Pompeii was a Roman resort city that was destroyed on August 24 79 A. D. when Mount Vesuvius ejected voluminous molten ash, pumice and sulfuric gas that buried the entire town. Nearby Herculaneum, Stabiae and Oplontis were also laid to waste in the furious eruption that took two days.
In ad 79, mt. Vesuvius erupted violently, spreading ash and pumice over a wide area southwest of the Bay of Naples and destroying several Roman settlements, including Pompeii and Herculaneum.