Eternal guard of the Pompeian dog (8 photos)

Perhaps this animal would have tried to escape the inevitable if its collar had not been attached to a strong chain. However, in any case, the outcome was predetermined.





This plaster cast depicts a dog that died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in Pompeii in 79 AD. Judging by the spikes on the collar, the dog was a guard dog and kept his now meaningless watch until the last seconds of his life. Where he died.



The cast was made according to the method of Giuseppe Fiorelli. An Italian archaeologist has developed a technique for filling with plaster the voids that were left in the ashes after the death of people and animals. This is how a large number of prints of those killed in the city were obtained.





Giuseppe Fiorelli

The four-legged watchman was discovered in 1874 in the ruins of the house of a local wealthy resident. Marcus Vesonius Primus owned a fulling shop. On the threshold of the same household they found a well-preserved mosaic depicting a dog that closely resembled the remains of a deceased guard dog.



After the eruption began, people began to panic. It is clear that they were not concerned about the fate of the animals, saving their own lives. As long as the length of the chain allowed, the dog climbed up, afraid of being buried under the ashes. Judging by his specific position, he died from asphyxia. The guard was strangled by his own chain, from which he tried to free himself, shaking in convulsions.

Both he and all the inhabitants and buildings were buried under a thick layer of ash for almost two thousand years.



This is not the first time a dog has been found in a dead city. They were often found near people. Since the functions of these animals did not differ from modern ones: dogs were and remain guards, watchmen, shepherds and just friends.



The most famous floor fresco with the inscription Cave canem (“Beware of the dog”).



A modern dog among Pompeian monuments