Date
Meaning & History
Possibly derived from the Oscan pompe "five", becoming the Latin second declension plural, pompeii. This may be because the community formerly consisted of five hamlets, or was perhaps settled by a family group (gens Pompeia).The city of Pompeii was an ancient Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei. Pompeii, along with Herculaneum and many villas in the surrounding area, was mostly destroyed and buried under 4 to 6 m (13 to 20 ft) of ash and pumice in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.