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The Eruption of Vesuvius. Topics of Discussion:. Pliny the Younger Mount Vesuvius Pompeii Herculaneum. Introduction. What makes the story of Pompeii, Herculaneum and Mount Vesuvius so important to modern students of Roman history?.
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Topics of Discussion: • Pliny the Younger • Mount Vesuvius • Pompeii • Herculaneum
Introduction What makes the story of Pompeii,Herculaneum and MountVesuvius so important to modern students of Roman history?
The historical eyewitness account from a seventeen year old man named Pliny the Younger. • The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. • The excavation of buildings, artwork and other artifacts of Roman life completely intact.
Pliny the Younger (c.61 AD - c.112 AD) • Pliny the Younger was a Roman official. • He was famous for his letters which are an important source regarding Roman history. • In 79 AD, he witnessed the eruption of Vesuvius when his uncle died. • He was seventeen at the time of the eruption • He later described the event in a letter to his friend the historian Tacitus.
Pliny's account translated from Latin to English There had been tremors for many days previously, a common occurrence in Campania and no cause for panic. But that night the shaking grew much stronger; people thought it was an earthquake, not just a tremor ... Now the day begins, with a still hesitant and almost lazy dawn. All around us buildings are shaken .... In addition, it seemed as though the sea was being sucked backwards, as if it were being pushed back by the shaking of the land. Certainly the shoreline moved outwards, and many sea creatures were left on dry sand. Behind us were frightening dark clouds, rent by lightning twisted and hurled, opening to reveal huge figures of flame. These were like lightning, but bigger ... Now came the dust, though still thinly. I look back: a densecloud 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 grew lighter, though that seemed not a return of day, but a sign that the fire was approaching. The fire itself actually stopped some distance away, but darkness and ashes came again, a great weight of them ... At last the cloud thinned out and dwindled to no more than smoke or fog. Soon there was real daylight. The sun was even shining, though with the lurid glow it has after an eclipse. The sight that met our still terrified eyes was a changed world, buried in ash like snow.
The Eruption of Vesuvius • Vesuvius has erupted many times since 79 A.D., most recently from 1913-1944. • Photo by Italian Air Force from Green and Short (1971). 1944
Pompeii • Note: Mount Vesuvius in the back ground.
Pompeii • Portrait on the wall of a Pompeii house.
Pompeii • The Forum seen from inside the basilica.
Herculaneum • Note: Mount Vesuvius in the back ground.
Near Herculaneum's Villa dei Papiri • The first known example of a Roman throne found near Pompeii.
Roman Throne • Decorated with ivory bas-reliefs depicting ancient deities, two legs and part of the back of the wooden throne were discovered. • They were found 82 feet below ground near Herculaneum's Villa dei Papiri.
Herculaneum • Street paving stones uncovered in Herculaneum.
Herculaneum • Ancient Roman mosaic with Neptune and Amphitrite.
Herculaneum • Marble floor inlay from a Roman house.
Herculaneum • Note: Latin was the language in ancient Rome.
Conclusion What makes the story of Pompeii,Herculaneum and MountVesuvius so important to modern students of Roman history?
Sources Cited • http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/gkingowe510200513726 • http://img184.imageshack.us/img184/7621/dw01mountainll2.jpg • http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/a/a4/290px-Pompeii_the_last_day_1.jpg • http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/discoveries/2007-12-04-roman-throne-pompeii_N.htm • http://www.foxnews.com/images/328835/0_61_rome_throne_1.jpg • http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~g111/Volcanoes/Vesuvius/Italy_4_4_Fx.JPG • http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~g111/Volcanoes/Vesuvius/Pompei_Scavi_43_Fx.JPG • http://www.geology.wisc.edu/~g111/Volcanoes/Vesuvius/Italy_4_30_Fx.JPG • http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/pliny_the_younger.shtml • http://www.fredcamper.com/A/Accretions/AC002/index.html • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/romans/pompeii_portents_01.shtml
Supplemental information • Text of Pliny the Elder’s Letter to TacitusPliny: Letters and Panegyricus (Loeb Classical Library) (Book VI, Letter XVI) ISBN 0674990617 • Fifty Letters of Pliny (ed. A.N. Sherwin-White)(pages 37-40) ISBN 0199120102 • Jenny’s Third Year Latin (pages 313-316) ISBN 0139188142 • Wheelock’s Latin Reader (ed. Richard A. LaFleur)(pages 255-265) ISBN 0060935065
Related websites • http://volcano.und.nodak.edu/vwdocs/volc_images/img_vesuvius.html • http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/volcanoes/vmtvesuvius.html • http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/vesuvius/index.html • http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/programmes/pompeii/ • http://dsc.discovery.com/convergence/pompeii/pompeii.html • http://www.channel4.com/history/microsites/P/pompeii/ • Discovery Channel: http://shopping.discovery.com/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10000&catalogId=10000&langId=-1&productId=57436&partnumber=719252 • History Channel:http://store.aetv.com/html/product/index.jhtml?id=72482&browseCategoryId=&location=&parentcatid=&subcatid= • National Geographic:http://shop.nationalgeographic.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=452&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=vesuvius