At 1:00 P. M. on August 24, 79 A. D. Mount Vesuvius suddenly erupted. Within a few hours the entire city of Pompeii was covered with ashes. Volcanic matter continued to blanket the city for three day. When it stopped fifteen to twenty feet of ashes covered Pompeii.
Artifacts and people were encased in the ash. Two thousand people died. The town remained buried for almost two thousand years. Archaeologists uncovered the city. They discovered the the town in almost the same condition as it had been years ago.
By studying the remains of Pompeii, archaeologists have learned a lot about the way the Romans lived.
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