David D Smith PhD : The Vesuvius Eruption in 79 CE June 16, 2009

The 'Pompeii and the Roman Villa' exhibition currently at the Los Angeles Museum of Art displays more than 150 beautiful antiquities that document the lifestyle of the wealthy Roman elite with homes in the area. This illustrated lecture describes and explains the 79 CE catastrophe, reviews examples of treasures recovered from Pompeii and Herculaneum, and addresses the question of why, in spite of the violence of this eruption, so much of the art and artifacts were so well preserved.