Why Pompeii's tragedy still captivates us today

Description

When the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried by ash spewed out of Vesuvius in AD 79, so too were their inhabitants, frozen in the moment of their deaths. Subscribe to our channel here: https://bit.ly/SubHistoryExtraPods In the final episode of our four-part series, Kev Lochun is joined by historian Dr Jess Venner to discuss the myriad legacies of Pompeii. They explore the dangers of imprinting stories on mortal remains, the Pompeiian propensity for erotic art – and why, centuries on, Pompeii still echoes through the ages. #HistoryExtra #ancientrome #pompeii 00:00 Intro 01:02 Pompeii’s plaster casts 06:40 Identifying individual stories 10:20 Unveiling everyday life 12:03 What Roman graffiti can tell us 20:15 Erotic art 28:35 Ancient pizza…? 30:02 Recent discoveries 35:54 A tour of ancient Pompeii 39:42 Have we forgotten Herculaneum? 41:25 Disaster tourism 43:04 Is Pompeii frozen in time? GO BEYOND THE PODCAST Want to know more about the story of Pompeii? HistoryExtra's Kev Lochun has curated a selection of essential reading from the HistoryExtra and BBC History Magazine archive to help you explore the story of the cataclysm, the Roman way of life and the nature of the Roman empire: https://bit.ly/4bjYKmE ▷ Find out more: https://www.historyextra.com/ ▷ Follow the podcast on iTunes: https://apple.co/3Y6n8Bt ▷ Like our page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HistoryExtra/ ▷ Follow us on Twitter: https://x.com/HistoryExtra ▷ Follow us Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/historyextra/ ▷ Follow us on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@history_extra Subscribe to our Substack for Life Lessons from History with Dr David Musgrove: https://historyextra.substack.com/ 🏰 History at your fingertips Unlock the past with leading historians, exclusive ad‑free podcasts and stories from across the globe, only on History Extra. https://www.historyextra.com/subscribe/?utm_medium=social&utm_content=youtube.com&utm_campaign=youtube-2026