The Bozeman courier. (Bozeman, Mont.) 1919-1954, 1927-08-19
POMPEIPS FALL
TOLD BY PLINY
Excavation Work by Italy
Recalls Narrative by
Eyewitness.

and smoke clouds high into the air as
If in protest at the unearthing of a
city it had buried 1,S48 years ago.
But, according to scientists, there is
little danger Of Mount Vesuvius re-
heating the terrific outbursts Of 20 A.
d. and so the celebrating thrOngs
made merry, even into the night, when
brilliant fireworks lighted up the Bay
of Naples, vying with the bursts OF
fame high up In the volcanoes crater.
II is a different picture that Pliny
the Younger draws picture OF ter
forbidden days and nights, presaged
nv violent earth tremOrs that leveled
many houses before the awful spec
tacle of fire was dimly seen through
q rain of blazing stone and ash by a
doomed humanity. Yet concerning
the disaster he writes with a philo-
sophical detachment that makes one
wonder at his powers Of observation
end presence Of mind in such a
panicky time.
Eighteen at Time Of Disaster.
PIinv the Younger was only eighteen
Of the time of Mount Vesuvius' erup-
t,on. vet remarkably precOcious and
devoted to study. Born to riches In
an honorable family, the early death
of his father led to his adoption as a
son nv the elder Pliny, his uncle. Caius
plinius Caecilious Secundus was the
vonth's name. his mother being Plinia,
the elder Pliny's sister, and his father'
Gains Caecilius, of a plebeian family
tbot nevertheless numbered consuls
and other men Of note in Its ranks
The fathers health, however, PROB
ablv was responsible for the fame his
son achieved. for the elder Pliny, re-
nowned naturalist and man OF letters
saw TO it that his adopted son was
given the best Of education and
schooled in the literary and philosoph-
ical learning that meant so much to
him.
Vesnasian. first emperor Of the Fla
Wan dynasty, came to the end OF MS
worthy rule over Rome in the year
tragedy stalked in the Bay of Naples.
The dissolute times of Nero had been
followed with the ~blOOdshed Of civil
wars under the EmperOrs Galba, Ohio,
and Vitellius before Vespasian was
placed at the empires head to restore
good times. He passed on to his son.
Titus. the rule of Rome, and the de-
struction of POmpeii and H~eculaneum,
in the first summer of Titus short
reign. was one of three tragedies that
marred his otherwise excellent dispO-
sition of Roman government. A fire
in Rome nearly as bad as that OF
Nero's day and a time of plague which
followed it were the other two.
No Indication Of Eruption.
To the Romans clustered along the
beautiful shores of the Bay Of Maple:
in villas and clOse-built cities in Is
A. D., there was no indication thai
Mount Vesuvius might erupt. Earth
quakes we're not uncommon in TIT
region: in fact, one In 63 A. D. hat
been Of a devastating nature. TIL
Roman towns grouped along the ores
c~ent-shaped bay shore, starting at tn
northern ~prOmOntory, were: Misenun
Baiae, PuteOli. Neapolis, Herculaneun
Pompeii and Stabiae.
At Misenum existed q naval station
Raiae was a popular bathing resort
NeapOlis was one Of the largest Re
man metropOli, Pompeii was a NOR
or less commercial center, and He
~culaneum the summer resort Of tn
wealthy. For this reason the task {
digging it from beneath 100 feet {
lava and volcanic mud is expected I
reveal finer literary and art treasure
than those uncovered at Pompeii !
the past.
Pliny the Younger, In 20 A. D., VS.
spending the summer with his unc
and mother near Misenum, the ED
Pliny being in command Of the Roma
fleet stationed there. To the sou
and east rose the vine and tree-cl'
mountain slopes, completely coverii
Vesuvius In such manner that the
was no suspicion Of volcanic fore
~slumbering there.
Saw Death Of Uncle.
Here Pliny, who began practice
an advocate a year later, witness
the eruption and saw his uncle go
his death in an effort TO rescue peoI
caught on the bay shore closer to {
volcanoes mouth. Pliny's descripti
Of the disaster the world owe TO I
historian Tacitus, who some years
ter wrote asking for the details s
rounding the elder Pliny's death g
for an account of the dangers VIII
the youth himself escaped.
ION the oath Of August" Pliny q
wrote, "about one in the afternO
nv mother desired him (the Ell
PIiny) to observe q cloud which
peared Of a very unusual size {
shape. He had just taken a turn
the sun, and, after bathing himself
cold water, and making a light lun
con, gone back 60 his books; he iml
diately arose and went out upoE
rising ground from whence he mi
get a better sight Of this very unc
mon appearance.
"A cloud. from which mountain
uncertain at this distance, was asce
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