Pompeii, an ancient Roman city located in the Campania region on the shores of the Gulf of Naples, near present-day Naples, is famous for having been destroyed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD.

The origins of Pompeii are somewhat unknown, although it is believed to have been founded by the Oscians, a people who inhabited the Campania region after Greek colonization in the 8th and 7th centuries BC. The Etruscans may have taken control of the city in the 6th century B.C. and built the first stone walls around 570 B.C. Later, in 450 B.C., it was conquered by the Samnites, as indicated by inscriptions in the Oscan language discovered during excavations. Pompeii definitely entered the Roman orbit as an allied city in the early 3rd century BC and received full Roman citizenship after the Social War. Later, Sulla changed its status from municipium to Roman colony to settle two thousand veterans of his armies, which contributed to the Romanization of the city and the transition from Oscan to Latin.

Because Pompeii was located in an area with seismic and volcanic activity, it experienced several natural disasters throughout its history, including an earthquake in 62, which damaged the city's infrastructure. However, its most catastrophic fate occurred on August 24, 79, when a violent eruption of Mount Vesuvius buried it under layers of ash and sediment, resulting in the death of many of its inhabitants. Some recent studies suggest that the eruption may have taken place on October 24, although earlier evidence indicated that it occurred in autumn or winter of the same year.

Despite having been subject to looting in antiquity, especially in the time of Titus shortly after its destruction, the abundance of sediments that covered it protected it from continuous plundering, unlike other ancient sites that suffered looting in the Middle Ages. For centuries, Pompeii fell into relative oblivion, but its rediscovery occurred in the 17th century. Systematic excavations began in 1748, thanks to Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre's studies of nearby Herculaneum. Pompeii was found in an exceptional state of preservation, providing valuable insights into the urbanization and civilization of Ancient Rome. In 1997, UNESCO declared Pompeii, together with Herculaneum and Oplontis, a World Heritage Site.