Eruption of Vesuvius and its Aftermath

Vesuvius erupted in AD 79 during the reign of Titus. Ash, pumice and pyroclastic flows killed residents and buried settlements around the Bay of Naples.

Survivors lost relatives, property and records, while authorities faced questions of inheritance, abandoned land and reconstruction. Excavation and recovery began in limited forms long before modern archaeology.

There Will Be Bodies is set ten years later and examines the remains of a villa where the position of one body suggests murder before the eruption.