Pompeii
by Robert Harris · first published 2003
7mentions
3recommended by
5HN commenters
2010–2025first – last mentioned
60% recommend40% neutral
Historical fiction about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD from the perspective of Marcus Attilius, an aquarius (hydraulic engineer) responsible for Aqua Augusta, the regional aqueduct.
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If you want to read a fantastic historical fiction novel that covers these events (including Pliny the Elder's rescue mission) seek out Pompeii by Robert Harris. https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/76010/pompeii-by-ro...
on “Vesuvius ancient eruption rescuer identified at Herculaneum, says expert” ↗Pompeii, by Robert Harris. It's historical fiction, and one of the best reads I've had in a while. I particularly liked the descriptions of the aquarius debugging the waterworks.
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” ↗…the classics often make me feel we achieved very little improving our base instincts in the last 2000 years. Robert Harris has a number of pretty cool historical fiction books about Cicero (Imperium, Pompeii, Conspirata) that are a good read also and put much of the goneby times in context.
on “Gaius Julius Caesar Pleads Against Norm-Breaking–Weekend Reading” ↗You should check out Pompeii, a historical fiction novel by Robert Harris. The main character is an engineer responsible for waterworks.
on “Ancient Roman Valves (2013)” ↗For anyone interested in this topic: Author Robert Harris really did his homework for his historical fiction novel Pompeii, which follows the story of a water engineer in many of the towns around the bay and on the slopes of Vesuvius just before the eruption. Besides the archaeological and geological records, there are several…
on “Cities on the Bay: The Ancient Roman Predecessor of Naples (2015)” ↗Very strange. I just finished reading Robert Harris' "Pompeii" which I started a couple days before the Iceland Volcano started putting out ash. Now the aqueduct breaks. Very strange coincidence... I hope my brain isn't projecting the content of the stuff I'm reading...…
on “Don't drink the water in Boston without boiling it first.” ↗…something most people are interested enough to look up (there's a missing "in" in that sentence but I couldn't decide where to put it). Robert Harris wrote the book and also wrote Fatherland, Enigma and Pompeii. Those are three different books but I'd definitely read a book with that single title.
on “Betting on the Pope was the original prediction market” ↗