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On this day in AD79 Mount Vesuvius erupted, destroying the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum

On the day that an earthquake rocks central Italy, two thousand years ago Vesuvius shattered countless ancient lives.

On this day in AD 117, the Roman emperor Trajan died

Trajan was proverbially so well-liked that in the later empire, new emperors would be enjoined to “be more fortunate than Augustus and better than Trajan”.