Isn't necropolis...........city of the dead?


The excavations began in 1748, under King Charles of Bourbon, as a way of increasing the fame and prestige of his Kingdom of the Two Sicilies.
The digging proceeded sporadically, without a well-defined plan, and only a few years later was the site actually identified as Pompeii. A part of the necropolis outside Porta Ercolano was dug up, together with the Temple of Isis and part of the theatres quarter.
During the French occupation, in early 1800, activity expanded over the site, but gradually slowed again when the Bourbons were restored to throne. Works were concentrated on the area of the amphitheatre and the Forum, as well as around Porta Ercolano and the theatres district. The discovery of the House of the Faun, containing the large mosaic depicting Alexander the Great in Battle, caught the imagination of people all over Europe.