1 00:00:05,720 --> 00:00:07,680 Speaker 1: Hey, welcome to Stuff to blow your mind. My name 2 00:00:07,720 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 1: is Robert Lamb and I'm Joe McCormick, and it's Saturday. 3 00:00:11,160 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 1: Time to go into the vault for a classic episode 4 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:16,439 Speaker 1: of the show. This one originally aired on February six, 5 00:00:17,320 --> 00:00:19,439 Speaker 1: and it was part one of our series about the 6 00:00:19,600 --> 00:00:24,479 Speaker 1: eruption of Mount Vesuvius in so we get to talk 7 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: about plenty of the younger we get to talk about 8 00:00:27,040 --> 00:00:29,720 Speaker 1: volcanoes this one. Or I've been wanting to do this 9 00:00:29,800 --> 00:00:32,240 Speaker 1: episode for a long time. And uh and I'm glad 10 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 1: we're bringing it back out of the out of the basement. Yeah, 11 00:00:35,880 --> 00:00:43,559 Speaker 1: all right, let's dive right in. Soon afterwards, the cloud 12 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,880 Speaker 1: began to descend and cover the scene. It had already 13 00:00:46,880 --> 00:00:50,440 Speaker 1: surrounded and concealed the island of Capri in the promontory 14 00:00:50,520 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: of my scene him. My mother begged me to leave 15 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: her and escape as best I could, but I absolutely refused, 16 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,440 Speaker 1: taking her by the hand and making her to hurry 17 00:00:59,480 --> 00:01:03,200 Speaker 1: along with Ash was already falling by now, though in 18 00:01:03,280 --> 00:01:06,640 Speaker 1: no great quantity. Then I turned and saw a thick 19 00:01:06,800 --> 00:01:10,640 Speaker 1: black cloud advancing over the land behind us like a flood. 20 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:12,880 Speaker 1: Let us leave the road while we can still see 21 00:01:13,120 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: I said, but we will be knocked down and trampled 22 00:01:15,720 --> 00:01:18,960 Speaker 1: by the crowd. We had scarcely sat down when darkness 23 00:01:19,080 --> 00:01:22,039 Speaker 1: came upon us. Not such as we have when the 24 00:01:22,080 --> 00:01:24,840 Speaker 1: sky is cloudy or when there is no moon, but 25 00:01:25,000 --> 00:01:27,399 Speaker 1: that of a room when it is shut up and 26 00:01:27,520 --> 00:01:48,600 Speaker 1: all the lamps put out. Welcome to Stuff to blow 27 00:01:48,640 --> 00:01:57,880 Speaker 1: your mind. A production of I Heart Radios has to work. Hey, 28 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to stuff to blow your mind. My name is 29 00:02:00,120 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: Robert Lamp and I'm Joe McCormick. And if you know 30 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:05,680 Speaker 1: your ancient Roman literature, you might have guessed from that 31 00:02:05,760 --> 00:02:08,079 Speaker 1: opening that today we're gonna be talking about the great 32 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:12,200 Speaker 1: eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Uh. This is something that I've 33 00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:14,519 Speaker 1: wanted to do an episode on for a long time, 34 00:02:14,919 --> 00:02:19,160 Speaker 1: mainly because I love some of the ancient Roman original 35 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:21,720 Speaker 1: documents that we're gonna be reading from today that they 36 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:25,959 Speaker 1: are like so crisp as a descriptive source of this 37 00:02:26,120 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: ancient catastrophe that happened in the year seventy nine. Yeah, 38 00:02:30,160 --> 00:02:31,919 Speaker 1: this is a This is a topic I'm excited to 39 00:02:31,960 --> 00:02:35,800 Speaker 1: get into as well, because I definitely have strong childhood 40 00:02:35,840 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 1: memories of of course being fascinated with volcanoes. Volcanoes along 41 00:02:39,280 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: with dinosaurs are just part of being a child. But 42 00:02:42,280 --> 00:02:45,960 Speaker 1: then also I remember having a national copy of National 43 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:51,400 Speaker 1: Geographic that had all these beautiful, haunting photographs of the 44 00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:56,680 Speaker 1: remnants of Pompeii, uh, the the victims of Vesuvius. Yeah, 45 00:02:56,720 --> 00:02:59,359 Speaker 1: it's funny you should bring up dinosaurs, because I think 46 00:02:59,400 --> 00:03:00,960 Speaker 1: this was sort of the back of my mind and 47 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:03,160 Speaker 1: I hadn't brought it to the front until you said that. 48 00:03:03,720 --> 00:03:05,920 Speaker 1: There's a weird way that in a lot of the 49 00:03:05,960 --> 00:03:08,120 Speaker 1: paleo art that I grew up with as a child. 