A BOMBSHELL new discovery may have revealed the hidden identity of Pompeii’s two maidens – and their relationship would have been scandalous.
The new theory, if true, would undo the vast majority of pre-existing theories about their connection.
It is now believed that the two Pompeii victims, known as “The Two Maidens”, might have actually been young male gay lovers.
So far, one of the bodies has been confirmed as male.
At first, the positioning of the two bodies were thought to be a mother and daughter in embrace.
However, this has now been disregarded after analysis has proved at least one of them was a “young adult” male.
Whilst the male’s exact age in unknown, his potential homosexual lover is thought to have been aged between 14-19.
Professor Stefano Vanacore, who led a research team examining the pair back in 2017, said: “When this discovery was made, that they were not two young girls, some scholars suggested there could have been an emotional connection between the pair.
“But we are talking about hypotheses that can never be verified.
“What is certain is that the two parties were not relatives, neither brothers nor a father and son.”
Researchers from the Max Planck Institute in Munich, Germany, say that the theory cannot be dismissed.
David Reich, one of the authors of the new study, said: “A pair of individuals thought to be sisters, or mother and daughter, were found to include at least one genetic male.
“These findings challenge traditional gender and familial assumptions.”
Massimo Osanna, superintendent of the Pompeii archaeological site, previously said: “The fact that they were lovers is a hypothesis that cannot be dismissed.”
This revelation would greatly challenge traditional assumptions of sexuality and family at the time.
A 2022 study revealed that those who were unlucky enough to have perished in the disaster died an even more painful death than originally thought.
A study of residue on skeletons found that the people were not suffocated by ash but actually boiled alive until their heads exploded.
Back in the 1980s and 90s, archaeologists discovered hundreds of skeletal remains of people who had huddled at the waters edge in Herculaneum hoping to escape the wrath of the volcano.
Most experts used to agree that the victims died from being suffocated in ash clouds.
POMPEII was once a very prosperous ancient Roman city on the Gulf of Naples, in Italy’s Campania region.
On August 4 79 A.D., the volcano Mount Vesuvius erupted and completely buried the Roman city under a thick carpet of ash, killing Pompeii’s population.
Around 2,000 people are believed to have been killed in Pompeii.
It was home to 11,000 people and boasted a complex water system, amphitheatre, gymnasium and even a port.
The thermal energy released was said to be a hundred thousand times that of the nuclear blasts at Hiroshima-Nagasaki.
Over the next 250 years, it was a hotbed of scientific activity, with researchers uncovering several intact buildings and even wall paintings.
To this day, scientists are finding cultural, architectural and human remains on the banks of Mount Vesuvius.
However, a more recent study revealed that the super-heated gas that tumbled down the mountainside would have boiled people instantly.
The remains were covered in black and red residue and contained an unusually high amount of iron.
This indicated that blood had been boiled on the bones.
Many of the skulls found showed signs of exploding outwards and had lots of residue left on them.
It is believed that when the victims’ heads exploded their brains would have instantly turned to lumps of ash.
