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| Map of the Bay of Naples (Golfo di Napoli) from Naples and the Campagna Felice (London, 1815). Campania is a region of southern Italy that in ancient times extended from the Volturno River to the Sorrentine Peninsula. |
One of the most famous volcanic eruptions in history occurred on August 24, 79 when Mount Vesuvius furiously roared to life, laying waste to Herculaneum and Pompeii and spreading death and devastation around the Bay of Naples in its frenzy. Thanks to two letters of Pliny the Younger to his friend Tacitus, the Roman historian, posterity has a detailed description of this catastrophic event.
For centuries Vesuvius had lain dormant. It had last erupted around 1780 BC, long before the market town of Pompeii had been settled or wealthy Roman nobles began building their villas at resorts such as Herculaneum. The Campi Flegrei ("burning fields") west of Naples was known for its fumaroles and thermal springs, but little did anyone suspect that the tree-covered mountain that loomed over Naples and dominated the Campanian plain was a ticking time bomb.
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| Vignette from Voyage Pittoresque Ou Description Des Royaumes De Naples Et De Sicile (Paris, 1781). |
Pliny was raised by his uncle Pliny the Elder (Gaius Plinius Secundus, AD 23-79), best known as the author of the 37-book Naturalis Historia, an encyclopedia of all contemporary knowledge. He described the region as Campania felix, happy Campania, or in the English translation of 1601, "that pleasant and plentifull countrey Campania," known for its rich soil that supported vineyards, olive groves, and green pastures.
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| Title pages of Pliny's Natural History: On the left, a Latin edition published in Venice in 1516 from the Park Benjamin Collection; on the right, an English edition published in London in 1601, part of the library's collections since the 1860s. |
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| Pliny's description of Campania from the 1601 English edition of his Natural History. |
In August 79, Pliny the Elder was at his villa overlooking the Roman port of Misenum, where he commanded the Imperial fleet. At the southwestern edge of the Campi Flegrei, Misenum's harbor was formed from an old volcanic crater. The Mare Morto ("dead sea") near Miseunum was thought to be the spot where Charon rowed the souls of the dead across the River Styx to the Underworld. Staying with Pliny for the summer were his sister Plinia and her son, the 17-year-old Gaius Plinius Caecilias Secundus, known to history as Pliny the Younger. His uncle had arranged for his education, and on that fateful August 24, the teenager was absorbed in his study of Livy's History of Rome, little knowing that he would soon be witness to one of the world's greatest natural catastrophes.
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| Detail of a map of the Gulf of Pozzuoli showing the harbor of Misenum (at Roman numeral IV) and the Mare Morto from Voyage Pittoresque. |
As Pliny the Younger would later recount to his friend Cornelius Tacitus, at around 1 p.m. Plinia pointed out to her brother a large cloud with a shape like an umbrella pine. Pliny the Elder decided to investigate, ordering a boat to be prepared. As he was about to leave, he received a message pleading for help from Rectina, the wife of Tascus, whose home was at the foot of the mountain and whose only escape route was by sea. Ordering some quadriremes to make ready, Pliny the Elder set out at about 3 p.m. towards what he knew to be an erupting volcano. His nephew decided to say in Misenum and continue his reading. The vessels headed in the direction of Herculaneum and Oplontis. As ash and pumice rained down on his boat and impeded progress, Pliny reconsidered his plans. Rather than return to the naval base, Pliny decided to head for a friend's home in Stabiae. The quadriremes did not continue with him, but it is unknown whether they made any rescue attempts.
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| Pliny the Younger's letter to his friend Tacitus, the Roman historian, describing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This 1777 two-volume edition of Pliny's letters is from the Harry F. Guggenheim Collection. |
Pliny the Elder landed about 6 p.m. at Stabiae. The onshore wind that had brought Pliny to his friend's house prevented them from leaving. Affecting calm, he convinced Pomponianus to return to his house. While his friend and his family were too terrified to sleep, Pliny went to bed. Stabiae was over ten miles from the crest of the volcano and thus the effects of the eruption were less severe than at the foot of the mountain. Still, ash and pumice fell thick and fast and the ground trembled ominously. Early in the morning the ground began quaking violently. Pomponianus and his household woke Pliny and then fled in terror with pillows on their heads. Pliny went down to the shore where he succumbed either to natural causes from his exertions or from the pyroclastic flow from Vesuvius.
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The death of Pliny the Elder recounted in his nephew's letter to Tacitus. |
What happened in Misenum on August 25? Stay tuned.....
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