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Esmé Louise James, Doctor of Philosophy, The University of Melbourne

The explosive history of the 2,000-year-old Pompeii 'masturbating' man

mararie/flickr, CC BY-SA

If you were suddenly frozen in time, there are a few things (I’d imagine) you would rather not be caught doing. This is the unfortunate fate many believe to have befallen the “masturbating man” of Pompeii.

In 79 BCE, the ancient Roman city of Pompeii was buried in the volcanic ash of Mount Vesuvius, a volcano located in Italy’s Gulf of Naples. The bodies of over 1,000 inhabitants have been frozen in the moment of its eruption – including one suspected to be having his own eruption at the time.

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