Pompeii characters

Also known as Aquarius

Appears from the start

A young Roman water engineer sent to Misenum to take charge of the Aqua Augusta after the previous aquarius disappears. Conscientious, technically gifted, and more comfortable with measurements than local politics, he must quickly diagnose why the great aqueduct serving the towns around the Bay of Naples is failing.

Appears from the start

The experienced foreman of the aqueduct maintenance crew. He resents the arrival of a younger outsider as aquarius and knows more than he readily shares about the system, its workers, and the missing engineer who previously commanded them.

Appears from the start

Attilius's predecessor as aquarius of the Augusta, missing before the new engineer arrives. His unexplained absence and incomplete records leave Attilius with both an urgent technical crisis and a mystery involving the people who benefited from his work.

Also known as Pliny the Elder

First appears in chapter 3

The admiral commanding Rome's fleet at Misenum, as well as a renowned investigator and author of works on the natural world. Corpulent and asthmatic but intellectually tireless, he respects careful observation and gives Attilius the authority needed to pursue the aqueduct failure.

Also known as Pliny the Younger

First appears in chapter 3

The admiral's scholarly teenage nephew, living and studying in his uncle's household at Misenum. He observes Pliny's habits closely and shares his curiosity, though he does not yet possess the older man's authority or experience.

First appears in chapter 5

The strong-willed daughter of the wealthy freedman Ampliatus. Troubled by her father's cruelty and ambitions, she seeks Attilius's help when the water on the family estate turns poisonous, giving him an important local sign of the wider disturbance.

First appears in chapter 5

A former slave who has become one of Pompeii's richest and most influential businessmen. He uses patronage, intimidation, and his knowledge of the city's weaknesses to expand his power, and he treats the aqueduct and those who maintain it as pieces in his political plans.

First appears in chapter 7

The young son of Ampliatus. His father uses the boy's freeborn status and public honors to advance a family whose wealth cannot erase the social limits attached to Ampliatus's own past as a slave.

First appears in chapter 17

A Roman woman at a coastal villa beneath Vesuvius who appeals to Pliny's fleet for evacuation when the eruption makes escape by land impossible. Her message helps turn the admiral's scientific expedition into a rescue mission.

First appears in chapter 19

A friend of Pliny who owns a villa at Stabiae. Trapped by adverse winds and the worsening eruption, he receives the admiral and his party while ash and volcanic debris continue to fall across the bay.