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At dawn on August 24, in the year AD 79, Pompeii's 25,000 people awakened to another hot day in that hot summer. There was going to be a contest in the arena that night and the whole town was looking forward to the bloody fights of the gladiators. The children headed toward school, carrying slates and followed by their dogs. In the forum the town's important men had gathered after breakfast to read the political signs that had been posted during the night. Elsewhere in the forum the wool merchants talked business. The banker was going over his account books. At the inn late-rising travelers from the East awakened and yawned and called for breakfast.
公元79年8月24日清晨，25000龐貝人睡醒，迎來了那個炎熱夏季的又一個烈日。這天夜里在競技場將有一場角斗，全城的人都期盼著角斗士之間血腥的搏斗。孩子們手拿石板奔向學校，身后跟著各自的狗。在市中心廣場，市里的要人早飯后聚集在一起閱讀夜里張貼出的通告；在廣場的其他地方，羊毛商們在談生意；錢莊老板正在核對賬目；旅店里，來自東方的起晚的游客剛剛睡醒，打著哈欠嚷嚷著要吃早飯。
The quiet morning moved slowly along. There was nothing very unusual about Pompeii. But tragedy was on its way. Beneath Vesuvius' vine-covered slopes a mighty force was about to break loose. At one o'clock in the afternoon the critical point was reached. The mountain blew up, raining death on thousands. Down in Pompeii, for miles from the summit, a tremendous explosion was heard.
平靜的上午漸漸過去，龐貝城沒有任何異樣的情況發生。然而災難已經悄悄逼近。就在山坡上覆蓋著攀藤植物的維蘇威火山下，一股巨大的力量就要爆發了。下午一點鐘的時候，重大的時刻終于到來，維蘇威火山爆發了，給成千上萬人帶來了死亡。在距離火山口數千英里的龐貝城內，人們聽到了巨大的爆炸聲。
