People cooked their meals, worked at the seaport, relaxed in the public baths, prayed to their gods, and performed the normal tasks of 25,000 residents in a bustling commercial center in southern Italy, in the heart of the Roman empire.
They knew their geological neighbor, Mount Vesuvius, could rumble — there was a significant earthquake 17 years before. But on that day, the mountain erupted, killing the people of Pompeii with fire and noxious gas, and burying the city in 12 feet of ash.
Life in the city, and the disaster that caused so many deaths, are recounted in “Pompeii: The Exhibition,” a touring show opening Saturday at The Leonardo Museum of Innovation and Creativity in Salt Lake City.