Abstract
The effect of the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, which led inter alia to the death of Pliny the Elder, is reviewed. Pliny, the admiral of the Roman imperial fleet, wished as scientist to witness the event from close by and set sail in the direction of Vesuvius, but got trapped in Stabiae, a few kilometers from Pompeii, where he died together with thousands of inhabitants of nearby villages. Various reasons have been advanced to account for his death (asphyxiation caused by respiratory problems, carbon dioxide poisoning, heart failure, advanced coronary sclerosis). Basing our findings on the description of the catastrophe in the letters of his nephew, the younger Pliny, we believe that the most probable diagnosis which also fits his description of his uncle’s behaviour and symptoms during his last hours, is that of acute and fatal bronchoconstriction in a chronic asthmatic.
Highlights
On 24 August AD 79 Vesuvius erupted, burying neighbouring Pompeii in ashes, stones and pumice, Herculaneum in volcanic mud, and Stabiae in ashes
Due to its inactivity the past 60 years, this volcano is at present the primary geological worry of Europe because of its potential explosivity: c. 1,5 million people live in the vicinity of the mountain
In his letter the younger Pliny obviously wishes to portray his uncle as the great humanitarian sacrificing his own life in his attempt to rescue those endangered by the eruption, with the result that one may expect that some details may have been omitted or over-emphasised
Summary
On 24 August AD 79 Vesuvius erupted, burying neighbouring Pompeii in ashes, stones and pumice, Herculaneum in volcanic mud, and Stabiae in ashes. Thousands of people lost their lives in this disaster. This was the second recorded eruption, the first being on 5 February AD 63.1 In the centuries thereafter Vesuvius has erupted nearly 50 times, most recently during the Allied invasion in 1944. Due to its inactivity the past 60 years, this volcano is at present the primary geological worry of Europe because of its potential explosivity: c. The eruption of AD 79 is described vividly by an eye-witness, Pliny the Younger, in two letters to the historian Tacitus (Epistulae 6.16 and 20), in response to the latter’s enquiry about the death of Pliny’s uncle, Pliny the Elder, during the catastrophe.[2]
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