Page 67 - Perished Nations

lava and ash of a huge volcanic eruption, that hap-
pened thousands of years ago, caught the inhabi-
tants of that city. The disaster happened so sudden-
ly that everything in the town was caught in the mid-
dle of its everyday life and remains today exactly as
it was two millennia ago. It is as if the time had been
frozen.
The removal of Pompeii from the face of the
earth by such a disaster was not purposeless. The
historical record shows that the city was exactly the
centre of dissipation and perversity. The city was
marked by a rise in prostitution to such an extent
that even the number of brothels was not known.
But the lava of Vesuvius wiped the whole city off
the map in a single moment. The most interesting
aspect of the event is that nobody escaped despite
the terrible violence of the eruption of Vesuvius. It is
almost like they did not even notice the catastrophe,
as if they were charmed. A family eating their meal
were petrified right at that moment. Numerous pet-
rified couples were found in the act of intercourse.
The most interesting thing is that there were couples
of the same sex and couples of young boys and girls.
The faces of some of the petrified human corpses
unearthed from Pompeii were unharmed. The gen-
eral expression on those faces was bewilderment.
Here lies the most incomprehensible aspect of
the calamity. How did thousands of people wait to

On the next page are petrified
corpses unearthed in excavations
made in Pompeii.

Perished Nations
59