Dr. Steven Tuck, Professor of History and Classics in the Department of History at Miami University, will change the story of Pompeii from one of death and destruction to one of survival and hope. Through his research, he has traced those Romans who escaped the eruption of Vesuvius and discovered how and where they rebuilt lives, families, and businesses, while carrying with them reminders of their former lives.

This presentation will be followed by a reception with the presenter and is cosponsored by the AIA Dayton Society along with the Richard and Carole Cocks Art Museum and the Department of History at Miami University.

About the Speaker:

Steven L. Tuck is Professor of History and Classics at Miami University. He has been recognized eight times for his undergraduate teaching and is the author of A History of Roman Art and many articles and chapters on Roman art, especially the art of gladiators and spectacle. He has also published extensively on disasters and disaster response in the Roman world. He has also created five courses for The Great Courses and some of his work has been featured in the recent PBS documentary "Pompeii: The New Dig" and in a recent episode of NPR's Radiolab. His current research involves tracing those who escaped Pompeii during the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, which appears in his new book Escape from Pompeii: The Great Eruption of Mount Vesuvius and its Survivors Oxford University Press, 2025