1.Two thousand years ago the fires of Mount Vesuviuswere supposed to be extinct.Among the towns andvillages which then clung to its slopes in fancied security was the flourishing city of Pompeii，one of the favourite resorts of the wealthy Romans.The splendour of Pompeii was at its height，when in a single day，the 24th of August，A.D.79，the city was swept out of existence.
2.The morning rose bright and clear.Suddenly a great pillar of cloud rose from the crest of Vesuvius.The earth shook；huge waves rolled across the bay；flashes of fire broke through the gloom of the cloud.Then a terrible shower of stones，which had been shot far up into the air，began to fail on the doomed city，and covered the streets to a depth of many feet.
3.After the stones came fine ashes，which made the air thick and stifling.Those who tried to escape from the city were suffocated by the ashes and the sulphur fumes，and were covered up where they fell.Then came showers of boiling water，which turned the ashes into mud，and afterwards more showers of stones andstreams of lava covered up the ruins of Pompeii，so that not a trace of its buildings could be seen.
4.A letter written by Pliny，a great Roman writer，gives us a most interesting account of this great eruption of Vesuvius.He writes from Misenum，a town twenty miles distant from Vesuvius；and we can judge how terrible that eruption must have been in the neighbourhood of the mountain.In his letter he says：-5.“That night my sleep was greatly broken by shocksof earthquake；but now they were so violent as to threaten total ruin.At last my mother and I went out ofthe house.The buildings all around us were tottering ，and we resolved to quit the town.The people followedus in a panic，and pressed in great crowds around us.
6.”Our chariots swayed so violently that we could not keep them steady，even by supporting them with large stones；the sea seemed to be rolled back from theshore by the convulsionsof the earth.On the otherside of the bay a black and terrible cloud seemed to descend and enshroud the whole ocean.
7.“Ashes now began to fall upon us.Turning my head，I perceived behind us a dense cloud，which camerolling in our track like a torrent.In a few moments we were in darkness-not the darkness of a cloudy night，or when there is no moon，but that of a chamber which is closely shut.
8.”Then a heavy shower of ashes rained upon us，which we were obliged every now and then to shake off，or else we should have been covered up and buried.After a while this dreadful darkness gradually disappeared；the day returned，and with it the sun，though ver y faintly.Ever y object was seen to be covered with a crust of white ashes like a deep layer of snow.“9.The buried city lay forgotten for over sixteen hundred years.Then the site was discovered by accident.
ashes and the hardened mud have been cleared away，and a Roman city can now be seen as it existed eighteen hundred years ago.By studying its ruins，we have learned more about the Romans and their customs than we could have done from all the books that were ever written.
10.About the centre of the city is the Forum-the market and the meeting-place of the citizens.Around it stand the public offices and temples；but far moreinteresting than these are the private houses and shops，which tell us so much about the habits of the people.Most of the houses are decorated with paintings of Roman life.Think of a dining-room prepared for a party，sealed up for eighteen hundred years，and then opened to view！
11.We can also see the figures of the very men and women who were in the city when disaster over-took it；for the mud which covered their bodies has hardened，and from this we have been able in many cases to get plaster casts of the figures，and even of their dress and ornaments.
12.Thus we see a man，in the act of running away，held fast in the mud.The key of his strong-room has fallen from his hands when he was at the point of death.In another place a woman，fleeing with her child，has sunk to the ground exhausted.A priest with an axe is trying to cut his way out of a house in which he hasbeen shut up by the stones and ashes.In one spot aRoman soldier stands firm at his post，never flinchingin the face of danger.
13.How the scene lives before us as we stroll among the ruins！These ruts in the streets were made by chariots eighteen hundred years ago.These pictures onA STREET IN POMPEIIthe walls were drawn by the school-boys then.Beside them we see Latin jokes，and advertisements such as，“The gladiatorcompany of the ？dileCertus willfight at Pompeii the day before the Kalends；”or this，“To let，shops with their terrace，etc.Address-Primus，slave of Cnoeus；”or electioneering bills，such as，“ThescribeIssus requests you to support M.Vatia as aedile.
He is worthy.”Truly，it needs but a little imagination to make this city of the dead a city of the living.