Fall 1999: Week 2

C. PLINIUS TACITO SUO S. EPISTULAE PLINII LIBER VI. XVI

   Erat Miseni classemque imperio praesens regebat Nonum Kal. Septembres hora fere septima mater mea indicat ei apparere nubem inusitata et magnitudine et specie. Poscit soleas, ascendit locum, ex quo maxime miraculum illud conspici poterat. Nubes, incertum procul intuentibus, ex quo monte (Vesuvium fuisse postea cognitum est), oriebatur, cuius similitudinem et formam non alia magis arbor quam pinus expresserit. Nam longissimo velut trunco elata in altum quibusdam ramis diffundebatur, credo, quia recenti spiritu evecta, dein senescente eo destituta aut etiam pondere suo victa in latitudinem evanescebat, candida interdum, interdum sordida et maculosa, prout terram cineremve sustulerat.

   He was at that time with the fleet under his command at Misenum. On the 24^th of August, about one in the afternoon, my mother desired him to observe a cloud of very unusual size and appearance. He immediately called for his shoes and went up an eminence from whence he might best view this very uncommon appearance. It was not at that distance discernable from what mountain this cloud issued, but it was found afterwards to be Vesuvius. I cannot give you a more exact description of its figure, than by resembling it to that of a pine-tree, for it shot up a great height in the form of a trunk, which extended itself at the top into several branches; because I imagine, a momentary gust of air blew it aloft, and then failing, forsook it; thus causing the cloud to expand laterally as it dissolved, or possibly the downward pressure of its own weight produced this effect. It was at one moment white, at another dark and spotted, as if it had carried up earth or cinders.

   Magnum propiusque noscendum ut eruditissimo viro visum. Iubet Liburnicam aptari; mihi, si venire una vellem, facit copiam. Respondi studere me malle, et forte ipse, quod scriberem, dederat. Egrediebatur domo; accipit codicillos Rectinae Bassi imminenti periculo exterriti (nam villa eius subiacebat, nec ulla nisi navibus fuga); ut se tanto discrimini eriperet, orabat. Vertit ille consilium et, quod studioso animo inchoaverat, obit maximo. Deducit quadriremes; ascendit ipse non Retinae modo, sed multis (erat enim frequens amoenitas orae) laturus auxilium. Properat illuc, unde alii fugiunt, rectumque cursum, recta gubernacula in periculum tenet adeo solutus metu, ut omnes illius mali motus, omnes figuras, ut deprehenderat oculis, dictaret enotaretque.

   My uncle, true savant that he was, deemed the phenomenon important and worth a nearer view. He ordered a light vessel to be got ready, and gave me the liberty, if I thought proper, to attend him. I replied I would rather study; and, as it happened, he had himself given me a theme for composition. 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 (his villa stood just below us, and there was no way to escape but by sea); she earnestly entreated him to save her from such deadly peril. He changed his first design and what he began with a philosophical, he pursued with an heroical turn of mind. He ordered large galleys to be launched, and went himself on board one, with the intention of assisting not only Rectina, but many others; for the villas stand extremely thick upon that beautiful coast. Hastening to the place from whence others were flying, he steered his direct course to the point of danger, and with such freedom from fear, as to be able to make and dictate his observations upon the successive motions and figures of that terrible object.

   Iam navibus cinis inciderat, quo propius accederet, calidior et densior, iam pumices etiam nigrique et ambusti et fracti igne lapides, iam vadum subitum ruinaque montis litora obstantia. Cunctatus paulum, an retro flecteret, mox gubernatori ut ita faceret monenti "Tortes,'' inquit, "Fortuna iuvat. Pomponianum pete." Stabiis erat diremptus sinu medio (nam sensim circumactis curvatisque litoribus mare infunditur); ibi, quamquam nondum periculo appropinquante, conspicuo tamen et, cum cresceret, proximo sarcinas contulerat in naves certus fugae, si contrarius ventus resedisset...

   And now cinders, which grew thicker and hotter the nearer he approached, fell into the ships, then pumice-stones too, with stones blackened, scorched, and cracked by fire, then the sea ebbed suddenly from under them, while the shore was blocked up by landslips from the mountains. After considering a moment whether he should retreat, he said to the captain who was urging that course, "Fortune befriends the brave; carry me to Pomponianus." Pomponianus was then at Stabiae, distant by half the width of the bay (for, as you know, the shore, insensibly curving in its sweep, forms here a receptacle for the sea). He had already embarked his baggage; for though at Stabiae the danger was not yet near, it was full in view, and certain to be extremely near, as soon as it spread; and he resolved to fly as soon as the contrary should cease.

