First-Hand Account of the Destruction of Pompeii // Pliny The Younger, Primary Source

Here we have Pliny the Younger's account of the heroic death of his famous uncle Pliny the Elder in the chaos of a volcanic eruption, the same that flattened Pompeii - as related to the legendary Roman historian Tacitus in one of his numerous letters.
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[@jamestown8398]

He died trying to rescue people. He deserves respect for that. Rest in peace, Pliny. Ave atque vale ...

[@missymoonwillow6545]

Funny how the great ones like this have no physical remains left behind..... Moses too.

[@lisaborsella5412]

Pliny the Elder tried to save people

[@Tflexxx02]

Pliny the Younger also methodically, and almost scientifically, recorded for posterity his observations of the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, to the point that modern volcanologists can recognize from his writings the phases of the volcano's eruption. I believe he was located across the Bay of Naples from Vesuvius.

[@MxT4ever]

He was in Misenum

[@JP-rf8rr]

He also wrote it about 20 years after the eruption.

[@alemalvina7624]

Amazing

[@divermike8943]

Pline the Younger was across the Bay of Naples. His Uncle, Pliny the Elder, was commander of the Roman Navy there. Misenum was on a peninsula just west of Naples. It's shown on the map in the video, as is Stabiae where Pliny the Elder sailed in an attempt to rescue whomever he could.

[@MrTsiolkovsky]

His Villa is on interest to landscape architects etc. very interesting guy

[@allanjohnson8951]

1:43 Not those kinds of pine trees, but umbrella pines. They aren't common outside the Mediterranean, imagine a palm-tree-like trunk with a broad, dense canopy about as wide as the tree is tall.

[@VoicesofthePast]

Thanks Nick! That does make more sense.

[@Dhhdjdjdj46]

Thats brilliant, when you see them it makes complete sense. An unusually primative looking tree to be honest

[@TheLolol94]

@@VoicesofthePast www.giardinaggio.org/giardino/alberi-conifere/pinus-pinea.asp this kind of tree, the article is in italian, just look at the pictures

[@yvonnecampbell7036]

@@TheLolol94 Cool, thanks.

[@lmonk9517]

@@TheLolol94 I went to pompeii and these sort of pines are all over the surrounding area.

[@xmaniac99]

His uncle was a true hero commanding the navy evacuating people from Pompeii and dying on the shore.

[@jelleschelfthout3636]

Pliny the Elder never went to Pompeii, he set sail for Rectina and her husband Tascus (which he never reached)

[@missymoonwillow6545]

@@jelleschelfthout3636 It's interesting how this character disappears himself oh so conveniently. I got a theory I'm working on, and it involves very VERY long life for a select few. I suspect Pliny to be the immortal scribe for mankind, none other than Enoch/Hermes/Thoth... he's got VERY distinct language writing style, and his manuscripts evolve over time as he becomes someone else. All famous ancient minded men from our history... but he's definitely there... guiding our minds the best he can with his works. The path of the holy alchemist is defined not by his ego, but by his devotion and faith to the greater work... This guy Pliny is a wonderment. He has me following him throughout our living history. Wisdom is the way to knowledge.

[@omy785]

@@missymoonwillow6545 Quit sniffing glue

[@mivapusa]

Pliny the Younger: "Today was not a great day..."

[@qboxer]

Excellent, thank you. I adore these letters.

[@GideonStahl]

This was very enjoyable and the various clips greatly enchanced the presentation. Hearing this account reminded of when I first studied this natural disaster a long time ago. Thank you for all the time and effort you put into this video.

[@gjdoc2]

Wow his words do more than any TV series or movie could ever do, amazing how he could remain calm in all that terrifying madeness

[@recar38]

This channel is a blessing

[@KowboyUSA]

For a couple generations, at least, astute observations were a family trait.

[@TheArmyStegui]

Well done! Read this in a couple of my Classics courses in college. Loved hearing it read.

[@jsoth2675]

All time favorite channel. Thanks for your hard work.

[@BrettonFerguson]

"Send a boat to rescue me quick" How did she send him a message for help? She didn't use her cell phone. She had to have sent a messenger. Unless she had a himing pigeon trained to go to Pliny the Elder's boat, she had to have sent a human messenger. If this is the case, she could have left with the messenger, or instead of the messenger. Unless the messenger swam the whole way. I'm guessing the messenger left on a very small boat, and she needed a bigger boat for all her stuff and her family. She should have left with the messenger.

[@luciano9755]

True, but people didn't know the full extent of the phenomenon. For them it must've been like a glorified earthquake at first, so she had the time to send a letter to Pliny. During that time rich people probably were used to temporarily evacuate their homes to accomodate their personal stuff in another one of their properties.

[@theblackprince1346]

Nice one, been hoping for a video on this for sometime.

[@anasevi9456]

incredible reading, thank you!

[@phillips9738]

Thank you, i always loved this story.

[@evershumor1302]

This is a really great channel!

[@giorgiamarino1882]

hey you put the wrong kind of pine tree in the video. He is referring to the "roman pine" or "stone pine" a pine shaped like a savannah tree

[@deanbuss1678]

Last three sentences were epically profound Great video ! 👍

[@stevenconroy5864]

Great story enjoyed it very much excellent choice

[@simonlavelle5572]

Great stuff So glad I found this channel :)

[@DeborahLArmstrong]

Very nice job!

[@annalisette5897]

That is such an eloquent letter!

