He wasn't invited to Pompei.

He wasn't invited to Pompei.

As the Roman orgy continued

in frolics of grapes and wine, 

Caligula fed;

a slave he was

to the mounds of Venus.

But he was lucky,

not invited to move

from the pleasures of Rome, 

the mound at Mt. Vesuvius
was getting decidedly hotter.

Reviews

[Monica Chen]

I'm a big fan of roman/greek history and Pompeii's volcanic crisis is probably the only historically significant natural disaster I've ever had an interest in (I'm not really a fan of cold-cut meteorology/geography). I just love the first line of this poem, especially because Caligula was known as an unpopular tyrant in his day. And the irony mixed in with the foreshadowing that his life was going to be saved by his epicurean ways is amazing. :)