50 00:03:08,160 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: I think we've actually mentioned this on the show before, 51 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:15,600 Speaker 1: that dinosaurs are often depicted with volcanoes currently erupting in 52 00:03:15,639 --> 00:03:18,440 Speaker 1: the background. Do you know what I'm talking about? Yes, absolutely, 53 00:03:18,520 --> 00:03:22,040 Speaker 1: you see it all the time. And the thing is, 54 00:03:22,120 --> 00:03:25,440 Speaker 1: sometimes I feel like the artists, the paleo artist in question, 55 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:27,920 Speaker 1: is definitely trying to get something across, like this is 56 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:30,959 Speaker 1: a region in which they were volcanic eruptions, or perhaps 57 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:34,720 Speaker 1: they're discussing the role of volcanoes, the role they may 58 00:03:34,720 --> 00:03:38,720 Speaker 1: have possibly played according to various theories regarding extinction events. 59 00:03:38,760 --> 00:03:42,080 Speaker 1: But other times I think it's this just idea of 60 00:03:42,120 --> 00:03:46,680 Speaker 1: this was this primal dangerous age in which the earth 61 00:03:46,760 --> 00:03:51,280 Speaker 1: is opening up, monsters are walking about, feasting on each other. 62 00:03:51,640 --> 00:03:54,840 Speaker 1: It's just that the world is alive with danger. I 63 00:03:54,880 --> 00:03:57,160 Speaker 1: think that's correct. But I think there's also something to 64 00:03:57,280 --> 00:03:59,840 Speaker 1: the thing you mentioned first, like the idea that volcanoes 65 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:03,800 Speaker 1: are sometimes invoked as one of the explanatory mechanisms for 66 00:04:03,840 --> 00:04:07,000 Speaker 1: some of the extinction events that killed lots of the dinosaurs. 67 00:04:07,120 --> 00:04:09,960 Speaker 1: And because they're thought of this way, we think about 68 00:04:10,000 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: dinosaurs often like as if we we mainly think of 69 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,840 Speaker 1: them in like the last moments before they were wiped 70 00:04:16,920 --> 00:04:19,440 Speaker 1: from the face of the earth. That's like the defining 71 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:23,680 Speaker 1: time of their existence there frozen in amber. Uh, in 72 00:04:23,720 --> 00:04:27,000 Speaker 1: the moment right before their doom. And in a strange way, 73 00:04:27,080 --> 00:04:30,920 Speaker 1: that is quite literally the case about the settlements surrounding 74 00:04:30,920 --> 00:04:34,000 Speaker 1: Mount Vesuvius. Absolutely. I mean that's one of the things 75 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:36,680 Speaker 1: about Pompey as it is it allows us to to 76 00:04:36,839 --> 00:04:39,599 Speaker 1: look into the past in ways that the remains of 77 00:04:39,640 --> 00:04:43,200 Speaker 1: other ancient cities do not. Yeah, it's for that reason 78 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:45,919 Speaker 1: that at the same time that it's very grim to 79 00:04:45,960 --> 00:04:48,920 Speaker 1: look at, it's also kind of magical. Uh. So we're 80 00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:51,320 Speaker 1: gonna be talking about the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. This 81 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:55,440 Speaker 1: this catastrophe in the year seventy nine CE that obliterated 82 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:59,400 Speaker 1: several Roman settlements around the Bay of Naples, including the 83 00:04:59,400 --> 00:05:03,159 Speaker 1: city of palm Pay and the town of Herculanium. And 84 00:05:03,279 --> 00:05:06,800 Speaker 1: historians studying the subject are very lucky because we actually 85 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:12,080 Speaker 1: have access to historical documents describing the eruption of Mount 86 00:05:12,120 --> 00:05:16,919 Speaker 1: Vesuvius in seventy nine in extreme detail. Specifically, this is 87 00:05:16,960 --> 00:05:20,000 Speaker 1: a pair of letters written by the first century Roman 88 00:05:20,040 --> 00:05:23,719 Speaker 1: politician and author Plenty the Younger, who is in fact 89 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:27,480 Speaker 1: the nephew of the great Roman author and encyclopedist Plenty 90 00:05:27,560 --> 00:05:30,279 Speaker 1: the Elder, whose natural history we reference on the show 91 00:05:30,320 --> 00:05:33,200 Speaker 1: all the time for insights on what the ancient Romans 92 00:05:33,480 --> 00:05:36,640 Speaker 1: thought they knew about everything from sea monsters to the 93 00:05:36,640 --> 00:05:39,760 Speaker 1: culinary virtues of lead. That's right, I feel it. Scarcely 94 00:05:39,800 --> 00:05:41,840 Speaker 1: a month goes by that we don't reference Plenty of 95 00:05:41,839 --> 00:05:45,000 Speaker 1: the Elder, So it's it's it's great and of course 96 00:05:45,160 --> 00:05:48,279 Speaker 1: bitter sweet to meet up with him again here, right, 97 00:05:48,400 --> 00:05:51,080 Speaker 1: because this, of course is the end of the story 98 00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:53,279 Speaker 1: of Plenty of the Elder. He spent a lifetime collecting 99 00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,880 Speaker 1: all of this knowledge and pseudo knowledge about the world. 