Pompeii

Начало книги

The Romans divided the day into twelve hours. The first,hora prima, began at sunrise. The last,hora duodecima, ended at sunset.

The night was divided into eight watches—Vespera, Prima fax, Concubia,andIntempesta before midnight;Inclinatio, Gallicinium, Conticinium, andDiluculum after it.

The days of the week were Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, and Sun.

Pompeii takes place over four days.

Sunrise on the Bay of Naples in the fourth week of AugustA.D. 79 was at approximately 06:20 hours.

MARS

22 August

Two days before the eruption

CONTICINIUM

[04:21 hours]

A strong correlation has been found between the

magnitude of eruptions and the length of the preceding

interval of repose. Almost all very large, historic eruptions have

come from volcanoes that have been dormant for centuries.

—JACQUES-MARIE BARDINTZEFF, ALEXANDER R. McBIRNEY

VOLCANOLOGY (SECOND EDITION)

They left the aqueduct two hours before dawn, climbing by moonlight into the hills overlooking the port—six men in single file, the engineer leading. He had turned them out of their beds himself—all stiff limbs and sullen, bleary faces—and now he could hear them complaining about him behind his back, their voices carrying louder than they realized in the warm, still air.

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