The Last Days of Pompeii, a novel by Edward George Bulwer-Lytton tells the love story of the Greeks Glaucus and Ione who were living in Pompeii when Mt. Vesuvius erupted and destroyed the city. But aside from telling their romance, the book is also full of insights about the decadent lifestyle of the Romans during the later part of their empire’s history.
The different characters in the story represent the different civilizations which they come from. Glaucus, the main protagonist in the novel was portrayed as a handsome Greek nobleman. His main love interest, Ione was a very beautiful Greek who ended up in Pompeii after being orphaned while she was still a child. Then, there’s also Arbaces, an Egyptian who was the guardian of Ione. He’s the villain in the novel and repeatedly attempted to seduce Ione but failed.
Edward George Bulwer-Lytton interestingly set the story in Pompeii during the time when Roman society was already decaying. In the novel, Glaucus and Ione met and fall in love with each other. When Arbaces learned about this he cleverly devised a plan so that Glaucus will be convicted of a murder that he never committed. But as Glaucus was about to be fed to the lions in the amphitheatre as his punishment, the truth is revealed as to who really committed the murder. Don't miss the end of this story to find how who the real culprit was and what the final fate of Pompeii would be.
This book is definitely a good read for those who are looking for an interesting love story and at the same time to learn more about ancient Roman civilization.