New Pompeii discovery reveals the tragic true extent of human suffering

There has been a chilling new Pompeii discovery that has revealed the true horror of the volcanic explosion.For one local Italian family, it was a day just like any other.Food was being prepared in the kitchen.A young boy played in the atrium.

The father inspected the progress of his home’s renovations.Then, a powerful explosion sent an enormous ash column high into the sky above the idyllic mountain backdrop to their Roman city.Soon, ash clouds and a hail of small pumice stones began raining down and the deadly fallout steadily increased in size and intensity.Many simply grabbed what they could and ran for the coast in the hope of finding a boat.This family, however, chose to stay put, as new findings reveal.The fiery ash and pumice quickly clogged the streets and rose up the walls.Then the weight of volcanic rock caused part of their home’s roof to collapse.Four adults and the child retreated into a bedroom.

There, they desperately sought to wedge a bed against the door to hold back the growing weight of rubble.“They didn’t make it,” said Gabriel Zuchtriegel, director of the Archaeological Park of Pompeii.He’s overseeing an extensive new excavation of the city.It was a playground for the rich and famous.

A scenic sea change for Rome’s upwardly mobile and thriving community had grown around it to meet the exacting demands of the empire’s elites.The year was 79AD.Emperor Titus Flavius Vespasianus had succeeded his father months earlier.Rome was at its heights of wealth, power and influence.Then, the sudden disappearance of Pompeii and the nearby town of Herculaneum rocked the empire to its core.However, the opulence and technical marvels of the towns they lived in have been flash-frozen in that moment.For the past 250 years, archaeologists have marveled at the well-preserved architecture, murals, furniture and technology buried there.But the discovery of this family’s fight for survival has rammed home the human tragedy it represents.The add...