stratovolcano or composite cone, I didn't know the name of the previous volcano on the site, Mount Somma. Third, I didn't know about the centuries of eruptions, landslides, and earthquakes before 79 C.E., but I'm not surprised. I am a geologist, after all, and those are par for the course at a convergent plate boundary like the one that extends along the Italian Peninsula. Fourth, I didn't know that the eruption's time of year was not definitively known. Fifth, I think I'd heard that the excavations of Pompeii were the beginnings of modern archeology, but I needed to have that knowledge reinforced. I definitely didn't know the details! That written, it didn't occur to me that those were casts of the remains in the ash, not the remains themselves, which is the sixth subject I didn't already know. Seventh, the DNA studies are new, so I definitely hadn't heard of their results before, especially that one of the victims was suffering from tuberculosis. That shouldn't be surprising; tuberculosis is a very old disease. All these mean I learned a lot of new things today, making it a great day, despite its dire associations.

I close with a recreation of the eruption to the song for today, Siouxsie and the Banshees - Cities in Dust - Pompeii.


I didn't know I wanted this, but now I that I've seen it, it's perfect, other than using the August date, which is no longer supported by the physical evidence. Knowledge marches on.

Stay tuned for a break in the string of holidays as I present the Sunday entertainment feature. Awards show results, anyone?