Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre facts for kids

Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre (born August 16, 1702, died March 14, 1780) was a Spanish military engineer who made one of the most amazing discoveries in history. He found the ancient Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. These cities had been buried under volcanic ash for over 1,600 years!

A Soldier's Journey

Roque Alcubierre was born in Zaragoza, a city in Spain. As a young man, he joined the army to become a military engineer. This job involved designing and building strong structures for the army, like forts. His work took him to important Spanish cities like Girona, Barcelona, and Madrid.

He was very good at his job and moved up in the army ranks. In 1738, he was promoted to Captain and sent to Italy. This move would change his life, and our understanding of history, forever. By the end of his career, he had reached the high rank of Field Marshal.

Discovering Lost Roman Cities

While working in Italy, Alcubierre was exploring land for the future king, Charles III of Spain. One day, he came across something amazing buried underground: parts of the lost Roman city of Herculaneum.

Finding Herculaneum

Excited by his find, Alcubierre asked the king for permission and money to start a proper dig, which is called an excavation. The king agreed in 1738 but did not give him many workers or tools.

Even with these challenges, Alcubierre and his small team kept digging. They eventually uncovered the city's theater and beautiful wall paintings called murals. These discoveries proved a whole city was waiting to be found.

Uncovering Pompeii

In 1748, Alcubierre started exploring another nearby area. People thought it was the ancient town of Stabiae, but it turned out to be something even more incredible: the city of Pompeii.

Pompeii was famous because it was almost perfectly preserved. When the volcano Vesuvius erupted in the year 79 AD, it buried the city so quickly that everything was frozen in time. This discovery was huge for archaeology (the study of human history through digging up sites and artifacts). Before Alcubierre, most archaeologists just looked for fancy treasures to sell. But Pompeii showed them that they could study an entire ancient city just as it was.

New Challenges and Later Years

Alcubierre continued to explore other ancient sites in Italy, including places near Sorrento and Capri. However, starting around 1750, he began to have disagreements with other experts working with him. They had different ideas about the best way to dig up and protect the ancient treasures.

These arguments led Alcubierre to step back from leading the excavations. Other people, like Karl Jakob Weber and Winckelmann, took over the main duties. Despite these difficulties, Alcubierre's early work had started a new era of discovery.

Roque Alcubierre died in Naples, Italy, on March 14, 1780. His discoveries of Pompeii and Herculaneum are still considered some of the most important in the history of archaeology.

See also

In Spanish: Roque Joaquín de Alcubierre para niños