Pompeii: A Novel

“The shaft was slippery with his sweat and hard to grip. His palms blistered. His tunic stuck to him like a second skin. But he would not show weakness in front of the men. Even Corax shut up after a while.”

Attilius is determined to win the respect of his work team. While he cannot make himself older, he can subject himself to physical pain, showing through endurance and graft that he will work alongside them. Attilius humbles himself through physicality in a way which seems inconceivable for the richer, more noble Romans in the novel. This willingness to perform physical labor differentiates Attilius from other members of his privileged social class.

“In those moments, he felt himself to be not in a reservoir at all, but in a temple dedicated to the only god worth believing in.”

In the context of a historical novel, Attilius is a decidedly modern character. His belief in engineering as the "only god worth believing in" (22) suggests that he is an atheist in a time in which religion, spirituality, and belief pervaded every aspect of society. Attilius's atheism is anachronistic, juxtaposing him against the more traditional characters and making him stand out even more.

“The principles of engineering were simple, universal, impersonal—in Rome, in Gaul, in Campania—which was what Attilius liked about them.”

Following the death of his wife and child, Attilius cannot bring himself to believe in any god. However, he lacks the intellectual framework to declare himself an atheist. He needs somewhere to direct his new reservoir of religious belief, so he completely invests himself in engineering as an alternative. Attilius's modern approach to religion is to replace gods and miracles with the rules of physics and engineering, providing him with a consequential, understandable belief system which provides genuine good to humanity.