Broad sheets of flame were lighting up many parts of Vesuvius; their light and brightness were the more vivid for the darkness of the night… it was daylight now elsewhere in the world, but there the darkness was darker and thicker than any night. Pliny the Younger, Epistulae VI. 16 & VI.20 Not far from Puteoli is the ancient city of Pompeii. In AD 79 Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying Pompeii. The city disappeared and was never rebuilt. Then in the 19th century archaeologists started digging. They have since uncovered vast portions of the city. While it is never mentioned in […]