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There is no Past, so long as Books shall live!
A disinterr'd Pompeii wakes again . . .
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, "The Souls of Books" (1893)
I.
The Last Days in its Cultural Contexts
Ever since the discovery in 1749 of the remains of Pompeii, destroyed by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, the excavations have yielded rich materials for understanding the daily life of the Roman Empire. They also featured as themes in contemporary European design, art, and music, including opera. In the nineteenth century, previously diverse elements were unified into a romantic mythic narrative, fixed in material form, disseminated, consolidated, imported to Pompeii, naturalised, and then re-exported. This process is evident in the publication history of Edward Bulwer-Lytton's novel, The Last Days of Pompei (1834). Taking in the spin-offs and feedbacks of theatre, songs, opera, pantomime, the circus, high and popular art, and book illustrations, we use quantified information about readerships and viewerships from archival and other primary sources to show how, within the economic and technological governing structures of the Victorian age, cultural consumers cooperated with producers to invent myths and clichés still vigorous today.
The Last Days of Pompeii begins with a scene of wealthy Pompeians sauntering through the streets of Pompeii where they encounter Nydia, a blind slave girl selling flowers. This casual meeting between her and the rich Greek Glaucus introduces the storyline. Nydia, who soon loves Glaucus across the insuperable social divide, is purchased by him and presented as a gift to the beautiful and virtuous Greek heiress, Ione, who is the ward of Arbaces, an Egyptian priest of the religion of Isis. A plot by Arbaces to gain her (and her money) is thwarted by Nydia, but when Ione's brother discovers the plot, Arbaces murders him and sets up Glaucus to take the blame. However when Glaucus is made to fight a lion in the gladiatorial arena, the ferocious beast turns away, much to the disappointment of the baying crowds, and insists on returning to its cage. Suddenly the volcano erupts and buildings shake and fall to the ground as the city is torn open by earthquakes. Arbaces, who tries to persuade the people that the volcano portends the vengeance...