Evidence that proves the event occurred
What?
An ancient voice reaches out from the time of the eruption to recount the disaster. The voice belongs to Pliny the younger whose letters describe his experience during the event while he was staying under the roof of his Uncle, Pliny the elder’s home. Gains Plinius Seconds (Pliny the elder) was admiral of the Roman fleet at Misenum, an area of the Bay of Naples. Pliny the younger wrote his letters years after the date of the event to the historian Tacitus. Tacitus was a senator and historian of the roman empire - he was considered to be one of the greatest roman historians in fact. Pliny's letters were discovered later in the 16th century.
Analysis
Pliny had the experience second-hand of the eruption and made observations of the volcanic event through his Uncles experience, his insight gave us an idea as to what happened on that day and grant us an understanding about the other details also. Pliny the younger describes how the eruption looked, how people were reacting, and how some of the population felt about the event at the time of its occurrence. We can gather the idea that the people of Pompeii were afraid and fleeing from the unfamiliar dark explosion in the sky and intense quaking occurring, we know this because Pliny describes a certain location he hurried to which many other people were doing also, from there Pliny dictated what he saw. We know the people were unfamiliar about eruptions as Pliny describes his thoughts in his letters "the clouds was rising from a mountain -- at such a distance we couldn't tell which, but afterwards learned that it was vesuvius", the way that he tells us his thoughts are written as if he wasn't alone in thinking this, my reasoning for this is because instead of saying "I couldn't tell which" he wrote "we" - this gives me the idea that this was a shared thought.
The next thing I noticed is the manner Pliny describes the eruption in; "I can best describe its shape by likening it to a pine tree. It rose into the sky on a very long 'trunk' from which spread some 'branches'". By this graphic description, Pliny was able to paint an illusion for the future readers of his letters to understand the visual outlook of the event. By reading this resource we know that the eruption of Vesuvius was in no way a minor event and we can put to a better understanding of why people acted in such ways and why the outcomes of the eruption were so extreme.
"You could hear women lamenting, children crying, men shouting. Some were calling for parents, others for children or spouses; they could only recognize them by their voices. Some bemoaned their own lot, other that of their near and dear. There were some so afraid of death that they prayed for death. Many raised their hands to the gods, and even more believed that there were no gods any longer and that this was one last unending night for the world." This helps us to really comprehend the issue and frenzy of the individuals during the eruption and how terrified they were feeling. From this passage we are given an understanding into how unnerved the individuals were, that they even appealed to God for death. We additionally perceive how the Roman individuals had faith in the Gods and utilised their religion as a part of times of strife although with the large amounts of fear, numerous even abandoned the Gods.
"Ash was falling onto the ships now, darker and denser the closer they went. Now it was bits of pumice, and rocks that were blackened and burned and shattered by the fire" this section from Pliny's letter was describing more of what the eruption was producing as apose to how the population was reacting. Much like the comparison of the eruption to a pine tree, this description helps us to understand why certain outcomes occurred the way they did. Pliny's explanation of how he saw ash, then pumice, followed by rocks is considered accurate following the results of the excavation of Pompeii matching so well to his sightings.
With Pliny's statements and real evidence compared and matched, it is even more of a reason to think Pliny's letters are a reliable source to the event, however Pliny's letters may be erroneous as a few events he said happened on that day have never been proven valid. As an example, Pliny states "the sea was being sucked backwards" which would demonstrate towards there being a tsunami, however no evidence has ever been discovered that a tsunami did occur on that day, so in this way it can be hard to choose what is really genuine and what could be false. Also as Pliny composed these letters 25 years after the event, it is understandable to think that he may have overlooked imperative bits of data or changed what had happened because of the old memories he was reliant on which then causes his letters to lose some of their believability as his letters may get to be more incorrect relying upon the amount he recollects. Another limitation of the source is that in Pliny's first letter, he describes his Uncle's exploits and what his Uncle would have seen so Pliny was not experiencing the events in his first letter himself. Although it has been said by some sources that Pliny heard the details of his Uncle's journey and death through the sailors who escaped ad related the events to him.
