Nearly 2,000 years after the eruption of Mount Vesuvius broke apart a tomb inscription for a husband and wife, the couple's names have been reunited with the recovery of a missing marble fragment.

Pompeii, which had existed for 700 years, was snuffed out in just 24 hours when Vesuvius erupted on the morning of August 24, 79 A.D.
The volcano began spewing ash, mud and noxious gases without warning and a 12-mile high black cloud from the volcano blocked out the sun.
Now marble fragments from a tomb smashed apart and buried during the eruption have finally been joined together, uniting the names of the couple 2,000 years later.

Still under construction at the time of the eruption, the tomb in which the married couple were buried, known as the 'Tomb of the Marble Door' had been used for a number of burials.
It is believed the inscription was displayed temporarily to be later embedded in the face of the tomb once the structure was completed, but this never happened as the volcano buried the entire city.
Archaeologists found the tomb fragments 16 centuries later and they were stored in the deposits of the National Archaeological Museum of Naples.

According to the original excavation report, the fragmentary inscription consisted of seven pieces of marble. The missing piece, containing the name of a female, 'Servilia', was in the same museum, but until now had not been recognized as part of the same inscription.

Although there are some other small pieces missing, the inscription put together by archaeologists is now legible and reads: 'Lucius Catilius Pamphilus, freedman of Lucius, member of the Collinian tribe, for his wife Servilia, in a loving spirit.'
An outsider to the Pompeian establishment, historians believe Caltilius Pamphilus was a former slave who took great pride in his status.
The Caltilii family became fairly powerful at a slightly later phase of Pompeii, under the rule of Nero, they say.

Giuseppe Camodeca, professor of Roman history and Latin epigraphy at the University of Naples 'L'Orientale,' says he firmly believes that the piece with Servilia's name is the one that completes the marble jigsaw of fragments.
It was Mr Camodeca who several years ago reassembled the first six fragments at the museum in Naples.
While four pieces referred to Lucius Caltilius Pamphilus, two fragments contained the Latin word 'uxori,' indicating a wife.

Historians identified the missing wife by examining photographs of fragments of inscriptions stored at the Naples museum.
An exhibition in New York, Pompeii The Exhibit: Life and Death in the Shadow of Vesuvius is due to open on Friday.
It chronicles life in the vibrant mercantile city before and after Vesuvius erupted, and includes many body casts made of the inhabitants, including a crouching man covering his mouth, a chained dog and a family of four huddling together.
Author: Catherine Eade | Source: Mail Online [March 11, 2011]