The ruins of Pompeii. In A.D. 79, a massive eruption by Mount Vesuvius buried the town in ash, freezing it in time.
A tomb in Pompeii covered in red graffiti. Wall scribblings were common all over the city, both on public buildings and inside and outside private homes. Research presented in 2012 at the annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute of America suggests tombs were no different.
Pompeii is known for its sanitation system, which included waste pits and cisterns like this one, as well as toilets in homes and public fountains where water was pumped for household use.
The eruption of Vesuvius buried the dead where they fell. After the bodies decomposed, they left human-shaped pockets in the hardened layers of ash. Pouring plaster in these pockets creates sculptures of death like this one.
This vintage photograph shows the stucco details of the baths in Pompeii's forum.
This photomechanical print from between 1890 and 1900 shows the Street of the Tombs in Pompeii.
A plaster cast of a victim of Mount Vesuvius' eruption displayed in Pompeii.
A partially preserved fresco gives a hint of the color of ancient Pompeii.
A bronze relief of actors with theatrical masks from Pompeii.
This undated vintage photograph from the Brooklyn Museum Archives shows a smoking Vesuvius looming behind the ruins of Pompeii's forum.
A look at Pompeii and Vesuvius today.
