How do we know what happened?
25 years after the eruption Pliny the younger was asked to write out his version of what happened during the eruption so that the historian Tacitus could make a record of what happened, he asked Pliny to record the events that happened that day, this was written in a form of two letters.
Who was Pliny the younger and why is he such a important reference in history?
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Pliny the younger 17 years old when Mt Vesuvius erupted, he wrote the letters to describe and give recognition for his uncle Pliny the Elder, but by doing this he wrote the history about what happened that day and his letters became a important primary source for history today. There was only suppose to be one letter sent to Tacitus but he was so intrigued that he asked Pliny to write anther, this letter unlike the first which was written about what his uncle did during this eruption but about his self from the shore of Misenum
The first letter
The first letter that Pliny wrote was all about his uncle Pliny the Elder and how he went to Pompeii as a reasce during the beginning of the eruption. Pliny wants the memory of his uncle to be remembered he is more than happy to recount how he died so that he would never be forgotten. "It is therefore with great pleasure that I take up, or rather take upon myself the task you have set me". On the 24th of August 79 AD btween 2 and 3 o'clock in te afternoon. The sight of the smoke coming from Versuivus intrigued Pliny the Elder because as a scientist he had that curious eurge to get closer "The sight of it made he scientist in my uncle determined to see it from closer at hand." He got a boat ready to go over. Just before Pliny the Elder left he received a letter from Tascius' wife begging him to come and resuce her, to get her away. Pliny the Elder changed his plans and he went to help rescue those trapped on the shores of Pompeii, Pliny the Elder keep up with the observation of the cloud, dictating what he saw. When he reached the shore the people were so frightened that he did everything of his normal day to help set them at ease. "In order to lesson the other's fear by showing his own unconcern he asked to be taken to the baths. He bathed and dined, carefree or a least appearing so (which was equally impressive)." After there was a decision on what they should do, the decision was made and they went down to the shore but the water was as uncooperative when they first came in. Then the smell of sulfur came, he collapsed his lungs were filled with ash and stopped working. Two days after the eruption they found Pliny the Elder untouched and unharmed. "He looked more asleep than dead."
The second letter
The second letter was written to describe what was happening to Pliny the younger at the time during the Mt Vesuvius eruption. Pliny the younger says that there were tremors the pevious day but apparently it was common before the tremors grew stronger. He sent for a copy of Livvy studied and took notes, reading his book. "I hardly know whether to call it bravery, or foolishness (I was seventeen at the time)." When the tremors are shaking all the buildings around them Pliny the Younger decided to leave with his mother. During this letter it describes all the different elements of the weather, how the water in the ocean is reduced and how the lightning twists and hurls itself at the ground. When the cloud came down over top of them his mother urged him to go on without her he disobeyed and made her walk faster. After the worst of the eruption, covered in ash they see sunlight. "The sight that met our still terrified eyes was a changed world, buried in ash like snow." Even after all this Pliny the Younger still refused to go after he heard news about his uncle, they expected more danger to come.This letter is mostly about his journey from his house out into the countryside and how they left the eruption behind them when the world went dark and they were covered in ash.
Here is a link to Pliny the Youngers two letters.
http://www.smatch-international.org/PlinyLetters.html
Here is a link to Pliny the Youngers two letters.
http://www.smatch-international.org/PlinyLetters.html
how did these letters help us with modern knowledge on volcanic eruptions?
Throughout the letters the weather and environment was described and what sort of outcome they had.
"It was daylight now elsewhere in the world, but there the darkness was darker and thicker than any night"
"Then came an smell of sulfur, announcing the flames, and the flames themselves..."
"Now came the dust, though still thinly. I look back: a dense cloud looms behind us, following us like a flood poured across the land... We had scarcely sat down when a darkness came that was not like a moonless or cloudy night, but more like the black of closed and unlighted rooms."
"It was daylight now elsewhere in the world, but there the darkness was darker and thicker than any night"
"Then came an smell of sulfur, announcing the flames, and the flames themselves..."
"Now came the dust, though still thinly. I look back: a dense cloud looms behind us, following us like a flood poured across the land... We had scarcely sat down when a darkness came that was not like a moonless or cloudy night, but more like the black of closed and unlighted rooms."