"You could hear the shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others their children or their wives, trying to recognise them by their voices. People bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for death in their terror of dying. Many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness for evermore." - Pliny the Younger

A day in Pompeii was never dull. The people were of wealth and prosperity. Gold, food, treasures, pleasure and plenty of shows were just as abound as they were in Rome. Ah, the shows. Great amphitheatres that could hold thousands of good men were staples of Rome, and so it would be in Pompeii. Gladiators from all over the empire were brought to entertain, to sport, and to die for their freedom.

The great Pompeii lived in the very shadow of the great Mount Vesuvius, a great volcano that the Romans did not know could erupt. The Roman people were drawn to the mountain due to the richness of the soil and minerals. Farming came easy to those in the shadow of the mountain, and thus the people bloomed. In ancient times, there was no latin word for 'volcano', and so nobody thought to flee when small earthquakes began and signalled their destruction.

In 79 A.D, Vesuvius erupted, causing widespread destruction across Pompeii, where the ash, smoke, and raining rocks that trapped and buried the citizens of Pompeii. Rich, poor, gladiators, and slaves alike. It was estimated that over 26,000 people died on that day, but only 2-6,000 people have been recovered.

By 25 August, 79 A.D, the landscape around Mount Vesuvius had been completely changed. Vesuvius was a crater, and the river and port were both gone.

Pompeii and Herculaneum were completely buried under ash and stone. Within a few years, nobody could even remember where the city once was. Eventually, it passed into legend.

Two particular bodies have fascinated archaeologists since the dig began. Casts of a couple holding each other in their last moments were found in the Gladiator barracks underneath the larger arena. The man was a slave Gladiator from Rome, and the woman seemed to be a heavily wealthy native citizen of Pompeii. This is their story.

~
August was the busiest month of the year in Pompeii. Many political figures from Rome would visit their summer villas, and the rich citizens would often go to attend the countless gladiator shows. The days were never dull and grey.

(Name) Aquilinus was the daughter of the man who trained, fed, and organised all of the gladiators and their shows. The business was booming, and more people were seeing the shows than ever before. Male slaves were being shipped in and out, left and right. (Name) had never known more than her lavish life, and the lives that the gladiators lived in the barracks of Pompeii.

(Name) loved to connect with the fighters, and often would decide who would live or die when the battles were over. She knew that the slavery that they had once been through was sometimes worse than fighting to the death, and she would often try to befriend them before their debuts in Pompeii. It often didn't help, but she tried anyway.

On August 23rd, it was a bustling day. There was to be a show put on during the 24th, and many people travelling from Rome were expected to attend. It took much planning and new (but apparently well trained) gladiators from the far off land of Britannia. (Name) and her handmaiden, Cassia, were to receive the new men, and those delivering them.

"Come, Cassia, walk alongside me." (Name) uttered, as she trudged through the streets, the handmaiden trailing behind. Cassia was indeed a slave also. Nearly every Roman citizen that was wealthy had a plethora of slaves attending to their every need.

"Misstress, it is rude for a slave to walk the same as her master," Cassia squeaked, following along, meekly. (Name) only stopped in the middle of the road, only to smile at the short and tanned woman.

"When we are away from the Emperor's vision, you are no slave. Come, friend, the men will be arriving soon." (Name) declared, gently taking Cassia's hand and continuing on her way.

~
At the gate, the slave drivers were patiently waiting, holding five tired gladiators in their midst. As soon as (Name) approached, they all bowed their heads in respect, and what met them was a glistening, yet false smile.

"Good men, I am the daughter of Antonius Aquilinus. Bring the gladiators with me, I will show you to our barracks." (Name) paused as the chains of the gladiators were pulled. One man, taller and much more burly than the other new arrivals, had hair like a wheat field basking in the summer sun. Never had she seen hair coloured as bright. When he looked at her, he did not seem intimidating at all. Their eyes met, and (Name) was filled with curiosity, as none of the other gladiators seemed as calm at arrival.

At the barracks, the men were immediately freed from their chains. (Name) and Cassia was joined by Antonius, who looked over the group of new arrivals with a giant smile. He was a larger man, but he was kind and much more reasonable than other rich men that wandered around the bustling city.

"Gladiators! You are the sporting champions of our age, our heroes off of the battlefield! Chains shall not hold you. You are free to roam our streets, mingle among the people. You are the stars of Pompeii, and you shall fight with the ferocity of our empire. You will amaze." The father of (Name) had always been enthusiastic about his ambitions, and sometimes he had been so inspiring that the gladiators who were once slaves would stay and fight in the ring, even if they could outright refuse.

