Around 2,000 years ago, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius obliterated Pompeii and Herculaneum, entombing the two cities and victims within a scorching mix of molten rock, pumice, ash and gas. With the Roman cities frozen in time, archaeologists know a huge deal about the lives of those who perished — but what about the survivors?
In this excerpt from "Escape from Pompeii: The Great Eruption of Mount Vesuvius and Its Survivors" (Oxford University Press, 2025), author Steven L. Tuck, history professor at Miami University in Ohio, examines the historical and archaeological evidence of the people who escaped the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum, tracing them on their journey to start a new life outside the shadow of the volcano.