An ancient voice reaches out from the time of the eruption to recount the disaster. The voice belongs to Pliny the younger whose letters describe his experience during the event while he was staying under the roof of his Uncle, Pliny the elder’s home. Gains Plinius Seconds (Pliny the elder) was admiral of the Roman fleet at Misenum, an area of the Bay of Naples. Pliny the younger wrote his letters years after the date of the event to the historian Tacitus. Tacitus was a senator and historian of the roman empire - he was considered to be one of the greatest roman historians in fact. Pliny's letters were discovered later in the 16th century.
Analysis
Pliny had the experience second-hand of the eruption and made observations of the volcanic event through his Uncles experience, his insight gave us an idea as to what happened on that day and grant us an understanding about the other details also. Pliny the younger describes how the eruption looked, how people were reacting, and how some of the population felt about the event at the time of its occurrence. We can gather the idea that the people of Pompeii were afraid and fleeing from the unfamiliar dark explosion in the sky and intense quaking occurring, we know this because Pliny describes a certain location he hurried to which many other people were doing also, from there Pliny dictated what he saw. We know the people were unfamiliar about eruptions as Pliny describes his thoughts in his letters "the clouds was rising from a mountain -- at such a distance we couldn't tell which, but afterwards learned that it was vesuvius", the way that he tells us his thoughts are written as if he wasn't alone in thinking this, my reasoning for this is because instead of saying "I couldn't tell which" he wrote "we" - this gives me the idea that this was a shared thought.
The next thing I noticed is the manner Pliny describes the eruption in; "I can best describe its shape by likening it to a pine tree. It rose into the sky on a very long 'trunk' from which spread some 'branches'". By this graphic description, Pliny was able to paint an illusion for the future readers of his letters to understand the visual outlook of the event. By reading this resource we know that the eruption of Vesuvius was in no way a minor event and we can put to a better understanding of why people acted in such ways and why the outcomes of the eruption were so extreme.
"You could hear women lamenting, children crying, men shouting. Some were calling for parents, others for children or spouses; they could only recognize them by their voices. Some bemoaned their own lot, other that of their near and dear. There were some so afraid of death that they prayed for death. Many raised their hands to the gods, and even more believed that there were no gods any longer and that this was one last unending night for the world." This helps us to really comprehend the issue and frenzy of the individuals during the eruption and how terrified they were feeling. From this passage we are given an understanding into how unnerved the individuals were, that they even appealed to God for death. We additionally perceive how the Roman individuals had faith in the Gods and utilised their religion as a part of times of strife although with the large amounts of fear, numerous even abandoned the Gods.
"Ash was falling onto the ships now, darker and denser the closer they went. Now it was bits of pumice, and rocks that were blackened and burned and shattered by the fire" this section from Pliny's letter was describing more of what the eruption was producing as apose to how the population was reacting. Much like the comparison of the eruption to a pine tree, this description helps us to understand why certain outcomes occurred the way they did. Pliny's explanation of how he saw ash, then pumice, followed by rocks is considered accurate following the results of the excavation of Pompeii matching so well to his sightings.
With Pliny's statements and real evidence compared and matched, it is even more of a reason to think Pliny's letters are a reliable source to the event, however Pliny's letters may be erroneous as a few events he said happened on that day have never been proven valid. As an example, Pliny states "the sea was being sucked backwards" which would demonstrate towards there being a tsunami, however no evidence has ever been discovered that a tsunami did occur on that day, so in this way it can be hard to choose what is really genuine and what could be false. Also as Pliny composed these letters 25 years after the event, it is understandable to think that he may have overlooked imperative bits of data or changed what had happened because of the old memories he was reliant on which then causes his letters to lose some of their believability as his letters may get to be more incorrect relying upon the amount he recollects. Another limitation of the source is that in Pliny's first letter, he describes his Uncle's exploits and what his Uncle would have seen so Pliny was not experiencing the events in his first letter himself. Although it has been said by some sources that Pliny heard the details of his Uncle's journey and death through the sailors who escaped ad related the events to him.