   Interim e Vesuvio monte pluribus locis latissimae flammae altaque incendia relucebant, quorum fulgor et claritas tenebris noctis excitabatur. Ille agrestium trepidatione ignes relictos desertasque villas per solitudinem ardere in remedium formidinis dictitabat. Tum se quieti dedit et quievit verissimo quidem somno. Nam meatus animae, qui illi propter amplitudinem corporis gravior et sonantior erat, ab iis, qui limini obversabantur, audiebatur. Sed area, ex qua diaeta adibatur, ita iam cinere mixtisque pumicibus oppleta surrexerat, tit, si longior in cubiculo mora, exitus negaretur. Excitatus procedit seque Pomponiano ceterisque, qui pervigilarant, reddit. In commune consultant, intra tecta subsistant an in aperto vagentur. Nam crebris vastisque tremoribus tecta nutabant et quasi emota sedibus suis nunc huc, nunc illuc abire aut referri videbantur. Sub dio rursus quamquam levium exesorumque pumicum casus metuebatur; quod tamen periculorum collatio elegit. Et apud illum quidem ratio rationem, apud alios timorem timor vicit. Cervicalia capitibus imposita linteis constringunt; id munimentum adversus incidentia fuit.

   In the meanwhile Mount Vesuvius was blazing in several places with spreading and towering flames, whose refulgent brightness the darkness of the the night set in high relief. But my uncle, in order to soothe apprehensions, kept saying that some fires had been left alight by the terrified country people, and what they saw were only deserted villas on fire in the abandoned district. After this he retired to rest, and it is most certain that his rest was a most genuine slumber; for his breathing, which, as he was pretty fat, was somewhat heavy and sonorous, was heard by those who attended at his chamber-door. But the court which led to his apartment now lay so deep under a mixture of pumice-stones and ashes, that if he had continued longer in his bedroom, egress would have been impossible. On being aroused, he came out, and returned to Pomponianus and the others, who had sat up all night. They consulted together was to whether they should hold out in the house, or wander about in the open. For the house now tottered under repeated and violent concussions, and seemed to rock to and fro as if torn from its foundations. In the open air, on the other hand, they dreaded the falling pumice-stones, light and porous though they were; yet this, by comparison, seemed the lesser danger of the two; a conclusion which my uncle arrived at by balancing reasons, and the others by balancing fears. They tied pillows upon their heads with napkins; and this was their whole defence against the showers that fell round them.

   Iam dies alibi, illic nox omnibus noctibus nigrior densiorque; quam tamen faces multae variaque lumina solabantur. Placuit egredi in litus et e proximo aspicere, ecquid iam mare admitteret; quod adhuc vastum et adversum permanebat. Ibi super abiectum linteum recubans semel atque iterum frigidam poposcit hausitque. Deinde flammae flammarumque praenuntius odor sulfuris alios in fugam vertunt, excitant illum. Innitens servulis duobus assurrexit et statim concidit, ut ego colligo, crassiore caligine spiritu obstructo clausoque stomacho, qui illi natura invalidus et angustus et frequenter interaestuans erat. Ubi dies redditus (is ab eo, quem novissime viderat, tertius), corpus inventum est integrum, illaesum opertumque, ut fuerat indutus; habitus corporis quiescenti quam defuncto similior.

   It was now day everywhere else, but there a deeper darkness prevailed than in the most obscure night; relieved, however, by many torches and diverse illuminations. They thought proper to go down upon the shore to observe from close at hand if they could possibly put out to sea, but they found the waves still run extremely high and contrary. There my uncle having thrown himself down upon a disused sail, repeatedly called for, and drank, a draught of cold water; soon after, flames, and a strong smell of sulphur, which was the forerunner of them, dispersed the rest of the company in flight; him they only aroused. He raised himself up with the assistance of two of his slaves, but instantly fell; some unusually gross vapour, as I conjecture, having obstructed his breathing and blocked his windpipe, which was not only naturally weak and constricted, but chronically inflamed. When day dawned again (the third from that he last beheld) his body was found entire and uninjured, and still fully clothed as in life; its posture was that of a sleeping, rather than a dead man.