100 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:59,200 Speaker 1: But we've never discussed before how plenty Of the elder died. 101 00:05:59,520 --> 00:06:02,440 Speaker 1: It was mountain that killed him. So about these letters 102 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:06,640 Speaker 1: describing the event. Sometime early in the second century CE, 103 00:06:06,800 --> 00:06:08,520 Speaker 1: I think I've seen it placed, maybe around the year 104 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:11,680 Speaker 1: one oh four, one oh five, something like that. Around 105 00:06:11,760 --> 00:06:14,599 Speaker 1: this time, plenty Of the Younger wrote two letters to 106 00:06:14,640 --> 00:06:19,560 Speaker 1: the Roman historian Cornelius Tacitus to give his firsthand account 107 00:06:19,600 --> 00:06:22,560 Speaker 1: of the eruption and to explain the ultimate fate of 108 00:06:22,600 --> 00:06:26,080 Speaker 1: his uncle. Now, these two letters are famous for their 109 00:06:26,200 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: vivid description of the events, and so we wanted to 110 00:06:29,440 --> 00:06:32,360 Speaker 1: put you on the ground during the eruption of Vesuvius 111 00:06:32,360 --> 00:06:36,040 Speaker 1: by reading some selections from these letters. Uh. These will 112 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:39,080 Speaker 1: come from a couple of different English translations that you 113 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:42,040 Speaker 1: can easily find online. I sort of made a composite 114 00:06:42,040 --> 00:06:44,360 Speaker 1: out of two different translations, trying to take some of 115 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:46,880 Speaker 1: the best parts from each one. One is from a 116 00:06:46,880 --> 00:06:50,760 Speaker 1: book called Volcanoes of Europe from Dunedin Academic Press from 117 00:06:50,760 --> 00:06:56,360 Speaker 1: TV by Degal Jaram Alwen Scarth and Jean Claude Tangai. 118 00:06:57,000 --> 00:07:01,000 Speaker 1: And then there's another widely used English translation by William Melmouth. 119 00:07:01,440 --> 00:07:04,000 Speaker 1: So those two came together to to create what you're 120 00:07:04,000 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: about to hear. Yes, these are are typically described as 121 00:07:07,640 --> 00:07:13,080 Speaker 1: the the oldest detailed accounts, detailed firsthand accounts of a 122 00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:17,000 Speaker 1: volcanic corruption. That's not to say that volcanic eruptions were 123 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:19,960 Speaker 1: not known to to do ancient people's They were known, 124 00:07:20,520 --> 00:07:23,360 Speaker 1: um and then we have mentioned of them popping out. 125 00:07:23,400 --> 00:07:27,840 Speaker 1: There's even I read there's there's an argument that Virgils, 126 00:07:27,880 --> 00:07:31,120 Speaker 1: a mention of an eruption of Mount Etna in the 127 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:38,080 Speaker 1: in Need was actually generated via firsthand observation. But even 128 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,240 Speaker 1: that would not be the level of detail that we're 129 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:43,320 Speaker 1: discussing here, right. I have not found any evidence of 130 00:07:43,720 --> 00:07:48,360 Speaker 1: a description of a volcanic eruption in in literary history 131 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:53,080 Speaker 1: older than Plenty's description here that contains nearly anywhere close 132 00:07:53,120 --> 00:07:55,120 Speaker 1: to the amount of detail we get, right, Certainly nothing 133 00:07:55,160 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: that has survived, and probably because a lot of the 134 00:07:58,160 --> 00:08:00,200 Speaker 1: people who might have been in a position and to 135 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:04,480 Speaker 1: write such an account themselves did not survive. Uh So, 136 00:08:04,760 --> 00:08:08,560 Speaker 1: Plenty the Younger begins his first letter by praising Tacitus's 137 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:11,600 Speaker 1: skills as a writer of history and talking about his 138 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:14,600 Speaker 1: uncle Plenty of the Elder, and he he says, basically, 139 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:17,280 Speaker 1: you know, my uncle died in a misfortune, but there's 140 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:20,160 Speaker 1: a chance to redeem his legacy, because if you put 141 00:08:20,240 --> 00:08:22,400 Speaker 1: him in your in your history, if his name becomes 142 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:26,360 Speaker 1: associated with the eruption of Vesuvius, it will render his 143 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:29,600 Speaker 1: name immortal. Uh So, I'm going to pick up after 144 00:08:29,640 --> 00:08:33,760 Speaker 1: that section of of introduction and just read from Plenty's 145 00:08:33,760 --> 00:08:36,520 Speaker 1: account within his first letter. At the time of the 146 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:39,760 Speaker 1: great eruption, my uncle Plenty was with the fleet under 147 00:08:39,840 --> 00:08:44,200 Speaker 1: his command at mycene him on the August about one 148 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,520 Speaker 1: in the afternoon. My mother desired him to observe a 149 00:08:47,559 --> 00:08:51,040 Speaker 1: cloud which appeared of a very unusual size and shape. 