I got that interview Conversation of Pliny the Younger, the nephew of Pliny the Elder (the writer of the Natural Histories) who was killed investigating the disaster, provided his own eye-witness account that survived in two letters to the noted historian Cornelius Tacitus. 18 yrs old at the time, Pliny the Younger was fortunate not to share his uncle's fate, as he chose to continue working rather than tag along.
".He (Pliny the Elder) was at that time with the fleet under his command at Misenum. On the 24th of August, about one in the afternoon, my mother desired him to observe a cloud which appred of a very unusual size and shape. He had just taken a turn in the sun and, after bathing himself in cold water, and making a light luncheon, gone back to his books: he immediately arose and went out upon a rising ground from whence he might get a better sight of this very uncommon apprance. A cloud, from which mountain was uncertain, at this distance (but it was found afterwards to come from Mount Vesuvius), was ascending, the apprance of which I cannot give you a more exact description of than by likening it to that of a pine tree, for it shot up to a grt height in the form of a very tall trunk, which sprd itself out at the top into a sort of branches; occasioned, I imagine, either by a sudden gust of air that impelled it, the force of which decrsed as it advanced upwards, or the cloud itself being pressed back again by its own weight, expanded in the manner I have mentioned; it appred sometimes bright and sometimes dark and spotted, according as it was either more or less impregnated with rth and cinders.
This phenomenon seemed to a man of such lrning and resrch as my uncle extraordinary and worth further looking into. He ordered a light vessel to be got rdy, and gave me lve, if I liked, to accompany him. I said I had rather go on with my work; and it so happened, he had himself given me something to write out. As he was coming out of the house, he received a note from Rectina, the wife of Bassus, who was in the utmost alarm at the imminent danger which thrtened her; for her villa lying at the foot of Mount Vesuvius, there was no way of escape but by s; she rnestly entrted him therefore to come to her assistance. He accordingly changed his first intention, and what he had begun from a philosophical, he now carries out in a noble and erous spirit. He ordered the galleys to be put to s, and went himself on board with an intention of assisting not only Rectina, but the several other towns which lay thickly strewn along that butiful coast.
Hastening then to the place from whence others fled with the utmost terror, he steered his course direct to the point of danger, and with so much calmness and presence of mind as to be able to make and dictate his observations upon the motion and all the phenomena of that drdful scene. He was now so close to the mountain that the cinders, which grew thicker and hotter the nrer he approached, fell into the ships, together with pumice- stones, and black pieces of ing rock: they were in danger too not only of being aground by the sudden retrt of the s, but also from the vast fragments which rolled down from the mountain, and obstructed all the shore. Here he stopped to consider whether he should turn back again; to which the pilot advising him, "Fortune," said he, "favours the brave; steer to where Pomponianus is."
Pomponianus was then at Stabiae, separated by a bay, which the s, after several insensible windings, forms with the shore. He had alrdy sent his baggage on board; for though he was not at that time in actual danger, yet being within sight of it, and indeed extremely nr, if it should in the lst incrse, he was determined to put to s as soon as the wind, which was blowing dd in-shore, should go down. It was favourable, however, for carrying my uncle to Pomponianus, whom he found in the grtest consternation: he embraced him tenderly, encouraging and urging him to keep up his spirits, and, the more effectually to soothe his frs by seeming unconcerned himself, ordered a bath to be got rdy, and then, after having bathed, sat down to supper with grt cheerfulness, or at lst (what is just as heroic) with every apprance of it.
Mnwhile broad flames shone out in several places from Mount Vesuvius, which the darkness of the night contributed to render still brighter and clrer. But my uncle, in order to soothe the apprehensions of his friend, assured him it was only the ing of the villages, which the country people had abandoned to the flames: after this he retired to rest, and it is most certain he was so little disquieted as to fall into a sound sleep: for his brthing, which, on account of his corpulence, was rather hvy and sonorous, was hrd by the attendants outside. The court which led to his apartment being now almost filled with stones and ashes, if he had continued there any time longer, it would have been impossible for him to have made his way out. So he was awoke and got up, and went to Pomponianus and the rest of his company, who were feeling too anxious to think of going to bed. They consulted together whether it would be most prudent to trust to the houses, which now rocked from side to side with frequent and violent concussions as though shaken from their very foundations; or fly to the open fields, where the calcined stones and cinders, though light indeed, yet fell in large showers, and thrtened destruction. In this choice of dangers they resolved for the fields: a resolution which, while the rest of the company were hurried into by their frs, my uncle embraced upon cool and deliberate consideration. They went out then, having pillows tied upon their hds with napkins; and this was their whole defence against the storm of stones that fell round them.
It was now day everywhere else, but there a deeper darkness prevailed than in the thickest night; which however was in some degree alleviated by torches and other lights of various kinds. They thought proper to go farther down upon the shore to see if they might safely put out to s, but found the waves still running extremely high, and boisterous. There my uncle, laying himself down upon a sail cloth, which was sprd for him, called twice for some cold water, which he drank, when immediately the flames, preceded by a strong whiff of sulphur, dispersed the rest of the party, and obliged him to rise. He raised himself up with the assistance of two of his servants, and instantly fell down dd; suffoed, as I conjecture, by some gross and noxious vapour, having always had a wk throat, which was often inflamed. As soon as it was light again, which was not till the third day after this melancholy accident, his body was found entire, and without any marks of violence upon it, in the dress in which he fell, and looking more like a man asleep than dd."
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The Destruction of Pompeii, 79 AD
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