Pompeii is a former refuge of Marius, who hid in its buried ruins beneath Vesuvius before the digging of mortal intruders forced him to leave. Its exposure becomes the immediate precedent for his departure from his current refuge and for his warning that the location of Those Who Must Be Kept cannot be disclosed.

A Refuge Beneath the Ruins

Before coming to his present refuge, Marius lived hidden in the buried city of Pompeii below Vesuvius. The concealment depended on the ruins remaining undisturbed; when mortals began digging there, their activity exposed the place and drove him out. Pompeii is therefore presented not simply as an ancient setting, but as a sanctuary whose safety proved temporary when human curiosity reached it.

A Pattern of Displacement

Marius invokes Pompeii while explaining why he must leave again. Europeans are coming into the waters near his current refuge, and he fears that their arrival will bring the same danger as the excavation of the ruins. The recurrence gives his decision a practical cause: he has ruled over the people there too long, is arousing suspicions, and needs a retreat more remote and more likely to remain so. His history at Pompeii has taught him that even a deeply buried hiding place can cease to be secure.

The Secret It Helps Protect

Pompeii also clarifies the limits Marius places on trust. He says he would not have brought Lestat to the refuge if he had intended to stay, because he cannot allow Lestat or anyone else to know where Those Who Must Be Kept are located. The city’s history of discovery sharpens the stakes of that prohibition: Marius’s movements are shaped by the need to protect a secret sanctuary from exposure, even when he wants Lestat to remain with him.