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On this day in the year 79 AD, there occurred one of the most famous events in classical history, the eruption of Mt Vesuvius, and the destruction of four cities in its vicinity, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Oplontis, and Stabiae. In the account of Pliny the Younger (letter 6.16), who witnessed the eruption from Misenum on the opposite side of the bay of Naples, it began early in the afternoon on the 24th with a sudden and extremely violent ejection from the top of the volcano. It continued through the night and lasted until the evening of the next day with numerous pyroclastic flows, currents of hot gas, and volcanic matter that can reach speeds of well over 400 miles per hour. Lava flows were clearly seen on the mountain over the night but were thought at first to be the fires of burning farms and villas by those watching from a distance.

Vesuvius is not the only volcano in mainland Europe, but the others were either far away and unknown to the Romans (such as Beerenberg in Norway), or had long been dormant or extinct by the time of this eruption. (The closest to Vesuvius, Mt Vulture in the Basilicata, last erupted 40,000 years ago.) They were therefore thought to be an insular phenomenon since the active ones known to the Romans, Etna, Stromboli, and Vulcano, are on Sicily or the Aeolian islands. However, although it was not so understood at the time, Vesuvius was stirring well before 79. In 62, the Bay of Naples was hit with a very powerful earthquake; when the ruins of Pompeii were uncovered, some of the major buildings, such as the city amphitheater, were discovered to have been still under repair at the time of the eruption. Suetonius and Tacitus both mention another earthquake in 64 which occurred while Nero was visiting Naples. Many other tremors were felt in the days leading up to the great eruption, but such tremors were common enough that no one had any reason to see them as the harbinger of a much greater disaster.

(A fresco discovered in Pompeii shows a riot that broke out in 59 A.D. in the city amphitheater between natives of the city and visitors from nearby Nucera. As a result of this, the facility was closed for ten years. Public domain image from Wikimedia Commons.)

I used to have a regular occasion to bring students to the top of Mt Vesuvius, where we would read this passage from Pliny’s letter to his friend, the historian Tacitus, with the introductory title, “How A Latin Homework Assignment Saved My Life.”

“Erat Miseni classemque imperio praesens regebat. Nono Kal. Septembres hora fere septima mater mea indicat ei apparere nubem inusitata et magnitudine et specie. … poscit soleas, ascendit locum ex quo maxime miraculum illud conspici poterat. Nubes – incertum procul intuentibus ex quo monte; Vesuvium fuisse postea cognitum est – oriebatur, cuius similitudinem et formam non alia magis arbor quam pinus expresserit. Nam longissimo velut trunco elata in altum quibusdam ramis diffundebatur, credo quia recenti spiritu evecta, dein senescente eo destituta aut etiam pondere suo victa in latitudinem vanescebat, candida interdum, interdum sordida et maculosa prout terram cineremve sustulerat.

Magnum propiusque noscendum ut eruditissimo viro visum. Iubet liburnicam aptari; mihi si venire una vellem facit copiam; respondi studere me malle, et forte ipse quod scriberem dederat.

(My uncle) was stationed at Misenum, in active command of the fleet, with full powers. On the 24th of August, about the seventh hour, my mother indicated to him that a cloud of unusual size and shape had appeared. … he called for his sandals, and climbed up to a spot from which the best view of the strange phenomenon could be had. A cloud was rising – to those looking from a distance, it was unclear from which mountain; afterwards it was learned to have been Vesuvius – which in likeness and form more closely resembled a pine-tree than anything else; for it was lifted by a very long trunk, so to speak, and then spread out into various branches. I believe this was because it was carried up by fresh vapor, then as it waned, it lost its strength, or was overcome by its own weight, and dissipated sideways. At times it was white, and at other times dirty and spotted, as it picked up earth and ash.

To such a very learned man, this seemed like something he ought to study more closely. He ordered a Liburnian galley to be readied, and gave me leave to come with him if I wished. I replied that I preferred to study, and perhaps he had given me an assignment to write.”

Following this description, vulcanologists still use the adjective “Plinian” as a formal scientific term to describe this kind of eruption.

Pliny the Elder died at Stabiae, one of the cities destroyed by the eruption, as we will see tomorrow from the conclusion of this letter.

(Mt Vesuvius seen from the excavations of Pompeii. Image from Wikimedia Commons by Morn the Gorn. CC BY-SA 3.0)