Thread by @marinamaral2

This letter was written by Pliny the Younger to the Roman historian Tacitu, describing the A.D. 79 eruption at Mt. Vesuvius:

"The cloud sank down soon afterwards and covered the sea, hiding Capri and Capo Misenum from sight. My mother begged me to leave her and escape...

... as best I could, but I took her hand and made her hurry along with me. Ash was already falling by now, but not very thickly. Then I turned around and saw a thick black cloud advancing over the land behind us like a flood.

... "Let us leave the road while we can still see", I said, "or we will be knocked down and trampled by the crowd".

We had hardly sat down to rest when the darkness spread over us. But it was not the darkness of a moonless or cloudy night...

... but it was just as if the lamps had been put out in a completely closed room.

We could hear women shrieking, children crying and men shouting. Some were calling for their parents, their children, or their wives, and trying to recognize them by their voices.

... Some people were so frightened of dying that they actually prayed for death.

Many begged for the help of the gods, but even more, imagined that there were no gods left and that the last eternal night had fallen on the world.

... There were also those who added to our real perils by inventing fictitious dangers. Some claimed that part of Misenum had collapsed or that another part was on fire. It was untrue, but they could always find somebody to believe them.

... A glimmer of light returned, but we took this to be a warning of approaching fire rather than daylight. But the fires stayed some distance away.

The darkness came bach and ash began to fall again, this time in heavier showers.

... We had to get up from time to time to shake it off, or we would have been crushed and buried under its weight.

I could boast that I never expressed any fear at this time, but I was only kept going by the consolation that the whole world was perishing with me.

... After a while, the darkness paled into smoke or cloud, and the real daylight returned, but the Sun shone as wanly as during an eclipse.

We were amazed by what we saw, because everything had changed and was buried deep in ash like snow.

... We went back to Misenum and spent an anxious night switching between hope and fear.

Fear was uppermost because the earth tremors were still continuing and the hysterics still kept on making their alarming forecasts."

https://twitter.com/marinamaral2/status/1330995092967088129

In another letter, he wrote:

"At that time my uncle was at Misenum in command of the fleet. About one in the afternoon, my mother pointed out a cloud with an odd size and appearance that had just formed.

... From that distance it was not clear from which mountain the cloud was rising, although it was found afterwards to be Vesuvius.

(...) Like a true scholar, my uncle saw at once that it deserved closer study and ordered a boat to be prepared.

... He said that I could go with him, but I chose to continue my studies.

Just as he was leaving the house, he was handed a message from Rectina, the wife of Tascus, whose home was at the foot of the mountain, and had no way of escape except by boat.

... She was terrified by the threatening danger and begged him to rescue her. He changed the plan at once and what he had started in a spirit of scientific curiosity he ended as a hero.

He ordered the large galleys to be launched and set sail.

... He steered bravely straight for the danger zone that everyone else was leaving in fear and haste, but still kept on noting his observations.

The ash already falling became hotter and thicker as the ships approached the coast...

... and it was soon superseded by pumice and blackened burnt stones shattered by the fire. Suddenly the sea shallowed where the shore was obstructed and choked by debris from the mountain.

... He wondered whether to turn back, as the captain advised, but decided instead to go on. "Fortune favours the brave", he said, "take me to Pomponianus".

Pomponianus lived at Stabiae across the Bay of Naples, which was not yet in danger...

... but would be threatened if it spread. Pomponianus had already put his belongings into a boat to escape as soon as the contrary onshore wind changed.

This wind, of course, was fully in my uncle's favour and quickly brought his boat to Stabiae.

... My uncle calmed and encouraged his terrified friend and was cheerful, or at least pretended to be, which was just as brave.

Meanwhile, tall broad flames blazed from several places on Vesuvius and glared out through the darkness of the night.

... My uncle soothed the fears of his companions by saying that they were nothing more than fires left by the terrified peasants, or empty abandoned houses that were blazing.

... He went to bed and apparently fell asleep, for his loud, heavy breathing was heard by those passing his door.

But, eventually, the courtyard outside began to fill with so much ash and pumice that, if he had stayed in his room, he would never have been able to get out.

... He was awakened and joined Pomponianus and his servants who had sat up all night.

They wondered whether to stay indoors or go out into the open, because the buildings were now swaying back and forth and shaking with more violent tremors.

... Outside, there was the danger from the falling pumice, although it was only light and porous. After weighing up the risks, they chose the open country and tied pillows over their heads with cloths for protection.

It was daylight everywhere else by this time...

... but they were still enveloped in a darkness that was blacker and denser than any night, and they were forced to light their torches and lamps.

My uncle went down to the shore to see if there was any chance of escape by sea, but the waves were still far too high.

... He lay down to rest on a sheet and called for drinks of cold water. Then, suddenly, flames and a strong smell of sulfur, giving warning of yet more flames to come, forced the others to flee.

... He himself stood up, with the support of two slaves, and then he suddenly collapsed and died, because, I imagine, he was suffocated when the dense fumes choked him.

... When light returned on the third day after the last day that he had seen [on 26 august], his body was found intact and uninjured, still fully clothed and looking more like a man alseep than dead."