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Found: Records of Pompeii's Survivors

New evidence shows how citizens rebuilt their lives in the aftermath of the historic eruption.

In popular culture, the eruption is usually depicted as an apocalyptic event with no survivors: In episodes of the TV series Doctor Who and Loki, everyone in Pompeii and Herculaneum dies. Three other very poor families from Pompeii—the Avianii, Atilii and Masuri families—survived and settled in a small, poorer community called Nuceria, which goes by Nocera today and is about 10 miles (16.1 kilometers) east of Pompeii. The emperors in Rome invested heavily in the region, rebuilding properties damaged by the eruption and building new infrastructure for displaced populations, including roads, water systems, amphitheaters and temples.

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