Herculaneum
The excavations of Ercolano
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 Shown within Italy
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| Alternate name | Ercolano |
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| Location | Ercolano, Campania, Italy |
| Coordinates | 40°48′22″N 14°20′54″E / 40.8060°N 14.3482°ECoordinates: 40°48′22″N 14°20′54″E / 40.8060°N 14.3482°E |
| Type | Settlement |
| History | |
| Founded | 6th-7th century BC |
| Abandoned | 79 AD |
| Site notes | |
| Website | Herculaneum - Official website |
| Official name | Archaeological Areas of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Torre Annunziata |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | iii, iv, v |
| Designated | 1997 (21st session) |
| Reference no. | 829 |
| Region | Europe and North America |
Located in the shadow of Mount Vesuvius, Herculaneum (Italian: Ercolano) was an ancient Roman town destroyed by volcanic pyroclastic flows in 79 AD. Its ruins are located in the commune of Ercolano, Campania, Italy.
As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, it is famous as one of the few ancient cities that can now be seen in much of its original splendour, as well as for having been lost, along with Pompeii, Stabiae, Oplontis and Boscoreale, in the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 that buried it. Unlike Pompeii, the deep pyroclastic material which covered it preserved wooden and other organic-based objects such as roofs, beds, doors, food and even some 300 skeletons which were discovered in recent years along the seashore. It had been thought until then that the town had been evacuated by the inhabitants.
Herculaneum was a wealthier town than Pompeii, possessing an extraordinary density of fine houses with, for example, far more lavish use of coloured marble cladding.
Ancient tradition connected Herculaneum with the name of the Greek hero Herakles (Hercules in Latin and consequently Roman Mythology), an indication that the city was of Greek origin. In fact, it seems that some forefathers of the Samnite tribes of the Italian mainland founded the first civilization on the site of Herculaneum at the end of the 6th century BC. Soon after, the town came under Greek control and was used as a trading post because of its proximity to the Gulf of Naples. The Greeks named the city Ἡράκλειον, Heraklion. In the 4th century BC, Herculaneum again came under the domination of the Samnites. The city remained under Samnite control until it became a Roman municipium in 89 BC, when, having participated in the Social War ("war of the allies" against Rome), it was defeated by Titus Didius, a legate of Sulla.
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