Skeletal remains discovered this past week in Pompei, the Roman city which had been destroyed by a volcanic eruption in 79 A.D. – nearly 2,000 years ago – remind us of certain eternal truths that survive the passage of time. The remains were found during the excavation of an elegant villa overlooking the Mediterranean Sea believed to belong to a rich man in his mid-30s, who was found lying beside a younger man in his early 20s, thought to be his slave, both buried under six feet of ash. As Solomon reminded us millennia ago, all life is vanity. Rich man; poor man: The eternal passage of time eventually reclaims us all.
Originally posted for the Orlando Sentinel’s Central Florida 100.
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