Quiz on Pompeii

Which volcano's eruption destroyed Pompeii?

• Mount Etna
• Mount Vesuvius ✓ (Correct answer)
• Mount Stromboli
• Mount Fuji

Source: Vesuvius still looms over the Bay of Naples and is rated one of the world's most dangerous volcanoes.

In which modern country are the ruins of Pompeii found?

• Greece
• Turkey
• Italy ✓ (Correct answer)
• Croatia

Source: Pompeii sits in Italy's Campania region, one of the most visited archaeological sites on Earth.

Near which large Italian city does Pompeii lie today?

• Rome
• Naples ✓ (Correct answer)
• Milan
• Palermo

Source: Pompeii sits just southeast of Naples, directly in Vesuvius's shadow.

To which ancient empire did Pompeii belong when it was buried?

• Roman Empire ✓ (Correct answer)
• Greek Empire
• Samnite League
• Carthaginian Empire

Source: Despite Greek and Samnite roots, Pompeii was a thriving Roman town by the time of the eruption.

What mostly buried and preserved Pompeii?

• Flowing lava
• A mudslide
• Floodwater
• Volcanic ash ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Layers of ash and pumice, not lava, sealed the city like a time capsule.

What spectacle filled Pompeii's amphitheatre?

• Chariot racing
• Naval battles
• Theatre plays
• Gladiator combat ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Pompeii's amphitheatre is among the oldest surviving Roman stone arenas, built for gladiators.

In which year is Pompeii traditionally said to have been buried?

• 64 AD
• 71 AD
• 79 AD ✓ (Correct answer)
• 117 AD

Source: The disaster struck in 79 AD; 64 AD was the year of Rome's Great Fire under Nero.

The famous victim casts were made by pouring what into cavities?

• Plaster ✓ (Correct answer)
• Molten bronze
• Wax
• Cement

Source: Archaeologists filled the hollows left by decomposed bodies with plaster, capturing victims' final poses.

Pompeii's raised stepping stones let people cross streets covered in what?

• Waste and water ✓ (Correct answer)
• Hot ash
• Volcanic mud
• Loose sand

Source: Streets doubled as drains, so raised stones kept togas out of the muck.

For roughly how long did Pompeii lie buried and forgotten?

• About 500 years
• About 1,600 years ✓ (Correct answer)
• About 100 years
• About 3,000 years

Source: Buried in 79 AD and seriously excavated from 1748, Pompeii slept for about sixteen centuries.

Pompeii's walls famously preserve thousands of what, revealing daily life?

• Graffiti ✓ (Correct answer)
• Mosaic maps
• Tax records
• Painted portraits

Source: Politics, insults and love notes scrawled on the walls survive as ancient graffiti.

Pompeii's economy leaned heavily on producing which popular condiment?

• Olive oil
• Garum fish sauce ✓ (Correct answer)
• Wine vinegar
• Honey

Source: Garum, a pungent fermented fish sauce, was effectively the ketchup of the Roman world.

Whose surviving letters give the only eyewitness account of the eruption?

• Emperor Nero
• Livy
• Pliny the Younger ✓ (Correct answer)
• Julius Caesar

Source: Pliny the Younger's letters to the historian Tacitus are our sole firsthand record of the catastrophe.

Which Roman naturalist and fleet commander died during the eruption?

• Seneca
• Cicero
• Marcus Aurelius
• Pliny the Elder ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: Pliny the Elder sailed toward Vesuvius to rescue people and was killed by the fumes.

Which nearby seaside town was also buried by the same eruption?

• Ostia
• Herculaneum ✓ (Correct answer)
• Capri
• Sorrento

Source: Herculaneum, closer to Vesuvius, was sealed by hot mud that preserved even wooden furniture.

What was Pompeii's approximate population before the eruption?

• About 4,000
• About 18,000
• About 11,000 ✓ (Correct answer)
• About 30,000

Source: Estimates put Pompeii at roughly 11,000 to 15,000 residents at the time of the disaster.

Long dated to August, in which month do modern researchers think the eruption actually struck?

• August
• September
• October ✓ (Correct answer)
• November

Source: Carbonized autumn fruit and a coin point to October, overturning the long-assumed August date.

Pompeii's surviving 'lupanar' building served as what?

• A bakery
• A library
• A brothel ✓ (Correct answer)
• A prison

Source: The lupanar was Pompeii's brothel, its walls still painted with erotic frescoes advertising services.

What phenomenon, not falling ash, killed most of Pompeii's victims?

• Pyroclastic surges ✓ (Correct answer)
• Drowning
• Toxic lake gas
• Falling rocks

Source: Superheated pyroclastic surges, hundreds of degrees hot, killed most victims in mere seconds.

A powerful earthquake had already badly damaged Pompeii years before the eruption. In which year did it strike?

• 33 AD
• 50 AD
• 71 AD
• 62 AD ✓ (Correct answer)

Source: A powerful quake in 62 AD damaged the city; many buildings were still under repair in 79 AD.