Diary Of Dorkius Maximus In Pompeii
By Tim Collins and Andrew Pinder
5/5
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About this ebook
Dorkius is annoyed when he has to move with his family to Pompeii for the summer. He has to leave behind all the joys of Rome for a boring small town. He finds the people of Pompeii to be even more superstitious than his mum, and watches in disbelief as they base all their decisions around animal innards readings.
Things brighten up when he meets a local girl called Decima who's convinced a demon is haunting nearby Mount Vesuvius. They go off to investigate and Dorkius finds that the demonic rumbles are coming from inside the volcano itself. Convinced that Vesuvius is about to erupt, Dorkius rushes down to the town to warn everyone, but they take no notice.
Dorkius and Fabricus flee the city and watch from a distance as the volcano erupts. When they get back to the town, they find that everyone survived, although there was minor damage to property. Dorkius warns the townsfolk that their city could face a more deadly eruption, but they refuse to worry about it as long as their animal innards tell them they're safe.
By award winning author Tim Collins, and with amusing illustrations from Andrew Pinder.
Tim Collins
Tim Collins worked as a copywriter in advertising before becoming a full-time author. He writes nonfiction books for adults and children’s fiction books, including books designed to appeal to reluctant readers. His work has been translated into forty languages. His books have won numerous awards including the Manchester Fiction City award and the Lincolnshire Book award. He is originally from Manchester but now lives in London.
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Reviews for Diary Of Dorkius Maximus In Pompeii
2 ratings1 review
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Hilarius I laughed so much I nearly cried!! Waiting for the one on Egipt now!
Book preview
Diary Of Dorkius Maximus In Pompeii - Tim Collins
Numerals
June I
Disaster! We’re all leaving Rome for the summer and going to some miserable little town that’s miles away. Who would be crazy enough to leave Rome, the GREATEST city in the world, for Pompeii, a dump no one’s ever heard of? My dad, that’s who.
Mum’s not sure she wants to go either. I don’t usually listen to her bonkers superstitions, but Servius, her soothsayer, has made a useful prediction for once.
But does Dad listen to me or the soothsayer? NO.
June II
Mum is still fretting about going to Pompeii but Dad won’t give in. Julius Caesar has ordered him to make the local government pay more tax, and you don’t argue with Caesar if you like having your head on your body.
Mum won’t stop moaning, so Dad put our slave Odius on listening duty tonight. All Odius had to do was sit there while Mum went on about how terrible it would be if we moved to Pompeii. But after half an hour he gave up, saying he remembered he had to scrub the atrium.
Odius usually LOVES sitting around doing nothing. At least we know how to make him work now.
June III
This is VERY suspicious. Mum came back from seeing Servius today and announced she wants to go to Pompeii after all. Apparently, Servius read some new pig entrails and changed his prophecy.
I asked Dad if he’d bribed the greedy old soothsayer, but he denied it. Yet this afternoon I spotted Servius in the market buying a bronze statue. Bit of a coincidence that he can afford such fancy stuff so soon after changing his prophecy, eh?
Just as I thought. The whole prophecy thing is COMPLETELY and UTTERLY pointless.
June IV
It gets worse. I just asked my best friend Linos if he wanted to come to Pompeii with me, but he said he’s too busy with his wee laundry. He’s become a real workaholic since he opened that place. He doesn’t even pause for a toilet break, because he can just use the laundry tub he’s standing in. It’s quite an efficient system, really.
June V
I was planning to take my full set of gladiator figurines with me to Pompeii, but Dad said there wouldn’t be room for them in the cart.
But guess what I saw when I clambered in? Mum’s sacred chickens. So we’ve got room for THEM, have we?
Mum is obsessed with those chickens. The only way she can make any decisions is to ask their opinion by offering them grain. Apparently, she asked if they wanted to come, and they said yes, so she HAD to bring them.
I admit that the chickens didn’t look much like they wanted to come, but are they really going to squawk for the whole journey?
Mum cares more about those chickens than about me. I’m surprised she didn’t make me and Dad carry them on a litter.
June IX
We arrived in Pompeii as it was getting dark. We had to ride round a massive mountain called Vesuvius and down a road lined with graves to reach the town.
We entered the city by the Salt Gate and stopped in front of a bald man who was slouching on the floor and chewing a piece of bread. Dad asked him for directions to the house that had the mosaic of a guard dog outside it, but he just shrugged.
Caesar has arranged for us to stay in this house, and he assured us everyone would know where it was. Everyone except this man, apparently.
We trailed round the streets looking for the mosaic, only to arrive back where we’d started. The bald man was standing up now, and it turned out he’d been sitting on the mosaic of a guard dog.
When Dad asked him why he’d misled us, he said he couldn’t understand our accents. Accents? We’re the ones who sound normal. They’re the ones who sound like weirdos.
I’ve been given a small room at the side of the atrium and I’m currently lying on my bed and wondering how things could get any worse.