The Eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE

1.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

During the period of ancient Roman history, Vesuvius erupted in...

79 BC

79 BCE.

79 CE.

2.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

Pliny the Younger wrote an eye-witness account of the volcanic eruption and the events in the region around Vesuvius. His text is therefore a...

primary source.

secondary source.

3.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

A primary source in history refers to...

only written sources produced at the time being investigated.

any source of evidence from the time being studied, e.g. a building, text, artwork or artefact.

an entry in an encyclopedia or modern textbook, written by a historian or scholar.

4.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Pliny's description of the Vesuvius eruption was so precise that the term "Plinian eruption" was named after him. This denotes or describes...

a volcanic eruption that is characterised by a single violent explosion.

a volcanic eruption that is characterised by repeated explosions.

volcanic activity with no genuine explosive eruption at any stage.

5.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

In 79 CE, Vesuvius...

was considered by the surrounding people as an active volcano.

was perceived as a dangerous and threatening volcano.

had erupted several times within the memory of the people living at the time.

had not erupted in living memory.

6.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The people who lived in Pompeii...

understood that there was a link between earth tremors and volcanic eruptions.

did not understand that there was a link between earth tremors and volcanic eruptions.

7.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

This picture of a street in Pompeii...

is not a primary source.

is a secondary source.

shows the Romans' skill in road-building and engineering.

8.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

This picture of a Pompeii street shows...

stepping stones that allowed people to keep their feet out of the mud and still allowed carts and other vehicles to navigate the streets.

stones that prevented carts and other vehicles from navigating the streets.

9.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The bread of the wealthy people in Pompeii...

was flat and unleavened, rather like pita bread.

was soft and fluffy due to the yeast that they could afford to use.

10.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

The bread of the poorer people in Pompeii...

was flat and unleavened, rather like pita bread.

was soft and fluffy due to the yeast that they could afford to use.

11.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

Archaeologists found dice in Pompeii that were loaded and therefore...

equally likely to land on any side.

more likely to land on certain numbers than others.

12.

Multiple Choice

1 min

1 pt

Which option is NOT an example of graffiti in Pompeii?

Atimetus has got me pregnant.

Lovers are like bees in that they live a honeyed life.

I don't like the look of that mountain.

If anyone does not believe in Venus, he should gaze at my girlfriend.

I hope your piles irritate you so that they burn as they’ve never burned before.

13.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

This image depicts...

...a figure from Pompeii that is unaffected by the fumes and toxic gases in the air.

...a figure created by pouring plaster into cavities in hardened volcanic rock at Pompeii.

...a figure from Pompeii as imagined by a modern creative artist.

14.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

A ____________________ is a fluid mass of gas and rock that is both extremely hot and fast-flowing.

piece of pumice

mudflow

pyroclastic surge

fragment of lapilli

15.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

A fast runner could escape a pyroclastic flow that was moving at normal speed.

True. Such a flow moves at roughly walking speed.

False. Not even Usain Bolt could do it. In fact, a person driving a race car would find escape difficult.

16.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Pieces of pumice as large as 50 centimetres in diameter rained down on Pompeii. Pumice is...

a very light and porous volcanic rock.

made of mud.

a kind of gas.

another name for lapilli.

17.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

According to Pliny the Younger, the region around Vesuvius...

looked exactly the same after the eruption.

was unrecognisably different after the eruption.

was only slightly different after the eruption.

18.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

After the eruption, the ash, pumice and volcanic debris reached a height of __________ in the city of Pompeii.

40 metres.

4 metres.

1 metre.

40 centimetres.

19.

Multiple Choice

30 sec

1 pt

This four-metre layer of ash, pumice and volcanic debris...

quickly broke down, leaving the city of Pompeii like a ghost town to be explored by tourists.

only partially buried the buildings, so that the memory of what had happened remained to haunt the inhabitants of the area.

buried the buildings so effectively that after several years, people began to forget where the city had once stood.

20.

Multiple Choice

45 sec

1 pt

Pliny the Younger was fortunate because the pyroclastic surge from Vesuvius lost momentum before it reached Misenum, where he was. This means that...

the pyroclastic surge speeded up.

the pyroclastic surge slowed down.

21.

Multiple Choice

1 min

1 pt

Archaeology is...

the study of human society, both modern and ancient.

the study of ancient fossils such as those of extinct giant marsupials.

the study of history and prehistory through the excavation of human remains and artefacts.

22.

Multiple Select

30 sec

1 pt

Select ALL the correct statements.

The excavations at Pompeii reveal a great deal about how ancient Romans lived.

Most of the people who had lived in Pompeii before the eruption perished in AD 79.

Pliny the Younger wrote a secondary source about the events in AD 79.

Before the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, the volcano had not erupted within living memory.

The terms AD and CE refer to the same time period.

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