Vesuvius, Pompeii and Beyond Trivia Quiz

Answer: Naples

Vesuvius is on the Bay of Naples, but all the options are coastal areas of Italy. The cities of Genoa and Livorno are large seaports, and Salerno is a smaller city on the Gulf of Salerno, the largest town of the well-known Amalfi coast area with its stunning scenic views.

Answer: LXXIX

L = 50, X = 10, IX = 9. Therefore, 50 + 10 +10 +9 = 79. LXXX is 80, XCIX is 99 and CXXI is 121.

Answer: Titus

Titus had only recently succeeded his father Vespasian (both named Titus Flavius Vespasianus) as emperor when Vesuvius erupted. He visited Pompeii and arranged for a relief effort to be organised to give assistance to the volcano's victims, himself donating generous funds of money from the treasury. Titus only reigned as emperor for a little over two years; the building of the Flavian Amphitheatre (Colosseum), which had been started by his father, was completed during his reign.

Answer: pyroclastic flow

When Herculaneum was covered in ash and mud from the volcano this effectively formed a seal when it solidified, with the result that the city was found to be in a better state of preservation than Pompeii when it was excavated. This hardened mud was lighter and easier to excavate than Pompeii, which had been buried under rock fragments, pumice dust and ash, which had caused more damage to the buildings.

Answer: food and drink sales

Thermopolia were the fast food outlets and bars of their day. They consisted of a long bar counter with space for sunken earthenware food containers known as dolia, into which the cooked food was placed to keep warm. They also sold wine. There were several of them in Pompeii and Herculaneum, of various sizes and styles from the lavish to the more basic.

In the larger ones there were seating areas at the rear. Wine was kept in amphorae which were long, two-handled vessels with pointed bases, made from earthenware or terracotta.

These amphorae were also used to carry other liquids such as olive oil, fish pickle etc. An amphora of this type would be large, and heavy to carry when full.

Answer: Stabiae

Stabiae was a small port and resort town overlooking the Bay of Naples, near the present-day town of Castellammare di Stabia. It was also wiped out by the eruption of Vesuvius, being covered in ash to a two-metre depth. It is one of the less frequented archaelogical sites of the area, but well worth a visit are the Villa Arianna and the Villa San Marco, both of which are large and very interesting.

They are reached via a very long uphill walk from the nearest station at Castellamare di Stabia, but taxis are easily available and the walk back down is peaceful and scenic.

Answer: Nero

Poppaea Sabina was Nero's second wife and he was her third (and last) husband. Otho had been her second husband, whom she had divorced in AD 58; he became emperor himself briefly, during the Year of the Four Emperors, after the death of Nero in AD 68. Poppaea Sabina died in AD 65, possibly as a result of Nero kicking her in her abdomen while she was pregnant, but this remains uncertain.

The Villa Poppaea is large and one of the best-preserved of the area.

Answer: Naples

The Naples National Archaeological Museum at Piazza Museo is home to many stunning artefacts from the area, including a large collection of mosaics which were found during the excavation process. It also houses many other collections including one of the largest collections of marbles in Italy, gladiatorial exhibits and Egyptian antiquities. Among the Pompeiian exhibits are the original statue of the famous Dancing Faun from the House of the Faun and the original Alexander Mosaic (the ones displayed in Pompeii are excellent copies, commissioned when the originals were relocated to the Museum).

Answer: uncle/nephew

Pliny the Elder was the uncle of Pliny the Younger, who was only 17 at the time he witnessed the horrors of the eruption and suffered the loss of his uncle, to whom he was close. Pliny the Elder died at Stabiae, but the cause of his death was apparently not due to inhalation of toxic fumes, as might be supposed, since the men he had brought over with him survived; his death was theorised to be from a heart attack or possible attack of asthma. Pliny the Younger wrote to his friend Tacitus, an historian of the time, with his account of the tragic events.

He was so descriptive in his writing that such eruptions are now called Plinian eruptions after him.

Answer: 1944

Following some small activity during January and February 1944, this notable eruption occurred on 18 March 1944 with the loss of 28 local lives. The eruption destroyed four nearby villages and caused substantial damage to some USAAF aircraft from the 340th Bombardment Group, based in the area. In 1995 the area around Mount Vesuvius was designated a National Park and it is possible to walk to the summit and look inside the crater.

This is quite an energetic walk from the coach/car park 200m below the summit, but the still-smoking landscape is incredibly interesting and well worth seeing. Nowadays the crater is monitored constantly for early signs of activity, and evacuation plans are maintained in case this becomes necessary in the future. It is estimated that an evacuation of people in such a densely-populated area could take up to a week to complete.