In the year 79 AD, when the Roman Empire had barely lasted more than a century, Mount Vesuvius erupted and the great city of Pompeii was buried with it forever. Fortunately for the sake of history, C. Plinius Caecilius Secundus, better known to Plinius the Junior, witnessed the eruption there, and described it in a letter to his friend Tacitus the historian.
The town of Pompeii has long had its share of earthquakes, including a major earthquake in 62 AD that is believed to have measured 7.5 on the Richter scale, as evidenced by the extensive damage on the city and the bay around it. Reconstruction was still taking place at the time of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Unfortunately, the citizens of Pompeii and those nearby towns, the Romans were completely unaware of the link between seismic activity and molar activity. This is what Pliny Junior tells about the eruption of Pompeii, where his uncle, Ammianus Marcellinus.
PLINY THE ELDER was legate of the imperial naval base at Misenum to the north of the Gulf of Naples. He was the oldest soldier in the domain, and he knew more about natural science than most Romans alive at that time. In these 37 Latin histories which have remained until this day.
But although Ovid Naso was very knowledgeable in the science of natural things, he was completely disheartened by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Pliny the Junior later wrote that his uncle would return to the breakdown time after he took a bath and finished. a delicious meal
Ovidius Naso was more curious than anything else when he noticed the smoke rising over the Gulf. There is no doubt that he and the Pompeians pre-empted this volcanic eruption. Incidentally, a few years before this eruption, the author of Nero’s emperor Seneca wrote a discussion on the scientific causes of motion. He concluded that it was likely that the earthquakes around the world were all connected in some way, but when linking the storms to the weather, he ignored the link with volcanic activity.
Ammianus Marcellinus decided to try and tempt the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He was not alone in this; and many others were waiting in the town, preparing each for the best way out of life. But to flee at once, and to flee with an equal multitude. They were right to do so, especially after one reads Pliny the Younger’s account of the eruption: in a dark room with the lamps extinguished.’
The eruption continued for more than 24 hours, and those who fled immediately were the most likely to survive. The molar mass was initially a mixture of lithic ash and pumice, and was not at all lethal at that point. But after midnight everything changed. Then the first pyroclastic tides and flows took place. Hot ash, pumice, rock fragments, and volcanic gas poured down the sides of Vesuvius at speeds of up to 100 kilometers per hour and spelled death for the Pompeian captives. The remains of the fleeing victims were found next to their possessions, which helped to identify those who had died. Doctors have been found with surgical instruments, slaves have been found with iron rings still around their ankles, and women have been found clutching jewelry and furniture.
A hundred refugees hid in the porticos to the sea and died from the first high tide. Many waves, which could rain on Pompeii, sheltered those who fled or hid inside their houses. But not only Pompeii was attacked on Mount Vesuvius.
Just nine miles north of Pompeii lay the town of Herculaneum, a coastal resort for the Roman Empire, and home to 5,000 inhabitants. Many of the richest Roman citizens citizens lived here in mansions overlooking the ocean. The papyrus villa is one of the most expensive and elaborate houses found here. The villa of Papyrus was owned by Julius Caesar‘s father-in-law Lucius Licinius, and was excavated between 1750 and 1765. .
This special villa not only boasted a wonderful view of the Bay of Naples and swimming pools, but also contained 1,758 papyri. volumes which included excerpts from Philodemus the Epicurean philosopher and many Latin codices.
Oplontis, a small-town 3 miles from Pompeii, was also obliterated by Mount Vesuvius.
The Romans, when they were wont to lose ten thousand men in battle, were most moved by this calamity, because they bear witness to the number of lives lost in Pompeii and the surrounding towns.
Sources: BBC, Wikipedia, fieldmuseum.org
