In 79 CE, the eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in 20 feet of ash, preserving amazing details about daily life in the Roman Empire.

In the excavations at Pompeii, a carved flat stone known as the Sator Square was uncovered. It works as follows: The words Sator, Arepo, Tenet, Opera and Rotas all have five letters.

Buildings in Pompeii, south of Naples, were preserved in volcanic ash after the eruption of Vesuvius in 79AD, and the site attracts millions of tourists visiting Italy each year.

Colums frame the "peristylium," or courtyard, in the center of the Ancient Roman Domus Vettiorum, House of Vettii, in the Pompeii Archeological Park, near Naples, southern Italy, December 14, 2022.

One day in the year 79, Pompeii came under fire.The explosion of nearby Mount Vesuvius sent a mushroom cloud of ash and rock into the atmosphere, pummeling the ancient Roman trading hub and resort ...