Greetings, Reading Friend!
Whatever you’ve heard about Pompeii’s disaster from feature films or documentaries, set it aside.
What if the fate of Pompeii depended not on a soldier or emperor, but on an engineer racing against a mountain ready to explode?
In Pompeii, Robert Harris begins his novel just two days before the catastrophic eruption of Mount Vesuvius in A.D. 79 and concludes it only four days later. This compressed time frame immediately creates tension, while the strong characters, vivid descriptions, rich historical detail, and masterful suspense reveal Harris’s skill as a storyteller.
Why read a novel set so long ago and far away?
- The characters reveal universal human truths, giving readers heroes to root for and villains to despise
- Vivid Details, especially descriptions of Vesuvius and the Roman aqueducts, bring the era to life
- Enhanced Perspective: If you’ve ever visited Pompeii or plan to do so, this story will enrich your understanding of life in the area near Pompeii and Vesuvius.
Brief Summary:
- In A.D. 79, the huge aqueduct (Acqua Augusta) that supplies fresh water to towns across the Bay of Naples begins to fail, and its water engineer disappears.
- Attilius, a young Roman engineer, is sent to repair the aqueduct. He must find and replace the faulty part before the reservoir (Piscina Mirabilis) runs dry and the towns lose their water supply in the scorching summer heat.
- Arriving in Pompeii, he encounters corruption and powerful enemies, with few local allies to assist him.
- He struggles not only to restore the water supply, but to stay alive, especially as Mount Vesuvius awakens, with all its volcanic fury.
Major Characters:
Marcus Attilius Primus (Aquarius)—protagonist, young engineer in charge of the huge aqueduct (Acqua Augusta) that supplied water to towns across the Bay of Naples
Ampliatus—most powerful man in Pompeii; he’s a former slave who made his fortune after the previous volcanic eruption; he attempts to embody the perfect aristocrat through power, imagination, wit, and style
Corax—overseer of laborers who assist Attilius with aqueduct repairs; he challenges and mocks Attilius from the start
Corelia—adolescent daughter of Ampliatus; she recruits Attilius to save a slave whom her father has unjustly sentenced to a torturous death
Pliny—aged admiral of Rome’s naval fleet in the Bay of Naples and a prodigious author (of 37-volume Natural History), he supports Attilius’s quest to repair the aqueduct
Strengths:
- Strong plot combining both intelligence and action
- Skillful portrayal of suspense and tension
- Unique, relatable characters
Weakness:
To be fully appreciated and understood, the novel requires readers’ attention to the basic principles of aqueducts and volcanoes
Content review:
Violence is graphic in a few places; Occasional coarse language and non-consensual intimacy
My recommendation:
If you favor suspenseful, masterfully-written historical novels, and you’re willing to read a bit ‘into the weeds’ to understand key details, you’ll enjoy Pompeii as much as I did.
Arrivederci/ Until next time,
Colleen
clrpeterson.com