150 00:08:51,480 --> 00:08:53,720 Speaker 1: He had just taken a turn in the sun, and 151 00:08:53,880 --> 00:08:57,280 Speaker 1: after bathing himself in cold water and making a light luncheon, 152 00:08:57,640 --> 00:09:00,960 Speaker 1: he had gone back to his books. He imediately arose 153 00:09:01,080 --> 00:09:03,800 Speaker 1: and went out upon a promontory, from whence he might 154 00:09:03,840 --> 00:09:07,200 Speaker 1: get a better site of this very uncommon appearance. From 155 00:09:07,240 --> 00:09:09,800 Speaker 1: that distance, it was not clear from which mountain the 156 00:09:09,840 --> 00:09:13,640 Speaker 1: cloud was rising, although it was found afterwards to be Vesuvious. 157 00:09:14,200 --> 00:09:16,640 Speaker 1: The cloud could best be described as more like an 158 00:09:16,760 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: umbrella pine than any other tree, for it rose high 159 00:09:20,520 --> 00:09:24,120 Speaker 1: up like a trunk and then divided into branches. I 160 00:09:24,120 --> 00:09:26,720 Speaker 1: imagined that this was because it was thrust up by 161 00:09:26,720 --> 00:09:30,000 Speaker 1: the initial blast until its power weakened and it was 162 00:09:30,120 --> 00:09:33,560 Speaker 1: left unsupported and spread out sideways under its own weight. 163 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:37,800 Speaker 1: Sometimes it looked light colored, sometimes it looked modeled and 164 00:09:37,880 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: dirty with the earth and cinders it had carried up. 165 00:09:41,000 --> 00:09:44,360 Speaker 1: This phenomenon seemed to a man of such learning and 166 00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:48,800 Speaker 1: research as my uncle, extraordinary and worth further looking into. 167 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:51,679 Speaker 1: He ordered a light vessel to be got ready and 168 00:09:51,760 --> 00:09:54,880 Speaker 1: gave me leave if I liked it to accompany him. 169 00:09:54,920 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: I said, I had rather go on with my work, 170 00:09:57,400 --> 00:10:00,240 Speaker 1: and it so happened he had himself give in me 171 00:10:00,360 --> 00:10:02,960 Speaker 1: something to ride out. As he was coming out of 172 00:10:03,000 --> 00:10:06,480 Speaker 1: the house, he received a note from a Retina, the 173 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:09,679 Speaker 1: wife of Tascus, who was in the utmost alarm at 174 00:10:09,679 --> 00:10:13,240 Speaker 1: the immediate danger which threatened her for her villa, lying 175 00:10:13,280 --> 00:10:15,920 Speaker 1: at the foot of Mount Vesuvius. There was no way 176 00:10:16,080 --> 00:10:19,240 Speaker 1: of escape but by boat. She was terrified by the 177 00:10:19,240 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: threatening danger and begged him to rescue her. He's changed 178 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:25,520 Speaker 1: his plan at once, and what he had started in 179 00:10:25,559 --> 00:10:29,320 Speaker 1: a spirit of scientific curiosity, he ended as a hero. 180 00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:31,880 Speaker 1: You know, at this point I always stopped, and I wonder, like, 181 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,080 Speaker 1: how did he get the note? I imagine it must 182 00:10:34,120 --> 00:10:36,839 Speaker 1: have come to him across the water, right that maybe 183 00:10:36,840 --> 00:10:38,960 Speaker 1: in a smaller boat she was able to send a note, 184 00:10:38,960 --> 00:10:41,080 Speaker 1: doubt and to ask him to come back with larger 185 00:10:41,120 --> 00:10:43,760 Speaker 1: boats that she and her family could escape on. I 186 00:10:43,760 --> 00:10:46,160 Speaker 1: I imagine, I mean, the only ways it would be 187 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:49,640 Speaker 1: that or by some manner of bird. Yeah, as long 188 00:10:49,679 --> 00:10:52,640 Speaker 1: as we're interjecting, I want to remind everyone here that 189 00:10:52,640 --> 00:10:55,400 Speaker 1: that Plenty of the elder would have been about fifty 190 00:10:55,440 --> 00:10:57,560 Speaker 1: six years old at this point. If you're trying to 191 00:10:57,559 --> 00:11:00,480 Speaker 1: picture him in your head, and perhaps cast um an 192 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:03,440 Speaker 1: actor in the role. Yes, and the younger Plenty also 193 00:11:03,480 --> 00:11:06,560 Speaker 1: says of his uncle that he was that he was 194 00:11:06,600 --> 00:11:08,760 Speaker 1: like brave and stout, but he he also says he 195 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:12,080 Speaker 1: was a quite corpulent man, so like he wasn't necessarily, 196 00:11:12,480 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 1: you know, fit as a fiddle to be running out 197 00:11:14,400 --> 