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"My uncle was stationed at
Misenum, in active command of the fleet. On 24 August,
in the early afternoon, my mother drew his attention to
a cloud of unusual size and appearance. He had been out
in the sun, had taken a cold bath, and lunched
while lying down, and was then working at his books. He
called for his shoes and climbed up to a place which
would give him the best view of the phenomenon. It was
not clear at that distance from which mountain the cloud
was rising (it was afterwards known to be Vesuvius); its
general appearance can best be expressed as being like
an umbrella pine, for it rose to a great height on a
sort of trunk and then split off into branches, I
imagine because it was thrust upwards by the first blast
and then left unsupported as the pressure subsided, or
else it was borne down by its own weight so that it
spread out and gradually dispersed. In places it looked
white, elsewhere blotched and dirty, according to the
amount of soil and ashes it carried with it.
My uncle's scholarly
acumen saw at once that it was important enough for a
closer inspection, and he ordered a boat to be made
ready, telling me I could come with him if I wished. I
replied that I preferred to go on with my studies, and
as it happened he had himself given me some writing to
do.
As he was leaving the
house he was handed a message from Rectina, wife of
Tascus whose house was at the foot of the mountain, so
that escape was impossible except by boat. She was
terrified by the danger threatening her and implored him
to rescue her from her fate. He changed his plans, and
what he had begun in a spirit of inquiry he completed as
a hero. He gave orders for the warships to be launched
and went on board himself with the intention of bringing
help to many more people besides Rectina, for this
lovely stretch of coast was thickly populated.
He hurried to the place
which everyone else was hastily leaving, steering his
course straight for the danger zone. He was entirely
fearless, describing each new movement and phase of the
portent to be noted down exactly as he observed them.
Ashes were already falling, hotter and thicker as the
ships drew near, followed by bits of pumice and
blackened stones, charred and cracked by the flames:
then suddenly they were in shallow water, and the shore
was blocked by the debris from the mountain.
For a moment my uncle
wondered whether to turn back, but when the helmsman
advised this he refused, telling him that Fortune stood
by the courageous and they must make for Pomponianus at
Stabiae. He was cut off there by the breadth of the bay
(for the shore gradually curves round a basin filled by
the sea) so that he was not as yet in danger, though it
was clear that this would come nearer as it spread.
Pomponianus had therefore already put his belongings on
board ship, intending to escape if the contrary wind
fell. This wind was of course full in my uncle's favour,
and he was able to bring his ship in. He embraced his
terrified friend, cheered and encouraged him, and
thinking he could calm his fears by showing his own
composure, gave orders that he was to be carried to the
bathroom. After his bath he lay down and dined; he was
quite cheerful, or at any rate he pretended he was,
which was no less courageous.
Meanwhile on Mount
Vesuvius broad sheets of fire and leaping flames blazed
at several points, their bright glare emphasized by the
darkness of night. My uncle tried to allay the fears of
his companions by repeatedly declaring that these were
nothing but bonfires left by the peasants in their
terror, or else empty houses on fire in the districts
they had abandoned. Then he went to rest and certainly
slept, for as he was a stout man his breathing was
rather loud and heavy and could be heard by people
coming and going outside his door. By this time the
courtyard giving access to his room was full of ashes
mixed with pumice stones, so that its level had risen,
and if he had stayed in the room any longer he would
never have got out. He was wakened, came out and joined
Pomponianus and the rest of the household who had sat up
all night.
They debated whether to
stay indoors or take their chance in the open, for the
buildings were now shaking with violent shocks, and
seemed to be swaying to and fro as if they were torn
from their foundations. Outside, on the other hand,
there was the danger of failing pumice stones, even
though these were light and porous; however, after
comparing the risks they chose the latter. In my uncle's
case one reason outweighed the other, but for the others
it was a choice of fears. As a protection against
falling objects they put pillows on their heads tied
down with cloths.
Elsewhere there was
daylight by this time, but they were still in darkness,
blacker and denser than any ordinary night, which they
relieved by lighting torches and various kinds of lamp.
My uncle decided to go down to the shore and investigate
on the spot the possibility of any escape by sea, but he
found the waves still wild and dangerous. A sheet was
spread on the ground for him to lie down, and he
repeatedly asked for cold water to drink.
Then the flames and
smell of sulphur which gave warning of the approaching
fire drove the others to take flight and roused him to
stand up. He stood leaning on two slaves and then
suddenly collapsed, I imagine because the dense, fumes
choked his breathing by blocking his windpipe which was
constitutionally weak and narrow and often inflamed.
When daylight returned on the 26th - two days after the
last day he had been seen - his body was found intact
and uninjured, still fully clothed and looking more like
sleep than death."
In a later letter to Tacitus, Pliny
offers more.
"Ashes were already
falling, not as yet very thickly. I looked round: a
dense black cloud was coming up behind us, spreading
over the earth like a flood.'Let us leave the road while
we can still see,'I said,'or we shall be knocked down
and trampled underfoot in the dark by the crowd
behind.'We had scarcely sat down to rest when darkness
fell, not the dark of a moonless or cloudy night, but as
if the lamp had been put out in a closed room.
You could hear the
shrieks of women, the wailing of infants, and the
shouting of men; some were calling their parents, others
their children or their wives, trying to recognize them
by their voices. People bewailed their own fate or that
of their relatives, and there were some who prayed for
death in their terror of dying. Many besought the aid of
the gods, but still more imagined there were no gods
left, and that the universe was plunged into eternal
darkness for evermore.
There were people, too,
who added to the real perils by inventing fictitious
dangers: some reported that part of Misenum had
collapsed or another part was on fire, and though their
tales were false they found others to believe them. A
gleam of light returned, but we took this to be a
warning of the approaching flames rather than daylight.
However, the flames remained some distance off; then
darkness came on once more and ashes began to fall
again, this time in heavy showers. We rose from time to
time and shook them off, otherwise we should have been
buried and crushed beneath their weight. I could boast
that not a groan or cry of fear escaped me in these
perils, but I admit that I derived some poor consolation
in my mortal lot from the belief that the whole world
was dying with me and I with it."
Quoted from "www.EyewitnessToHistory.com"
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