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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
Beneath Vesuvius, a city feasts, lovers dream, and a priest plots—unaware of what waits above them.
In Edward Bulwer-Lytton’s The Last Days of Pompeii, Glaucus, a wealthy young Athenian, falls in love with Ione, an orphan who longs to love freely. But her guardian, the Egyptian priest Arbaces, wants her for himself. His power and hidden schemes threaten their hope of a life together.
Around them, Pompeii fills with merchants, gladiators, slaves and pleasure seekers. Nydia, a blind flower seller trapped under a cruel master, loves Glaucus in secret. As private desires clash, the novel leads you through houses, baths, theaters and arenas, bringing a whole town into view beneath the shadow of Vesuvius.
What you’ll discover
- A city before disaster Walk through busy streets where feasts and daily pleasures leave little room for thoughts of danger.
- Love under threat Follow Glaucus and Ione as their shared love faces a powerful guardian’s desire for control.
- Nydia’s hidden longing Meet a flower seller whose secret love stands beside the cruelty of her life in slavery.
- Faith against pleasure Explore questions of conscience through Apaecides, a priest drawn toward the Christian faith.
- A guide to Rome Let the narrator lead you through Roman customs, richly described homes, and places of public entertainment.
Who will love it
You will enjoy this book if you love ancient Rome, lively historical adventure, love triangles, grand villains, and the feeling of walking through a real city.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- Ordinary pleasures hide an approaching disaster
- Arbaces turns belief into control
- A lie divides the lovers
- Nydia protects the woman Glaucus loves
- Apaecides finds faith beyond temple tricks
- Jealousy puts poison within reach
- Arbaces makes Glaucus bear his crime
- Belief reveals how people use power
- Private desires obscure the mountain
Who’s who
- GlaucusA rich, charming young Athenian who lives for pleasure in Pompeii until he meets the woman he has dreamed of, and he wants to marry her.
- IoneA brilliant Greek poet and singer from Neapolis who lives freely and loves Glaucus, and who worries about her troubled brother.
- ArbacesA learned and wealthy Egyptian who rules others through fear and desire, and who is determined to make Ione his own.
- NydiaA blind Thessalian flower girl and slave who adores Glaucus and will do almost anything to win his heart.
- ApaecidesIone's brother, a young priest of Isis who is sick of the temple's lies and searches for a truer faith.
- OlinthusA bold and plainspoken Christian who spreads his faith in secret and urges Apaecides to expose the tricks of the temple.
- JuliaThe vain and wealthy daughter of Diomed, who wants Glaucus at her feet and seeks a magic charm to win him.
- CalenusA greedy priest of Isis who writes the oracles, keeps dark secrets and cares most about gold.
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The Last Days of Pompeii
by Edward Bulwer-Lytton · 1834
A blind flower girl, a scheming Egyptian and a brooding Vesuvius share one sunny Pompeian summer.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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In short
What would you do if the ground shook beneath your feet and the town carried on as usual? In The Last Days of Pompeii, the people of a bright Roman resort do exactly that.
The Last Days of Pompeii at a glance
- Reading time
- About 9 h 50 min7 h 50 min fast, 11 h 40 min slow
- Length
- 140,400 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1834by Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
Two idlers stroll through a summer city
The novel opens in the street, with talk. Clodius, a gambler with noble blood and empty pockets, meets the boastful Diomed, a rich freedman's son. Both are already planning how to profit from their friends. From the first lines, Pompeii is a place where charm and greed walk arm in arm.
Then Glaucus rolls up in a bronze chariot. He is young, handsome and Athenian, and he has lost money at dice to Clodius and does not care. The two men stroll toward the baths and stop to hear a blind girl sing and sell flowers. She is Nydia, a slave who tends Glaucus's garden. When she hears his voice, she blushes deeply, and one strand of the tragedy begins.
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Details
- First published
- 1834
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 11 h 5 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. The Last Days of Pompeii. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-last-days-of-pompeii.
Bulwer-Lytton, E. (2026). The last days of Pompeii. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-last-days-of-pompeii (Original work published 1834)
Bulwer-Lytton, Edward. The Last Days of Pompeii. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-last-days-of-pompeii.
@book{bulwerlytton2026last,
author = {Bulwer-Lytton, Edward},
title = {The Last Days of Pompeii},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-last-days-of-pompeii},
note = {First published 1834}
}
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What is The Last Days of Pompeii about?
It follows an Athenian named Glaucus, his love for Ione, a blind slave girl named Nydia and a scheming Egyptian named Arbaces in the Roman town of Pompeii, in the days before Vesuvius erupts.
Is The Last Days of Pompeii a true story?
No, the characters and plot are invented. The setting is real, and the author used what the excavated ruins showed about houses, streets, baths and the amphitheater. He wrote it in the 1830s.
Who is Arbaces in The Last Days of Pompeii?
Arbaces is a rich, learned Egyptian who is rumored to have the evil eye. He is guardian to Ione and her brother Apaecides, and he uses his wealth, charm and knowledge to chase his own desires.
The author
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
1803–1873 · English novelist and politician
Edward Bulwer-Lytton (1803–1873) was a British novelist, playwright and politician. He was born in London and lived at Knebworth House in Hertfordshire. His novels include Paul Clifford (1830), The Last Days of Pompeii (1834), Zanoni (1842) and The Coming Race (1871). He served in Parliament and died in Torquay.
“THE AFFECTIONS ARE IMMORTAL!”
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