00:11:17,439 Speaker 1: into danger. But anyway, to go back to the account, uh, 198 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:20,680 Speaker 1: Plenty continues, he ordered the galleys to be put to sea, 199 00:11:21,040 --> 00:11:23,520 Speaker 1: and he went himself on board with an intention of 200 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:27,120 Speaker 1: assisting not only Rectina, but the several other towns which 201 00:11:27,200 --> 00:11:31,240 Speaker 1: lay thickly strewn along that beautiful coast, hastening then to 202 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: the place from whence others fled with the utmost terror, 203 00:11:34,360 --> 00:11:37,199 Speaker 1: he steered his course direct to the point of danger, 204 00:11:37,480 --> 00:11:40,360 Speaker 1: and with so much calmness and presence of mind as 205 00:11:40,400 --> 00:11:43,240 Speaker 1: to be able to make and dictate his observations upon 206 00:11:43,280 --> 00:11:46,480 Speaker 1: the motion and all the phenomena of that dreadful scene. 207 00:11:46,720 --> 00:11:49,280 Speaker 1: So he's taken notes as he goes. He was now 208 00:11:49,320 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 1: so close to the mountain that the cinders, which grew 209 00:11:51,960 --> 00:11:56,000 Speaker 1: thicker and hotter the nearer he approached, fell into the ships, 210 00:11:56,320 --> 00:12:00,280 Speaker 1: together with pumice stones and black pieces of burning rock 211 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:03,640 Speaker 1: shattered by the fire. They were in danger too, not 212 00:12:03,720 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: only of being a ground by the sudden retreat of 213 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:09,920 Speaker 1: the sea, but also from the vast fragments which rolled 214 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:13,679 Speaker 1: down from the mountain and obstructed all the shore. Can 215 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,000 Speaker 1: you imagine that being out on a boat and so 216 00:12:16,120 --> 00:12:18,440 Speaker 1: like the sea is first of all pulling away from 217 00:12:18,480 --> 00:12:21,120 Speaker 1: the shore as you're trying to get into the shore 218 00:12:21,160 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: to rescue people from the villas along the shoreline. So 219 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:28,360 Speaker 1: the seas retreating, and then also stuff from the mountain 220 00:12:28,440 --> 00:12:31,800 Speaker 1: is now coming down and making its way into the water, right, 221 00:12:31,880 --> 00:12:34,360 Speaker 1: I mean it must have been like approaching a shore 222 00:12:34,520 --> 00:12:37,200 Speaker 1: upon which there was a battle. Only instead of two 223 00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,960 Speaker 1: human forces engaged in battle, it is a battle between 224 00:12:40,040 --> 00:12:46,080 Speaker 1: civilization and the elements of the earth itself unreal. He continues. Here, 225 00:12:46,120 --> 00:12:49,200 Speaker 1: he stopped to consider whether he should turn back, for 226 00:12:49,240 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: the pilot was advising retreat. Fortune favors the brave, he said, 227 00:12:53,679 --> 00:12:59,120 Speaker 1: Steer to where Pomponius is. Pomponius lived at t Stavia, 228 00:12:59,200 --> 00:13:01,840 Speaker 1: a town across us the Bay of Naples, which was 229 00:13:01,880 --> 00:13:04,360 Speaker 1: not yet in danger, but would be threatened if the 230 00:13:04,520 --> 00:13:09,200 Speaker 1: eruption spread. Pomponianus had already put his belongings into a 231 00:13:09,240 --> 00:13:12,880 Speaker 1: boat to escape as soon as the contrary onshore wind changed. 232 00:13:13,160 --> 00:13:16,080 Speaker 1: The wind, of course, was fully in my uncle's favor, 233 00:13:16,320 --> 00:13:19,439 Speaker 1: and quickly brought his boat to Stabia. My uncle calmed 234 00:13:19,480 --> 00:13:23,240 Speaker 1: and encouraged his terrified friend, the more effectually to soothe 235 00:13:23,280 --> 00:13:27,200 Speaker 1: his fears by seeming unconcerned himself. He ordered the drawing 236 00:13:27,240 --> 00:13:30,640 Speaker 1: of a hot bath, and then, after having bathed, sat 237 00:13:30,679 --> 00:13:33,560 Speaker 1: down to supper with great cheerfulness, or at least with 238 00:13:33,679 --> 00:13:36,880 Speaker 1: every appearance of it, Which is just as brave? Is 239 00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:39,199 Speaker 1: that just as bread? I guess? So, yeah, if you're 240 00:13:39,240 --> 00:13:41,520 Speaker 1: like trying to calm other people, even though you are 241 00:13:41,600 --> 00:13:44,480 Speaker 1: yourself scared. Yeah. I mean, if there's only so much 242 00:13:44,600 --> 00:13:49,120 Speaker 1: you can do, calmness is going to help and help 243 00:13:49,200 --> 00:13:52,280 Speaker 1: to maintain a proper retreat. I mean, I guess to 244 00:13:52,280 --> 00:13:55,840 Speaker 1: a certain extent, one could again apply the military metaphor here, 245 00:13:55,920 --> 00:13:59,880 Speaker 1: you know, and the military backgrounds of individuals involved. So 246 00:14:00,000 --> 00:14:01,839 Speaker 1: I guess what they're saying here is that he's stuck 247 00:14:01,880 --> 00:14:04,040 Speaker 1: