As the streams of fire and lava from Vesuvius consumed the remnants of the city, a slight breeze blew faint trails of smoke and ash towards the hill, causing Donna to sneeze.

The Doctor wordlessly passed her a handkerchief and when she raised it to her face, she saw it too was coated in a fine layer of Pompeiian dust.

"All that is left of our Pompeii is dust and ash," Caecilius said, nodding at the soiled linen in her hand but Donna shook her head knowing that the city would resurface over a millennium later due in part to the destruction she was witnessing that day.