Crossword Genius

Italian ruins English salary invoice? (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

pompeii

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'salary invoice?' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are singular nouns, I can't see how they can define each other.

'italian ruins english' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite see how this works, but
'italian' could be 'i' (abbreviation for Italian) and 'i' is present in the answer.
'english' could be 'e' (abbreviation) and 'e' is located in the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for pompeii that I've seen before include "Ancient Italian city" , "town coming to a terrible end" , "City buried by Vesuvius eruption" , "Former city" , "Roman site" .)

I've seen this clue in the Sydney Morning Herald.
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