Beneath the rising sun, the streets of Pompeii come alive.

People wander about as merchants shout over the clatter of cars.

The smell of fresh bread and fish drift through the air.

No one notices the faint tremor underfoot. No one sees the

thin plume curling from the mountain above. Vesuvius, silent for generations, awakens with a colossal

explosion.

What comes next is unimaginable.

A wall of fire and ash rushes toward the city unstoppable and merciless.

For us in the modern day, Pompeii's name has become synonymous with terrifying apocalyptic imagery,

and through the ruins and remains, the story of that fateful day can be relived again and again.

Almost 2,000 years ago, Pompeii was an ordinary Roman city thriving and bustling with life.

All in the shadow of a mountain, they believed to be harmless.

But on the infamous day that Vesuvius awakened, the town and its inhabitants were burned into the history books forever.

Who were the people of Pompeii?

What happened to them as the horror unfolded?

And what legacy has it left for the rest of us today?

Music Hello, everybody, I'm Anthony.

And I'm Maddie.

And on After Dark today, we are talking about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79C, which destroyed the Roman town, of course, of Pompeii.

It reduced the city to an ash heap.

But ironically, it's this very disaster that's allowed archaeologists to uncover the stories of its victims. Hundreds of human remains have been preserved in the ash

and have allowed us to piece together what life may have been like for them. To take us through

...