at the house until the winds change and they can 248 00:14:04,080 --> 00:14:06,800 Speaker 1: get out by water, and trying to encourage people not 249 00:14:06,840 --> 00:14:11,200 Speaker 1: to panic while they're while they're there, so plenty continues. Meanwhile, 250 00:14:11,480 --> 00:14:15,960 Speaker 1: tall broad flames blazed from several places on Vesuvius and 251 00:14:16,080 --> 00:14:19,200 Speaker 1: glared out through the darkness of the night. But my uncle, 252 00:14:19,240 --> 00:14:22,360 Speaker 1: in order to soothe the apprehensions of his friend, assured 253 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:24,880 Speaker 1: him it was only the burning of the villages which 254 00:14:24,920 --> 00:14:28,280 Speaker 1: the country people had abandoned to the flames. After this 255 00:14:28,360 --> 00:14:31,080 Speaker 1: he retired to rest, and it is most certain that 256 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:33,600 Speaker 1: he was so little disquieted as to fall into a 257 00:14:33,680 --> 00:14:37,480 Speaker 1: sound sleep. For his breathing, which on account of his corpulence, 258 00:14:37,520 --> 00:14:40,960 Speaker 1: was rather heavy and sonorous, was heard by the attendants 259 00:14:40,960 --> 00:14:44,960 Speaker 1: outside his door. But eventually the courtyard outside began to 260 00:14:45,080 --> 00:14:48,280 Speaker 1: fill with so much ash and pummice that if he 261 00:14:48,280 --> 00:14:50,640 Speaker 1: had stayed in his room, he would never have been 262 00:14:50,680 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: able to get out. So he was awakened, and he 263 00:14:53,360 --> 00:14:56,120 Speaker 1: went to Pompony Inis and the rest of the company, 264 00:14:56,320 --> 00:14:58,520 Speaker 1: who had stayed up all night and we're feeling too 265 00:14:58,520 --> 00:15:02,040 Speaker 1: anxious to think of going to They consulted together whether 266 00:15:02,080 --> 00:15:05,040 Speaker 1: it would be most prudent to trust to the houses, 267 00:15:05,440 --> 00:15:08,240 Speaker 1: which now rocked from side to side with frequent and 268 00:15:08,320 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: violent concussions, as though shaken from their very foundations, or 269 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:15,560 Speaker 1: fly to the open fields, where the stones and cinders, 270 00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:20,040 Speaker 1: though light and porous, fell in large showers and threatened destruction. 271 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:23,840 Speaker 1: In this choice of dangers, they resolved for the fields, 272 00:15:23,840 --> 00:15:26,400 Speaker 1: a resolution which, while the rest of the company were 273 00:15:26,480 --> 00:15:30,280 Speaker 1: hurried into by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool 274 00:15:30,400 --> 00:15:34,560 Speaker 1: and deliberate consideration. They went out then, having pillows tied 275 00:15:34,640 --> 00:15:37,360 Speaker 1: upon their heads with napkins, for this was their whole 276 00:15:37,360 --> 00:15:41,040 Speaker 1: defense against the storm of stones that fell around them. 277 00:15:41,080 --> 00:15:42,800 Speaker 1: And I have to admit that is that is a 278 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,040 Speaker 1: slightly comical mental image. Yes, it is put in your head. Well, 279 00:15:46,040 --> 00:15:47,840 Speaker 1: it's it's like both at the same time. It's like 280 00:15:48,000 --> 00:15:51,240 Speaker 1: funny but it's also so grim and so real, like 281 00:15:51,280 --> 00:15:53,720 Speaker 1: you can imagine like, Okay, so the house you're you're 282 00:15:53,720 --> 00:15:55,560 Speaker 1: afraid the house is going to collapse. You've got to 283 00:15:55,560 --> 00:15:58,360 Speaker 1: get away from the house. But outside the house, stuff is, 284 00:15:58,840 --> 00:16:01,400 Speaker 1: rocks are falling from the sky. So what do you do? 285 00:16:01,600 --> 00:16:03,600 Speaker 1: You know, like it's not safe to be under a roof. 286 00:16:03,680 --> 00:16:05,800 Speaker 1: So like they literally were like, okay, we've got to 287 00:16:05,920 --> 00:16:09,480 Speaker 1: improvise helmets, right, yeah, So yeah, I agree, it is. 288 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:12,160 Speaker 1: It is both a little bit comic but also terrifying. 289 00:16:12,200 --> 00:16:15,240 Speaker 1: I mean, this whole situation is terrifying. And I think 290 00:16:15,320 --> 00:16:16,840 Speaker 1: one thing to keep in mind too, is we read 291 00:16:16,880 --> 00:16:20,840 Speaker 1: this account is again thinking about to what extent Plenty 292 00:16:20,880 --> 00:16:25,240 Speaker 1: is trying to manage evacuation and to to to manage 293 00:16:25,280 --> 00:16:30,080 Speaker 1: their response, a calm response to this catastrophe that's taking place, 294 00:16:30,280 --> 00:16:31,920 Speaker 1: because that is going to be vital not only do 295 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:36,240 Speaker 1: this scenario, but to other scenarios and even future scenarios 296 00:16:37,160 --> 00:16:42,280 Speaker 1: regarding the clash of human civilization and volcanic activity. Yes. Uh, 297 00:16:42,320 --> 00:16:45,080 Speaker 1: And you say he's having to manage an evacuation, He's 298 00:16:45,080 --> 00:16:47,360 Speaker 1: not only having to do that, he's having to improvise 299 00:16:47,560 --> 00:16:49,960 Speaker 1: management of an evacuation because they don't know what the 300 00:16:49,960 --> 00:16:52,840 Speaker 1: best practices are. So anyway, it goes on to the 301 00:16:52,840 --> 00:16:55,520 Speaker 1: conclusion of the letter here. So they've gone out with 302 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,520 Speaker 1: the pillows tied to their heads, And then plenty of 303 00:16:57,560 --> 00:17:00,800 Speaker 1: the younger says it was now daylight everywhere else, but 304 00:17:00,960 --> 00:17:04,000 Speaker 1: there a deeper darkness prevailed than in the thickest night, 305 00:17:04,359 --> 00:17:06,960 Speaker 1: and they were forced to light their torches and lamps. 