A Christian Interpretation Of Last Days Of Pompeii By Edward Bulwer-Lytton
Last Days of pompeii written by Edward Bulwer-Lytton belongs to the genre of historical romance based on the legendary burial of Pompeii, it successfully represents a panorama of Pompeii under the reign of Roman in 79 A.D. Pompeii, an ancient southern Italian city populated by Greeks and Italians until it was occupied by Rome during the wars that united Italy under Roman rule, with a coverage of about 18, 000 square meter, was dwelled with people from a multiple of conflicting cultures of that time, As the author explicits in the preface:
"the half grecian colony of hercules, mingling with the manners of Italy so much of the costumes of Hellas, suggested of itself the characters of Glaucus and Ione. The worship of Isis, its existent fane, with its false oracles unveiled, the trade of Pompeii with Alexandria; the associations of Sarnus with the Nile, called forth the Egyptian Arbaces-the base Calenus-and the fervent Apacides. The early struggles of Christianity with the Heathen superstition suggested the creation for the spells of the Sorceress, natually produced the Saga of Vesuvius. "
The novel uses its characters to contrast the decadent culture of first-century Rome with both older cultures and coming trends. The protagonist, Glaucus, represents the Greeks who have been subordinated by Rome, and his nemesis Arbaces the still older culture of Egypt, from which both Greek and Roman "stole" knowledge, poesy, laws, and arts from "the dark lore". Olinthus is the chief representative of the nascent Christian religion, which is presented favorably but not uncritically. The Witch of Vesuvius, though she has no supernatural powers, shows Bulwer-Lytton's interest in the occult - a theme which would emerge in his later writing.
Populated by people of a variety of religion worships, which was the consequence of multiple cultures, Pompeii was a stage on which a number of religion believes, Greek gods, Roman gods, god of Isis, and the Hebrew god of the newly emerged...
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