Classical archaeology?the excavation and analysis of ancient Greek and Roman sites?was born on Wednesday, October 22, 1738.

On that day, Roque Joaquin Alcubierre, an engineer in the army of the Bourbon royal family in Naples, was lowered by ropes down a square well shaft cut through volcanic material that had formed on the slopes of Mount Vesuvius. When Alcubierre reached the bottom of the well, 65 feet below the surface, he began to wind his way through tunnels carved into the volcanic material, noting pieces of architectural elements as he went....