306 00:17:07,359 --> 00:17:09,399 Speaker 1: My uncle went down to the shore to see if 307 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:11,760 Speaker 1: there was any chance of escape by sea, but the 308 00:17:11,800 --> 00:17:15,359 Speaker 1: waves were still far too high. There my uncle, laying 309 00:17:15,400 --> 00:17:18,520 Speaker 1: himself down upon a sail cloth which was spread for him, 310 00:17:18,760 --> 00:17:22,160 Speaker 1: called twice for some cold water, which he drank. Then 311 00:17:22,200 --> 00:17:26,040 Speaker 1: immediately the flames, preceded by a strong whift of sulfur, 312 00:17:26,400 --> 00:17:29,520 Speaker 1: dispersed the rest of the party and obliged him to rise. 313 00:17:30,000 --> 00:17:32,920 Speaker 1: He raised himself up with the assistance of his two servants, 314 00:17:33,160 --> 00:17:37,560 Speaker 1: and instantly fell down dead, suffocated, as I conjecture, by 315 00:17:37,600 --> 00:17:41,000 Speaker 1: some gross and noxious vapor, having always had a weak 316 00:17:41,080 --> 00:17:44,159 Speaker 1: throat which was often inflamed as soon as it was 317 00:17:44,240 --> 00:17:46,639 Speaker 1: light again, which was not till the third day after 318 00:17:46,680 --> 00:17:50,720 Speaker 1: this melancholy accident, his body was found entire and without 319 00:17:50,760 --> 00:17:53,439 Speaker 1: any marks of violence upon it, in the dress in 320 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,359 Speaker 1: which he fell, and looking more like a man asleep 321 00:17:56,520 --> 00:17:59,399 Speaker 1: than dead. So Plenty of the Elder dies here on 322 00:17:59,440 --> 00:18:02,040 Speaker 1: the shore, but not everybody in his party does because, 323 00:18:02,040 --> 00:18:04,560 Speaker 1: of course, like the servants and friends are later able 324 00:18:04,560 --> 00:18:06,960 Speaker 1: to report back to Plenty of the younger what happened 325 00:18:06,960 --> 00:18:09,760 Speaker 1: to his uncle? Right and uh? And of course Plenty 326 00:18:09,760 --> 00:18:13,280 Speaker 1: of the Younger mentions his his ailing lungs as being 327 00:18:13,280 --> 00:18:17,480 Speaker 1: a possible reason that he succumbed to these fumes. It 328 00:18:17,520 --> 00:18:21,400 Speaker 1: has also been hypothesized that he could have actually even 329 00:18:21,400 --> 00:18:23,359 Speaker 1: though by all appearances it might have had something to 330 00:18:23,400 --> 00:18:26,240 Speaker 1: do with the fumes, it also could have simply been 331 00:18:26,280 --> 00:18:29,359 Speaker 1: a stroke or heart attack. Yeah, I mean, obviously this 332 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:33,520 Speaker 1: is a high stress, high exertion situation. Um, and he 333 00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:36,680 Speaker 1: wasn't a young man anymore. But so Plenty then ends 334 00:18:36,800 --> 00:18:39,720 Speaker 1: his letter by saying he witnessed a lot of other stuff, 335 00:18:39,800 --> 00:18:42,000 Speaker 1: but he didn't include it in the letter because Tacitus 336 00:18:42,000 --> 00:18:45,199 Speaker 1: originally had only asked how his uncle had died, And 337 00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,560 Speaker 1: apparently Tacitus wrote back and wanted to know more. He 338 00:18:48,600 --> 00:18:51,159 Speaker 1: wanted to know details about what the younger Plenty and 339 00:18:51,280 --> 00:18:54,840 Speaker 1: his mother had encountered when they stayed behind it mycene him, 340 00:18:55,280 --> 00:18:57,760 Speaker 1: and that makes for the content of the second letter. 341 00:18:58,040 --> 00:18:59,560 Speaker 1: So maybe we should take a break, and then when 342 00:18:59,560 --> 00:19:02,320 Speaker 1: we come back we can read from plenty second letter 343 00:19:02,320 --> 00:19:09,159 Speaker 1: about the eruption. Thank alright, we're back. So before the 344 00:19:09,240 --> 00:19:12,280 Speaker 1: break we were discussing how Plenty of the elder died, 345 00:19:12,640 --> 00:19:15,159 Speaker 1: and now we are essentially going to explore how Plenty 346 00:19:15,160 --> 00:19:18,359 Speaker 1: of the younger lived. Yes, so now remember in the 347 00:19:18,400 --> 00:19:21,000 Speaker 1: first letter, plenty of the younger and his mother stayed 348 00:19:21,040 --> 00:19:23,639 Speaker 1: behind at mycene him while the elder took the fleet 349 00:19:23,640 --> 00:19:26,160 Speaker 1: out to help people who were further along the shore. 