Herculaneum Herculaneum was a wealthy Roman seaside town on the Bay of Naples, destroyed in AD 79 by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Unlike Pompeii, which was buried primarily in ash and pumice, Herculaneum was engulfed by superheated pyroclastic flows that sealed the town beneath metres of volcanic material. That difference changed everything. The intense heat carbonised organic materials rather than allowing them to rot. As a result, Herculaneum preserves wooden doors, roof beams, furniture, f