Robert Harris' 2003 novel ‘Pompeii' has been published in a stunning new edition by The Folio Society. The acclaimed British novelist is noted for his works of historical fiction, more recently capturing the events of the English Civil War in ‘Act of Oblivion'. His work of speculative fiction, ‘Fatherland', chillingly depicts the world after the Nazis emerge victorious from WWII.
Harris has several times turned his considerable imagination to events in Ancient Roman times. His Cicero-based trilogy ending with ‘Dictator', outlining Julius Caesar's rise to power, is best-known. Besides the fall of the Late Republic, what else is more famous in Roman history than the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD? The natural disaster buried and preserved the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum under tonnes of pumice and ash for centuries afterwards, freezing them in a moment in time for archeologists to later uncover. Remarkably, the event was recorded in real time by the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder, who perished in the disaster. Classicists will be delighted that Harris weaves Pliny into his plot, though the brave old boy isn't entirely sympathetically presented by the author!
Harris sensibly invents his own central character in the form of Marcus Attilius Primus, an engineer (or ‘Aquarius') who is charged with replenishing the water supply along the Aqua Augusta – the aqueduct named after the first Roman Emperor. Mysteriously, the water has stopped flowing to the Bay of Naples, and the locals are restless. Attilius is a stranger in a new town. Those in the provinces are suspicious of the engineer from the capital city. Yet he is only sent to fix the aqueduct because Exomnius, the local Aquarius, has disappeared without a trace…
For a relatively short novel, coming in at under three hundred pages, there is a lot going on in ‘Pompeii', with mysteries buried at the heart of it. Where is the missing Aquarius, and what has happened to him? Why has the water supply stopped, and can the aqueduct be repaired? Why have the birds disappeared from the skies? Harris subsumes his text with an impending sensation of dread. The [spoiler alert] fact that Mount Vesuvius erupts and many people are killed looms large throughout the novel. Each chapter opens with an excerpt from academic volumes on volcanoes. There are constant reminders that every single character in the book is heading inexorably towards an impending and unstoppable calamity as the events begin only a few days before the eruption. In this way, ‘Pompeii' is closely aligned to the traditional disaster story genre. It reminded me of a Michael Crichton novel where characters are completely subservient to events and the power of nature. Suspense is maintained over which characters will survive and how the unlucky ones will perish, rather than whether or not the catastrophe can be averted.
On the whole, Harris succeeds in creating a compelling novel. ‘Pompeii' is fast-paced and thrilling. The author resolves the mysteries at the heart of his story by drip-feeding his readers with twists and resolutions. The main characters are well-drawn. Attilius is terse and no-nonsense, but likeable through his integrity. Pliny the Elder may come across as a vain and arrogant old man, but there is a tangible sense that he is motivated by curiosity, displaying admirable bravery in the face of an active volcano spewing its wrath into the atmosphere. Harris also captures the corruption and hypocrisy at the heart of Roman civic life too. The aptly-named Ampliatus is a former slave who has craftily tricked his former owner out of his wealth, and is now set to marry his daughter Corelia, who in turn baulks at the thought of the union.
The weakness of the novel is that the romance element between Attilius and Corelia never really sets the pages alight. Secondarily, it delivers few plot revelations that attentive readers won't already have guessed. It is much more successful at finding ways to make ancient water systems an integral part of a thriller. Clearly, the author has conducted thorough research into Roman water systems. For a fictional account of the events surrounding the eruption of Vesuvius and the destruction of Pompeii, Harris' novel is likely to stand as one of the most accurate tellings of what actually happened on that fateful day almost two millennia ago.
‘Pompeii' is brought to life by six full-colour illustrations by Robert Carter. The exploding volcano and the silhouette of the Aqua Augusta are picked out in orange and gold against a dark blue hardcover. The slipcase is an essential part of The Folio Society's luxury book designs, preventing dust and mildew from forming on the pages. This is a fantastic edition of Robert Harris' historical disaster fiction that is a welcome addition to The Folio Society's Spring 2025 collection.
Publisher: The Folio Society Publication date: 4th March 2025 Buy The Folio Society's ‘Pompeii'
