Heartbreaking find in ancient Pompeii highlights people's dilemma when volcano erupted


The excavation of a sumptuously decorated bathhouse in Pompeii, the ancient Roman city eerily preserved by volcanic ash from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD79, has given a fresh insight into the lives of the Empire’s wealthiest citizens.
The bathhouse enabled as many as 30 people to enjoy a hot room, warm room and cold room, with the latter featuring striking red columns and frescoes of athletes. The buildings are so well preserved that it can feel like the occupants left only a few minutes ago.
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Hide AdSome, however, remained. The archaeologists found the skeletons of a woman, aged 35 to 50, and a man in his teens or early 20s huddled in a small room. It was possible to tell he was killed when a wall collapsed and that she was alive when this happened, but died when the room filled with pyroclastic flow from the volcano.
Heartbreakingly, if they had left Pompeii immediately after the eruption, they could have survived. A lesson from history that none of us are immune to the forces of nature and, sometimes, the choices we make really do matter.
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