The victims of Pompeii share stories of their agonizing final moments

Pompeii is a city of living ghosts — a city from which most escaped. Those who didn’t were found many centuries later, right where they died. Before we travel back in time to see what happens, we’ll need to get familiar with what we might be seeing. Make sure you pack a pillow. I’ll explain later.

Pompeii Lunch, Interrupted

Picture this: It’s a normal day in town. You’re out for a morning stroll. Wagon wheels are clattering down the streets, the smell of horse manure and baked bread is thick in the air. There were a few earthquakes earlier, but you aren’t worried. The wife freaks out every time, she remembers the big one 17 years ago. But they’re common, no biggie.

You stop by your favorite little fast food shop for lunch, grab a nice plate of fish. You sit at a table in the back, play a few games of dice when you’re done. Around one, a cloud starts rising out of the mountain.

An hour later, ash starts to fall. Then some tiny rocks. You head home, the wife is hysterical. She’s packing up all the jewelry she can find. You tell her to stop being such a baby. She’s always like this.

You look outside, people are leaving. Most are running down to the port to get on boats. You know better. Stupid conspiracy theorists, believing the gods are mad or whatever. There goes Claudius, that moron. He never was very bright.

Around five, it’s hitting the fan. Almost everyone’s gone. A nearby roof collapses. The ash is feet thick, blocking doors. Rocks the size of fists are crashing into the street. This, from the words of Pliny the Younger in a nearby town, who gives the only eyewitness account:

“We could hear women shrieking, children crying and men shouting. Some were calling for their parents, their children, or their wives, and trying to recognize them by their voices. Some people were so frightened of dying that they actually prayed for death. Many begged for the help of the gods, but even more imagined that there were no gods left and that the last eternal night had fallen on the world.”

You decide it’s time to go. You and the wife haul it towards the city gates. People are running with pillows on their heads. You stumble over a dead guy laying on the sidewalk, crushed by a rock. The air is thick with ash. You can’t see.

You and the wife seek shelter near the gates, hoping it’ll pass. It doesn’t. She blames you. Maybe she’s right. It keeps getting harder to breathe. You can’t stop coughing. Eventually, a surge of ash, rocks, and superheated gas hits you. It’s all over. Your bodies are buried.

The Man & The Mule

Obviously, human remains were found dating back to the earliest excavations of Pompeii. But it was in 1863 that an archaeologist named Giuseppe Fiorelli came up with a procedure of pouring plaster into the areas surrounding these remains.

You see, the people who died as a result of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius were buried by ash and mud. Over time, their organic components decayed — leaving voids behind. If you pour in plaster and let it harden, then carefully remove the volcanic debris around them, you’re left with molds of the victims.

Now, there’s a lot of discussion about the exact way they died. There always are, right? Scientists and historians constantly argue about details. Many long thought they died instantaneously, the bodies shocked and contorted.

But a recent study says that’s impossible, due to the fragments of clothing they found. Ready for something morbid? Probably. That’s why you’re here, right? Well, If it wasn’t hot enough to burn all the fabric, then…it couldn’t have happened very fast. Humans can survive temperatures around 400-500 degrees Fahrenheit for a few minutes. So, do the math. Burned to death somewhat slowly, or died due to inhaling superheated gas.

Obviously, I made up the story at the beginning. After all, we know little about the individual people who didn’t make it. The guy in the picture is called the “Muleteer,” because his body was found next to that of a mule, in Pompeii’s Palaestra: basically a large open field with a pool, surrounded by buildings and columns. It was a place for exercise, and it’s near the edge of town.

He was found crouching near the bathroom, his back against the wall. The imprints of fabric were found around his legs, possibly using a cloak to shield himself from the heat. Was he trying to get out of the city and stopped when it became too tough? Probably. Was the mule his? Maybe. We’ll never know.

Inescapable Victims

So while it’s impossible to know exactly who all these victims were or the precise circumstances of their deaths, we’re able to make some educated guesses on how everything may have gone down. In most cases, they seemed to be either taking shelter or trying to escape.

A man was found in the same place as the Muleteer, clutching a wooden box filled with surgical tools. It seems likely he was a doctor, looking to help victims.

A woman was near the city gates, carrying a gold and silver statue of Mercury.

A big group in a garden near another gate, possibly a large family with children. They’re commonly referred to as “The Fugitives,” and were the subject of a largely fictitious National Geographic article in 1961 which invented stories for them all.

A man and a woman were found with two kids, hiding under a staircase in a lavish home. The staircase collapsed and killed them.

A child found alone in Pompeii’s Central Baths, likely separated from her family and hiding.

Two men hiding in an underground space — one older, one younger. The younger man, between 18 and 25 years old, had several compressed vertebrae, probably the result of manual labor. It’s believed he was a slave, trying to ride out the eruption with his master.

Thirteen bodies sheltered in a home, many related — including one very pregnant woman in her late teens. Perhaps she wasn’t very mobile, and they were staying with her.

A group weighed down with jewels and coins — either all wealthy, or looters who pillaged homes after their residents fled.

A large group was found in a massive home, presumably slaves. The exits were all blocked, and ten were trying to climb up to the second floor to get out a window. Three others were found using a pickaxe and a hoe to dig a tunnel.

Warnings, Unheeded

The obvious question here is why so many died at Pompeii. About 2,000 were killed, out of a town of 20,000. Obviously, there was time to bail. 

I don’t think there’s one single answer. They used to believe all the victims were elderly or disabled, but modern science has proven that wrong. Surely, there were some with kids who couldn’t move fast enough. And there were some elderly people with arthritis. Or we could point to a guy found in the street who’d long suffered from a bone infection in his leg. 

But people back then weren’t all that different from people today. There’s always those who ignore hurricane warnings or stand outside to watch tornadoes, right? I’m sure many figured others were being hysterical, and it was one of those “I know better than everyone else” kinds of things. Right up until it was too late. 

In closing, you want to hear something really weird? Apparently the Muleteer had no arms. I came across one article that said they discovered the plaster arms were added on. I’m not sure how accurate this is, because there’s many other references that don’t mention this. If it’s true, did he have a birth defect? Did someone chop them off? Is that why he didn’t make it out in time? Yet another unsolvable mystery to add to the pile.