When the night fell, the revelling of the town still rung through the streets. Parties were often held by the most wealthy men in Pompeii. Antonius was one of these men, often enticing people to bet on his gladiators during his parties of gold goblets and fresh fruit. Of course, the golden-haired gladiator was a spectacle. No Roman ever had hair that was of such beauty. He was the life of the party, so to speak, and people were constantly swarming him. Only, the gladiator never seemed to pay attention to his new fans. For the remainder of the night, he kept a sturdy vision of the only woman in the room that interested him.

(Name) of course attended this occasion, keeping to herself as she always had. But she also watched the golden haired man, albeit from a distance. She heard the other women talking about him, guessing that he was blessed by Venus herself. The goddess of beauty certainly enticed (Name)'s curiosity. She was sure that the other women were right. Only Venus could bestow such uniqueness.

It was only when the party had come to an end when (Name) decided to seek out the man with the golden hair. He had gone back to the barracks with the other gladiators, readying for the show that would be put on the next day. Sneaking out of her home and down to the barracks, she clutched a single lamp to light her way down.

She nearly dropped her lamp when the earth underneath her began to shake. The trembling lasted barely a minute, and she stumbled constantly as she tried to walk. She would have fallen if she had not been caught. Suddenly (Name) found herself in the arms of the golden haired man.

"I apologise, sir! You were not required to catch me." She said, quickly fixing herself and properly gripping her lamp when he let her go.

"You have no reason to be sorry," he replied. His voice was smooth and calm. (Name) never heard that tone in a gladiator before. "Does the earth always shake beneath us like that?" He wondered.

"This is the first time it has shaken in such a way. I wonder if it is the mountain."

"Mountain?"

"You must have seen it on the way here. The mountain called Vesuvius. It is the large mass not too far from here. It is the reason why our farms are plentiful."

The man smiled, remembering. "I did see it. Come, sit down with me." He offered, returning to his bed and patting the side so (Name) might sit down. The two of them scanned each other, almost basking in the presence of one another.

"What is your name, brave one? Mine is (Name)." (Name) said. She thought it might be rude to only view him as a trophy as the other women had at the gathering.

"Stephanus," He said, looking down at the cobblestone. "Somehow, I feel that this name will not belong to me come tomorrow."

"Why would you say that?"

"The gladiator ring is not somewhere you would want to be. I fear for my life every time I walk into the sunlight." Stephanus sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Yet you are here, still alive. You know that you are permitted to refuse."

"I have no life outside of fighting. There is nothing to go to if I were to refuse." Stephanus barely locked eyes with (Name), who smiled somberly at him.

"If you are sure that you want to, then I will not oppose your decision. I am sure that you will be triumphant tomorrow, yes? Besides, the crowd often has a say on what happens. I am sure most have already taken a liking to you." (Name) tried to reassure Stephanus, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Thank you. I never thought a woman as fair as you would come to reassure a lowly man such as myself."

"Why would I not?" (Name) smiled at him, standing carefully. "Good luck tomorrow."

~
Throughout the night, the land continued to shake. The deep rumbling kept (Name) from sleeping soundly, and the clay shingles breaking and sliding off the roof of her home made her irritable. She only hoped that it would stop in the hours to come, but no peace came to her.

In the morning, (Name) was tired and agitated, refusing any of Cassia's help when she dressed for the tournament. (Name) wondered if Stephanus had been kept up the whole night, too, and she prayed that the lack of sleep would not hinder his skill with a sword.

Another annoying rumble came from the earth as she placed her gold bracelet around her wrist, struggling to walk outside into the streets of Pompeii. It was going to be a long day before the festivities even started - full of shopping and possibly grabbing a snack at one of the places in the market that served cooked food. (Name) wanted nothing more than to see Stephanus, hopefully, able to spend some time with her newfound friend before he went out to fight.

(Name) had to go see to the preparations prior to the show anyway, so she decided to pop into the barracks before tending to her chores. Just as she was making her way down the road while trying to keep balanced, the rumbling ceased. Looking up, she saw white smoke spilling from Vesuvius. Birds were flying towards the water in great masses, and (Name) could hear the howls from dogs.

Just as she arrived at the amphitheatre, small rocks began to fall from the sky. (Name) covered her head with her arms, looking toward the mountain again, and the smoke had only climbed higher, churning to a sickly grey colour. The sky still faintly shone with the sun, so, (Name) assumed that the show was still to be on.

