text: You are warped to Syracuse, Sicily...
  
  It's a cloudy and windy day and it's 472 B.C. Your first thought is one of wonder as you try to understand why you've ended up there as you can't recall a specific historic event taking place in Sicily around that period in time. You find yourself standing upon a hill which decends into a theater hewn into the side of the hill. Since the top is covered by trees and bushes you decide to take a closer look. It seems like the entire population of Syracuse has gathered at the theater since it is packed with people. A play is being performed below. You can see a woman - or a man dressed as a woman - lamenting at a tomb when suddenly a second actor appears on stage, dressed as a ghost. From such a distance it must have been hard to hear what the play was about and what was being said if not for the chorus, a group of 50 individuals, interacting with the two actors in verse and song.
  
  Now while resting at the base of an apple tree and eating an apple while enjoying the Greek tragedy, answer me the following dear contestant: Many Greeks have fought the Persian invaders during the Greco-Persian Wars between 499 and 479 B.C. As a history buff you will probably know some, if not most, of all the major commanders, politicians and naval commanders of this war. However, you may not know that a famous Greek fought as a common soldier at Marathon in 490 B.C., Salamis in 480 B.C. and Plateae in 479 B.C. Who was this famous Greek soldier?
  
  > Aeschylus
  That's the right Greek: Aeschylus, one of the three great tragedians of Ancient Greece and also known as 'the Father of Tragedy'. You are currently also watching one of his most famous plays: 'The Persians' which was influenced by the Persian invasion during the Greco-Persian war in which he played an active part. Aeschylus was born in 525 B.C. and is credited for having expanded the number of characters in plays with two, allowing for interaction between them instead of with the chorus only. Seven of his estimated seventy plays have survived into modern times ('The Persians', 'Seven against Thebes', 'the Oresteia', 'Agamemnon'...) and fragments of other plays have survived in quotes on Egyptian papyrus. His plays were written in verse, no violence was performed on stage and the plays had a remoteness from daily life in Athens, either by relating stories about the Gods or being set in far-away locales. Aeschylus won the first prize of the City of Dionysia, a five day festival dedicated to performances in Athens, five times during his lifetime and was invited to Sicily on a number of occasions by Hiero of Syracuse. Before being a playwright, Aeschylus was first and foremost a patriot, as upon his death in 456 B.C. his epitaph commemorated his participation in the Greek victory at Marathon and not his cultural achievements.
  
  Well done time traveler! You also know your ancient Greeks. Finish your apple at ease and then we'll continue...
  
  > Off you are...
  There is chaos around you. There are screams of fear, calls for help, pleas of those in need and orders of those wanting to get away. You almost loose your balance and fall down on the cobblestone street when you are pushed aside by a man running for his life. There are quite a bit of people on the street, all are moving in great haste, some with carts containing valuables, others accompanied by their loved ones and some even all on their own. It is dark around you and the air you breath is heavy with smoke and sulphur which makes you cough and burns your lungs. You now immediately understand why the people around you are carrying cloth or rags in front of their mouths and noses! Judging by the buildings - some burning - the clothing of the fleeing inhabitants and the dark mountain spewing fire behind you in the distance, it is easy for you to find out where you currently are: Pompeii in 79 A.D. The street is covered with a layer of pebbles, ashes and rock that are falling from the sky like hailstones. You see the man that almost pushed you down, suddenly fall down in the street, losing the bag of valuables he was carrying in the process. The poor Roman has been struck by a falling rock that has been spewn out by the Vesuvius. Shortly after, one of those rocks also strike you on the shoulder. You cry out in pain as you attempt to find cover underneath the roof a Roman building...one thing is certain: you DON'T want to be stranded here!
  
  Alright contestant, you got it right: it's the late afternoon of the 24th of August 79 A.D. and the Vesuvius has just erupted. Rip off a piece of your shirt and put it in front of your face before you run out of breath and answer me the following: Which Emperor ruled over the Roman Empire when the Vesuvius erupted in 79 A.D.?
  
  > Emperor Trajan
  No, that's the wrong Emperor! Born in 53 A.D., the Emperor Trajan was a young man in his late 20's when the Vesuvius erupted. Machiavelli considered him one of the "Five Good Emperors" that through his good rule, earned the respect of those around them. The 18th century historian Edward Gibbon in his work "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" agreed with him. Born in Spain, Trajan was the first Emperor not to come from Italy. He came to rule over the Roman Empire in 98 A.D. after the death of Emperor Nerva, who had 'adopted' him as his heir only a year earlier. Trajan is best known for his extensive public building programs which reshaped the city of Rome, leaving a large numbers of enduring landmarks such as Trajan's forum and Trajan's Column. Under his rule the Empire also reached its greatest territorial extent. He annexed the Nabataean kingdom thereby creating the province of Arabia Petraea and conquered the troublesome Dacia whose territory greatly enriched the Roman treasury. His successful campaigns against the Parthian Empire between 113 and 116 allowed him to add the provinces of Armenia and Mesopotamia to the Roman Empire. In early 117, while returning home, Trajan fell ill and a few months later died of a stroke in Cilicia in Asia Minor. He was succeeded by his 'adopted' son Hadrian.
  
  I'm sorry timetraveler but I'm leaving you in Pompeii in 79 A.D. I can only advise you to move along quickly towards the beach in the west or to head east - away from the smoke and debris. If you don't make it, and perish from suffocation, you will be covered by ash and pumice which will form a solid cast around your dead body, allowing you to be rediscovered in the 20th century. Of course, you won't know it...but it's an interesting thought isn't it?