A Delightful Slideshow Of Pompeii Pups & History

Discovering things about animals throughout history is one of our all-time favorite things to do. We love animals now, and in theory, we know that people have always loved animals, but seeing picture of it brings up completely different emotions in us. You simply don't expect for there to be a whole collection of pictures of naval ship cats in tiny hammocks throughout history, to see a countless number of painting of cats destroying things over the centuries, or to read about an ancient old shark that is said to be 400 or so years old.

Today we have a very special treat: a series of photos showcasing what life was like for the dogs that lived in ancient Pompei. Every single one of those pictures is unexpected, and every single one is iconic. The pictures that you're about to see today will invoke more emotions from you than you thought possible, we promise you that, and you will be amazed both by animals and by people from ancient Pompei yet again. If you're also into that kind of thing, then you'll definitely love these photos that show different angles of well-known historical events that you almost certainly haven't seen before.

Posted by Ellie Dunn

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"A fellow imgurian asked that I post some photos of my trip to Pompeii after I saw that they posted a picture of this "beware of dog" mosaic that stands guard at the doorstep of one of the most luxurious villas that has been unearthed in Pompeii so far. My photo is not great as I saw this in person in June/July 2018 (around noon on a VERY hot sunny day), it was blocked off and protected with glass when I went to visit. I hope that this collection inspires some to travel, get out in nature, and enjoy and cherish our world's amazing history!"

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"Another guard dog in the "faucês" or entrance hall/front door of a well off Roman family home or domus."

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"A Roman child's graffiti of them riding their dogs in a large villa within the city that was not blocked off. Much of Pompeii was painted in bright colors with many intricate paintings and beautiful frescos as seen in the preserved plaster of this house."

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"Doggy fresco painted on the wall in the home. He said hi to me and wagged his tail, I swear."

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"An unfortunate puppy casualty of the pyroclastic flow that hit Pompeii. The process to create these plaster casts is super interesting and is worth looking into even if you aren't an ancient history fan. I do caution when visiting to provide the city, the casts, people and animals the respect it deserves as it is the burial place of many victims. (And the modern researchers and inhabitants will verbally flay you alive if you do anything you shouldn't be doing.) "Most of the inhabitants of Pompeii died asphyxiated by the poison gas erupted by #Vesuvius. Their bodies were subsequently entirely buried by the volcanic ashes that rained from the sky. Around 1870, Giuseppe Fiorelli introduced a method that envisaged the creation of a cast of liquid plaster in the cavities left by the bodies that had decomposed inside the volcanic material."

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"The Bull fountain. Like many old fountains in Italy, this one is supplied clean water by aqueducts that still work! I got to drink out of this fountain and fill up my water bottle, which still boggles my mind a bit. It's cold, refreshing (especially on a hot humid day in July), and was some of the best tasting water I've ever had… which sounds weird but it's true."

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"These are some of the best preserved plaster frescos in the city and just spectacular to view in person considering they are almost 2000 years old."

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"Some plaster with advertisement graffiti that remained on the side of this building that contains the names of senators and other politicians to promote them. Surprising how little society changes."

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"We have reached the baths! This is a depiction of Atlas holding up the roof I believe. (If I'm remembering incorrectly, someone let me know!)"

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