Pompeii

:Pompeii is not to be confused with the Roman general Pompey.

Vesuvius buries the city

The inhabitants of Pompeii, as those of the area today, had long been used to minor tremors and wisps of gas from Mt. Vesuvius, and in 62 there had been a series of earthquakes serious enough to cause structural damage to houses in town. In early August of 79, all the town's wells dried up, but the warnings were not sharp enough, and the Roman world was stunned when on August 24 a catastrophic volcanic eruption of the volcano buried the city and obscured the sun on a mild afternoon. Coincidentally, the date was that of the Vulcanalia, the festival of the Roman god of fire.

Related Topics:
August 24 - Vulcanalia

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The only reliable eyewitness account of the event was recorded by Pliny the Younger in a letter to the historian Tacitus. Pliny saw a remarkable phenomenon occurring over Mt. Vesuvius: a large dark cloud shaped rather like a pine tree emanating from the mouth of the mountain. After some time the cloud rushed down the flanks of the mountain and covered everything around it, including the surrounding sea.

Related Topics:
Pliny the Younger - Tacitus

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The "cloud" that Pliny the Younger wrote about is known today as a pyroclastic flow, which is a cloud of superheated gas, ash, and rock that erupts from a volcano. Pliny stated that several earth tremors were felt at the time of the eruption and were followed by a very violent shaking of the ground. He also noted that ash was falling in very thick sheets and the village he was in had to be evacuated. Also, the sea was sucked away and forced back by an "earthquake", a phenomenon which modern geologists call a tsunami.

Related Topics:
Pyroclastic flow - Tsunami

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His description then turned to the fact that the sun was blocked out by the eruption and the daylight hours were left in darkness. His uncle Pliny the Elder had already taken several ships to investigate the phenomenon. On the other shore, Pliny the Elder apparently died from carbon dioxide asphyxiation after lying on the ground.

Related Topics:
Pliny the Elder - Carbon dioxide

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