reader: people bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed foreath in their terror of dying. many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness for evermore. narrator: this footage from a far less destructive eruption of vesuvius in 1944 gives an idea of its force. battle hardened g.i.s were first startled and then terrified as chunks of pumice hurtled down from the skies. the dense layer of rock and volcanic ash blown upwards by the eruption of 79 a.d. settled over pompeii, covering it in nearly 20 feet of volcanic debris. tremors rocked the area, destroying buildings and horrifying the populace. the volcanic storm of 79 a.d. turned day into night. the havoc continued on august the 25th as red hot mud surged down from vesuvius. pulsing sporadically throughout the day, the avalanches covered herculaneum in 80 feet of debris. the deadly gasses in their wake killed thousands on contact. this scene from a 1935 feature film captures the terrifying last moments of

reader: people bewailed their own fate or that of their relatives, and there were some who prayed foreath in their terror of dying. many besought the aid of the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal darkness for evermore. narrator: this footage from a far less destructive eruption of vesuvius in 1944 gives an idea of its force. battle hardened g.i.s were first startled and then terrified as chunks of pumice hurtled down from the skies. the dense layer of rock and volcanic ash blown upwards by the eruption of 79 a.d. settled over pompeii, covering it in nearly 20 feet of volcanic debris. tremors rocked the area, destroying buildings and horrifying the populace. the volcanic storm of 79 a.d. turned day into night. the havoc continued on august the 25th as red hot mud surged down from vesuvius. pulsing sporadically throughout the day, the avalanches covered herculaneum in 80 feet of debris. the deadly gasses in their wake killed thousands on contact. this scene from a 1935 feature film captures the terrifying last moments of