[@oliversmith9200]

Wonderful, and well read.

[@VoicesofthePast]

Thanks!

[@elgatto3133]

Rest in peace Plinius Secundus.

[@tf1090c]

I was hoping you had uploaded a reading of this text. It’s one of the few texts from classical antiquity (that I know of) that I just couldn’t take my eyes off

[@chris7372]

So Pliny the younger didn't die too cause he'd rather keep up his work

[@shipwreck9146]

There were around 20,000 people living in Pompeii, and 1,500 bodies have been found. The total amount of deaths is unknown, some estimates ranging around 2,000

[@tinkywinky1238]

About half of Pompeii is yet to be excavated

[@shipwreck9146]

@The 2nd To Last Of The Albino Mexheecans A "Good" scenario, would be if there was a law that everyone in Pompeii was required to be on the mainland for the Augustus celebrations and the Vulcanalia festival, then they'd all sail back to pompeii a few days later, and they'd be like, "Oh fuck, what happened to my lawn?"

[@hail2redskins1]

@@tinkywinky1238 I was just in Pompeii a few months ago. It was utterly captivating. One of the coolest experiences of my life. Easily top 3. I couldn’t get over how intact the city is. Still has writing and paintings on the walls. The taverns have marble facade that look almost new. I can send some pics if you want to see.

[@babachlovari4782]

Stunning

[@SuperNintendawg]

Pretty metal way to die when you think about it

[@sepiae]

Did I hear right, did he really say that his uncle went for a *nap* in the midst of all this?

[@iant419]

Why don't you link to source materials???

[@ufosrus]

What a terrifying scene But I still don't understand why the elder Pliny did not set sail when he picked up his friend. Was it that it was just as dangerous as staying on land?

[@dionadair8195]

This guy legit took the time to note that his dead uncle was fat and had a snoring problem.

[@joaovictorhasse1630]

4:25 literal chills.

[@jadenmax679]

Cool.

[@VoicesofthePast]

Thanks!

[@RonJohn63]

Pliny the Elder fell asleep instead of sailing away. Is that because the wind was blowing onshore?

[@Dhhdjdjdj46]

Is this where fortune favors the brave comes from?

[@Wayzor_]

It's from an older Latin poem, the "Aeneid" by Virgil, so the Elder was quoting something already present in the culture.

[@Dhhdjdjdj46]

@@Wayzor_ Cheers my dude, classical literature has never been a strong point. Ever since uni I've avoided everything to do with anything classical, until this channel popped up 😂

[@Tony-Blake]

The consensus is that Pliny the Elder died of a heart attack.

[@richardhunter7662]

Yeah,where does it say that ,u have a link?

[@Tony-Blake]

@@richardhunter7662 No, but you can probably find it on Google, MIs are standard fare for fat, elderly men. If the cause of had solely been suffocation by fumes, his companions would have succumbed too.

[@Tony-Blake]

Your Latin teacher could well be correct, McOinky. An asthma attack would explain why he succumbed to the fumes when his companions did not.

[@alexe184]

@@stickemuppunkitsthefunlovi4733 he has the name 'elder' to distinguish between him and his nephew, Pliny the younger

[@94Newbie]

@@Tony-Blake not necessarily. he was lying down. the mix of toxic gasses from volcanoes is usually heavier than air and can form a cloud close to the ground.

[@knuppelgast]

I remember having to translate parts of this for Latin in highschool

[@johndaugherty4127]

Amazing map of Vesuvias from the air.

[@craignunnallypurcell]

Receiving a note - better than email…

[@jsoth2675]

Should do some late bronze age tablets

[@romanz4891]

What did he mean lights of various kinds? I mean other than fire what could they be using for light? 7:37

[@Martin_Daniel]

He means torches, candles, oil lamps...

[@wheaties2912]

Pummice has a soft U, it's not pewmis stone it's pummice.

[@VirrealWorld]

And to the public he wrote!

[@The_Bookman]

A delightful presentation. Thank you. Those very fake... James T. Kirk... pauses in the... reading though, are hopefully... a modern... affliction that soon will pass. Thanks to the reader too. Apart from the weird, curiously modern pauses for which I am so heartlessly ribbing him, he did... a good... job.

[@charleskeefer9030]

Nine manned twyns from gpdc.

[@yvonnecampbell7036]

Generation today wouldn't know How to write a letter......a selfie wouldn't survive.

[@alecmisra4964]

A willing sacrifice to the volcano god.

[@davidkelly4210]

@17mohara Hara VULCAN, Hephaestus was Greek. Contrary to myth, the Roman and Greek religions were related but distinct, the Romans being animistic at their core.

[@algutgeutschwin1511]

F

[@grugnotice7746]

Imagine how much better history class would have been in school with firsthand accounts like these rather than tainted and twisted history books. I'd like to hear some firsthand accounts from the great losers of history, whom history has been so unkind to.

[@yowut8075]

Pliny 2 mourned Pliny 1 because he was in the will. Change my mind

[@reallyhappenings5597]

I'd rather not.

[@LostArchivist]

Not sure wills as we know them existed then. Either way, Elder had a wife. Also, the text states why Pliny the Younger wrote the text. It was at the bequest of the historian Tacitus according to the video description.

[@elgatto3133]

@@LostArchivist they existed

[@davidkelly4210]

@glyn hodges Roman lawyers were really something. 1 guy managed to get a childless woman child support. lol