The Last Days of Pompeii (1834 Lytton), novel
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The Last Days of Pompeii (1834) is a novel by Edward Bulwer Lytton.
Editions and translations
Published in Great Britain (1834).
Abstract
Hugely popular novel used its characters to contrast, not uncritically, the decadent culture of first-century Rome with both older cultures (Greece and Egypt) and coming trends (Christianity). The success of the Italian opera, L’ultimo giorno di Pompei (1825) by Giovanni Pacini, which had made no reference to Christianity, suggested that the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE could also provide a climactic and providential setting to a “Christian” story.