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  Have you ever been ghosted? Someone you know, and you thought a friend, for some unknown reason, cuts you off. How messed up is that? Pliny the Younger understands. Pliny the Younger was the only person who wrote an eye-witness account of the eruption of Vesuvius. A pyroclastic cloud killed his uncle, Pliny the Elder, after hanging around Pompeii too long. Being a noted naturalist, he wanted to record the volcanic eruption. Not a good idea. Over at Open Culture they present Pliny the Younger's response to his supposed friend, Septicius, for exhibiting such boorish behavior (You can read the complete text or listen to a reading by Rob Delaney.) You can feel the Pliny's hurt when he says things like, "What joking and laughter and learning we would have enjoyed!" and threatens him with a lawsuit because of the cost of "honey wine cooled with snow (you must add the cost of snow as well, in fact the snow in particular, as it melts in the dish)." Eventually, Pl...

Pompeii, August 29, 79 . The day begins with a slight rumbling coming from Mt. Vesuvius and things just get buried from there, literally. By the end of the day nothing visible remained of Pompeii or neighboring Herculaneum. Since its (re)discovery in 1599 historians and tourists alike have been fascinated by the former Roman tourist town. Buried by tons of volcanic ash, and thereby preserved, tourists can now walk the streets past houses, shops, baths, aqueducts, amphitheaters, and villas. Pompeii was home to the rich and famous where one could see Kimbius Kardashius and her favorite senators and gladiators as they strolled the walkways and gardens enjoying beautiful weather, great outdoor sports and entertainment, sumptuous feasts, and delicate wines. This video depicting the destruction of Pompeii was produced in conjunction with an exhibit called " A Day in Pompeii , held at the Melbourne Museum in 2009, [which] gave its more than 330,000 visitors a chance to experience...