The exhibition is promoted by the Parco archeologico del Colosseo with the organization of Electa and the scientific collaboration of the Parco archeologico di Pompei and the National Archaeological Museum of Naples. Exhibit installations and graphics are curated by Maurizio di Puolo.

The exhibition was conceived and curated by Mario Torelli, the great, recently deceased archaeologist. The show is also dedicated to the memory of his many years of activity in the scholarship of the ancient world as a committed intellectual and founding father of the new school of Italian archaeology.

The show, with its nearly 100 pieces, enriched by videos and virtual projections, is divided into three large sections – the alliance phase, the Roman colony phase, the decline and end of Pompeii –, divided by intervals dedicated to two crucial moments that shaped the long history of Pompeii: the Roman siege of 89 BC and the earthquake of 62 AD, up until the catastrophic event of 79 AD that brought about the destruction of the Vesuvian city while Rome continued on its path to become a metropolis without precedent.