Pompeii: 79 CE
Topic Summary
It is August 79 CE. The City of Pompeii stands at the height of its wealth and is the perfect embodiment of ancient Roman life. Its markets are bustling, and its streets are crowded with merchants, scientists, and families. For years, Mount Vesuvius lay dormant along the distant horizon, but now everything feels different. Minor tremors shake the ground. Animals scatter. The sky darkens day by day. Gray clouds can be seen above as the sun’s radiant rays begin to fade. Priests claim the gods are warning the city. Scholars insist there is nothing to fear. Traders panic. Soldiers desert. The people demand answers.
As members of the Pompeii City Council, delegates are summoned to an emergency meeting as they face the biggest challenge of their lifetimes. The city’s leading scientists believe Vesuvius will erupt in a matter of days. As merchants, magistrates, generals, and priests fill city hall in panic, only you can decide what the future will hold. Will you evacuate and cause chaos? Stay put and risk extinction? Or fight natural forces beyond human comprehension?
The future of this thriving Roman city lies in your hands. Delegates must navigate political turmoil, public fear, and run a race against time itself. This committee will be an uphill battle and every second counts. The future of Pompeii and its people hang in the balance and only you can decide who lives, who dies, and who tells your story. Your fate is still unwritten, and these three days will determine how history remembers you.
Signe Smith is a junior double concentrating in Social Studies and Near Eastern Languages & Civilizations from Detroit, Michigan. She has been passionate about Model UN since middle school, and is currently a competitor and Comptroller for Harvard's Intercollegiate Model UN Team. She has also staffed HMUN Boston for the past three years and has worked on the recruitment team for the Harvard International Relations Council.
Outside of MUN, Signe is interested in humanitarian work, early conflict prevention, and youth education. At Harvard, she is a staff writer for the Harvard Political Review, works with the Harvard Institute of Politics' Global Affairs Committee, and is a jazz radio host for Harvard Radio Broadcasting. In her free time, you can find her knitting, watching every sci-fi show you can think of, and drinking coffee.
She is thrilled to be staffing HMUN Africa 2026, and can’t wait to meet all of the amazing delegates!
Maurits E. Acosta is a first-year student at Harvard University studying government. Born in the Netherlands to Cuban parents, he moved to Miami in 2015 and has since dedicated himself to developing America's next generation of civic leaders. He served as the 40th Student Advisor to the School Board of Miami-Dade County, where he represented more than 350,000 students in the nation’s third-largest school district. In 2022, he founded Virtutem Populo, Inc., a student-led 501(c)(3) nonprofit that has raised over $100,000 and reached more than 3,000 students across Florida through civic education and leadership programs. Maurits has written and championed infrastructure and flooding legislation at the municipal level and worked as a political and fundraising consultant for many local campaigns. For over six years, Maurits has been involved in Model United Nations and now serves as a delegate on the Harvard University Intercollegiate MUN Team. Named a United States Senate Youth Program delegate, National PTA Youth Advocate of the Year, Coca-Cola Scholar, and Miami Herald Silver Knight, Maurits is committed to safeguarding democratic values and pursuing a life dedicated to public service.