Pompeii: Like Detroit, but ancient.

Archaeologists believe they may have discovered the lost city of Atlantis, so it seems appropriate to excerpt Robert Silverberg’s out-of-print 1962 book, Lost Cities and Vanished Civilizations. (Pictured is a 1974 paperback version that cost 95 cents at the time.) Silverberg has enjoyed great success as a science-fiction writer, and this quote about Pompeii sounds very sci-fi but is very real:

“Pompeii was a busy city and a happy one. It died suddenly in a terrible rain of fire and ashes. The tragedy struck on the 24th of August, A.D. 79. Mount Vesuvius, which had slumbered quietly for centuries, exploded with savage violence. Death struck on a hot summer afternoon. Tons of hot ashes fell on Pompeii, smothering it, hiding it from sight. For three years the sun did not break through the cloud of volcanic ash that filled the sky. And when the eruption ended, Pompeii was buried deep. A thriving city had perished in a single day. Centuries passed…Pompeii was forgotten. Then, 1,500 years later, it was discovered again.”