In 79 AD, Mt. Vesuvius erupted with such massive force it destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. It covered the city of Pompeii in meters of ash, burying its citizens alive where they stood. Herculaneum lay a distance away at the entrance to the harbor, most of its citizens escaping before the city was also totally destroyed. From available information, the city of Herculaneum had already disappeared from the face of the earth as early as late afternoon on the first day of the eruption. According to a letter in which Pliny the Younger described the sequence of events, the sea route via the harbor offered little hope of escape for the citizenry. The road to Naples, however, was still passable. Ash and water fused into a horrendous river of slime which rolled implacably down the mountainous slopes into the city and outward toward the harbor. Altho I was very patient in recreating the Roman structures for the city, it became a nightmare of grand proportion, so I decided to not include them...the city was destroyed almost immediately, anyhow. I have included the rolling ash cloud outward over the harbor area...this is known as the pryoclastic ash flow. Vesuvius, itself is not included in the render. I have used artistic license, so it is not a technical render. It was a bit over an 8 hour render time due to all of the special atmospheric effects and overlapping spheres. Enjoy and thanks for viewing and commenting. Bryce,sharpened and signature with Paint.Net