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Core: Cities of Vesuvius — Pompeii and Herculaneum

ANC-VES is worth about 25 marks out of 100 in recent HSC Ancient History papers. Practise 27 exam-style questions (multiple choice, short answer) with instant marking and a worked solution for every question.

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Topic notes

The geography and streetscapes of Pompeii and Herculaneum, the written and archaeological sources and what they reveal about life in the two cities, how the sites have been excavated, reconstructed and conserved, and how to answer the source-based Core questions.

  1. 1What you need to know
  2. 2Geographical context
  3. 3The eruption of AD 79
  4. 4The range of sources
  5. 5What the evidence reveals
  6. 6Investigating, reconstructing and preserving the past
  7. 7Answering source questions
  8. 8Common mistakes
  9. 9Exam tips
  10. 10Links to other topics
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Example questions

Example 1 · 1 mark · multiple choice

Which statement best describes the geographical setting of Pompeii in AD 79?

  1. AIt stood on a promontory between two streams, directly above the beach
  2. BIt was built on the summit of Vesuvius to control the surrounding farmland
  3. CIt was an inland hill town about 50 km from the Bay of Naples
  4. DIt stood on an old lava spur near the mouth of the River Sarno

Example 2 · 1 mark · multiple choice

Source A — Pliny the Younger, Letters 6.16, written to the historian Tacitus about 25 years after the eruption (adapted from the Latin)

‘A cloud was rising — people watching from a distance could not tell from which mountain; it was later known to be Vesuvius. Its appearance and shape were more like a pine tree than anything else. It was lifted up to a great height on a kind of very tall trunk and then spread out into what looked like branches. … Sometimes it was white, sometimes dirty and blotched, as it carried earth or ash.’

Which factor most limits the reliability of Source A as evidence for the eruption?

  1. AIt was written about 25 years after the events it describes
  2. BHe relied entirely on his uncle's notes for his description of the cloud
  3. CHis description of the column conflicts with the geological evidence
  4. DHe wrote it in haste the next day, while still in shock

Example 3 · 1 mark · multiple choice

Source C — Inscription above the entrance to the Temple of Isis, Pompeii (translated from the Latin)

‘Numerius Popidius Celsinus, son of Numerius, rebuilt from its foundations, at his own expense, the Temple of Isis, which had collapsed in the earthquake. Because of his generosity, the town councillors admitted him to their order without the usual fee, although he was six years old.’

Celsinus' father, Numerius Popidius Ampliatus, was a freedman (a former slave). What does Source C, read with this information, suggest about society in Pompeii?

  1. ACouncillors were chosen directly by the votes of all citizens
  2. BIsis was worshipped only by Egyptian immigrants
  3. COnly the emperor could pay for temples in Pompeii
  4. DFreedmen could advance their families through public generosity

Answers and worked solutions appear when you practise these questions.

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