"Stephanus!" (Name) called as she made her way down into the barracks of the amphitheatre. "Did you see Vesuvius? Is it not fascinating?" She asked, not sounding as enthusiastic as she would have liked. When Stephanus walked up to her, he did not look very enthusiastic, either.

"The smoke is not the only thing that has come from the mountain." Stephanus held in his palm a quite sizable piece of stone. It was much larger than what (Name) had experienced moments before. "Something is wrong…"

"I don't understand. Vesuvius has never done anything like this. Never has it rumbled beneath our feet or rained stone from the sky. Ne-"

A loud yell came from the upper levels. It drowned out (Name)'s speech and the rain of stone. "Vulcan has come to slay us all! To destroy our world!" When the yell ceased, more rumbling began. As if on queue, more stones rained down from the sky to hit the cobblestone and any person still left outdoors.

Locking eyes with Stephanus, (Name) grabbed his hand as the two of them raced past the upper levels and into the streets of Pompeii. In less than an hour, the sky had darkened so much that it seemed as if night had fallen. People had long begun to seek refuge in their homes, and others were screaming about the streets. "Vulcan is angered with us! He seeks to end our lives!"

(Name) tried to run back towards her home, but Stephanus, who was still holding (Name)'s hand, tugged her back towards him. "It is too dangerous for you to return to your home. People will trample you! If not the people, then the stones would crush your head!"

"What about my father? I must know if he is okay!" (Name) protested, but Stephanus did not let go of her.

"He will be okay. Please, come back down to the barracks with me. It is the safest place right now." Another rumble shook the ground. This time, you could hear things crashing and falling to the ground. After, there was a sudden loud crackle of thunder, displayed by a bright lightning strike.

"Fine!" Scrambling back out of the crowd, Stephanus and (Name) made their way back into the barracks. Being safe did not make anything easier for (Name), as she constantly heard the cries and wails of everyone outside. The thunder crackled, and she felt her city, her home, fall into ruin.

"We did nothing to deserve this fate, not this cruel punishment," she mumbled, tightly grasping Stephanus' hand. She knew that she was close to tears, but she intended to keep that hidden.

"Some things must happen in our world," Stephanus said. "It might not be punishment at all, but a natural thing that we all must go through. Death is never the end."

"Why do you think so? The people outside seem to believe otherwise," (Name) retaliated, hearing a large boom of thunder, and another large crash. Ash began creeping over the floor, causing the two to cough.

"My mother always used to tell me that life was a journey, and death was only a crossroad. It wasn't the end, just a path that we must take." Stephanus said, trying to comfort the woman next to him.

"I watched death for almost every day of my life. Men fought brilliantly for a roaring crowd, and their freedom was only decided by a simple hand gesture. People saw it as a sport, and yet here we are, afraid of what we found entertaining yesterday. The Gods must laugh at us…" (Name) laid her head on Stephanus' shoulder, snivelling a little bit.

"Perhaps they might, but the Gods exist to guide us. If we have fallen on the wrong path, then it was their decision to correct us. Our faith must be strong in them, yes?"

"You are much too wise for your being, Stephanus." (Name) remarked, trying to crack a small smile, even in her despair. Stephanus continued to hold her hand, squeezing it a little bit.

The room slowly began to heat up, and the sounds of the outside were still maddening, even when the screams began to die down. Buildings were collapsing all around them. (Name) believed that hearing her people suffer was worse than being up there and suffering with them.

Through the rest of the dark day, (Name) and Stephanus silently remained through the rumbling, thunder, the toxic gas slowly seeping into the barracks, and eventually into their lungs. Their coughing was atrocious, and (Name) was glad that nobody could hear them.

"I am sorry that you had to stay down here with me. I have known you for less than a day." Stephanus said, after a long silence. (Name) coughed loudly, positioning herself closer to the gladiator.

"Never apologise… the duration of our knowing one another does not define how strong our relationship is. I am glad to die with you, and I am thankful that you are here with me. I would still be panicking if you did not enlighten me. Perhaps I would be dead already."

The two no longer spoke any words, knowing that it would shorten their lives. The two lay together, both slowly beginning to gasp for breath. The cracking of stone and the sweeping sound of molten rock rung through their ears, knowing that with each sweep, their deaths would come closer, closer.

~
Nobody knows what the true cause of death was - maybe the toxic gas shut down their lungs, maybe the heat of molten magma superheated their bodies, but what we do know - it is that there is a story behind everything… and sometimes, it can be worth exploring.