Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre

Rocque Joaquin de Alcubierre (1702–1780) was a captain in the Spanish Army, who first excavated the Roman ruins at Pompeii.

Herculaneum and Pompeii

In 1738 Alcubierre was working on the palace for the king of Naples, Charles III of Spain when ancient Roman artifacts were being discovered. Alcubierre took charge of the excavations, initially at Herculaneum, then, in 1748 excavations began at a new site believed to be Stabiae, only later identified as Pompeii. Alcubierre left the detailed excavation work to his assistants, initially Karl Jakob Weber, then from 1764 Fransesco la Vega, but remained in overall charge of the excavations around Vesuvius until his death in 1780.

References

• http://sites.google.com/site/ad79eruption/dramatis-personae/since-the-re-discovery