350 00:19:26,800 --> 00:19:29,760 Speaker 1: And so Plenty picks up his narrative like this. He says, 351 00:19:30,320 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: after my uncle left us, I studied, dined, and went 352 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:36,520 Speaker 1: to bed, but slept only fitfully. We had had earth 353 00:19:36,560 --> 00:19:39,879 Speaker 1: tremors for several days, which were not especially alarming because 354 00:19:39,880 --> 00:19:43,280 Speaker 1: they happened so often in Campania. But that night they 355 00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,680 Speaker 1: were so violent that everything felt as if it were 356 00:19:45,720 --> 00:19:49,040 Speaker 1: being shaken and turned over. My mother came hurrying to 357 00:19:49,119 --> 00:19:51,320 Speaker 1: my room, and we sat together in the fore court 358 00:19:51,400 --> 00:19:53,879 Speaker 1: facing the sea. As I was at that time, but 359 00:19:54,040 --> 00:19:56,760 Speaker 1: eighteen years of age, I know not whether I should 360 00:19:56,760 --> 00:20:00,960 Speaker 1: call my behavior in this dangerous juncture courage or folly. 361 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:03,960 Speaker 1: But I looked up to Livy and amused myself with 362 00:20:04,080 --> 00:20:08,160 Speaker 1: turning over that author and even making extracts from him, 363 00:20:08,200 --> 00:20:11,440 Speaker 1: as if I had been perfectly at my leisure. Though 364 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:14,240 Speaker 1: it was now morning, the light was still exceedingly faint 365 00:20:14,280 --> 00:20:18,439 Speaker 1: and doubtful. The buildings around we're already tottering, and we 366 00:20:18,480 --> 00:20:21,239 Speaker 1: would have been in danger in our confined space if 367 00:20:21,280 --> 00:20:24,119 Speaker 1: our house had fallen down. This made us decide to 368 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: leave town. We were chased after by a panic stricken 369 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:30,959 Speaker 1: crowd that chose to follow someone else's judgment rather than 370 00:20:31,040 --> 00:20:34,680 Speaker 1: decide anything for themselves. I love that detail that he's 371 00:20:34,800 --> 00:20:37,080 Speaker 1: like he's trying to act like he's not afraid, so 372 00:20:37,119 --> 00:20:39,280 Speaker 1: he's just going on with his studies. It's like, I'll 373 00:20:39,320 --> 00:20:43,320 Speaker 1: just keep reading Livy, make some notes. And then again 374 00:20:43,400 --> 00:20:45,440 Speaker 1: this is terrifying scene of like every no one knows 375 00:20:45,480 --> 00:20:47,720 Speaker 1: what to do, and so like, of course they're going 376 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:52,280 Speaker 1: to follow uh plenty here, just like like somebody who 377 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:54,480 Speaker 1: looks like they know what needs to be done and 378 00:20:54,600 --> 00:20:56,920 Speaker 1: knows no where they need to go, they're going to 379 00:20:56,960 --> 00:20:59,639 Speaker 1: fall in behind them. We also he was the of 380 00:20:59,680 --> 00:21:02,639 Speaker 1: a family of military command, so his uncle would have 381 00:21:02,640 --> 00:21:04,560 Speaker 1: been known as the commander of the fleet there at 382 00:21:04,560 --> 00:21:07,359 Speaker 1: the bay. So I think if the relatives of the 383 00:21:07,359 --> 00:21:10,800 Speaker 1: commanders suddenly start leaving town, everybody is going to see 384 00:21:10,840 --> 00:21:12,760 Speaker 1: that and be like, we probably need to get out 385 00:21:12,800 --> 00:21:15,919 Speaker 1: to Yeah, I would. I would say, you know, the 386 00:21:15,960 --> 00:21:18,520 Speaker 1: comeback here would be of course, we're following you and 387 00:21:18,560 --> 00:21:22,360 Speaker 1: not thinking for ourselves. You're the military, like you're you're 388 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:25,000 Speaker 1: you're the one to follow you. We're not going to 389 00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:27,720 Speaker 1: trust your own judgment. Here you are the navy. But again, 390 00:21:27,920 --> 00:21:29,560 Speaker 1: this would not have been a time when people had 391 00:21:29,600 --> 00:21:32,119 Speaker 1: like a list of safety procedures they could look up 392 00:21:32,119 --> 00:21:35,080 Speaker 1: for a volcanic eruption. I mean you you have no precedent. 393 00:21:35,119 --> 00:21:37,080 Speaker 1: You had no idea what to do, right, because, as 394 00:21:37,119 --> 00:21:40,320 Speaker 1: well as we'll discuss as we get into this topic more, 395 00:21:40,960 --> 00:21:44,639 Speaker 1: this volcano had not erupted in quite a while. It 396 00:21:44,720 --> 00:21:47,639 Speaker 1: had at the very least been centuries. Yeah. Now Plenty 397 00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:49,879 Speaker 1: picks up of this narrative. He says, being at a 398 00:21:49,920 --> 00:21:53,320 Speaker 1: convenient distance from the houses, we stood still in the 399 00:21:53,359 --> 00:21:56,920 Speaker 1: midst of a most dangerous and dreadful scene. The carriages 400 00:21:57,000 --> 00:22:00,280 Speaker 1: we had ordered began to lurch to and fro although 401 00:22:00,359 --> 00:22:03,400 Speaker 1: the ground was flat, and we could not keep them still, 402 00:22:03,480 --> 00:22:07,080 Speaker 1: even when we wedged their wheels with stones. Then we 403 00:22:07,160 --> 00:22:10,960 Speaker 1: saw the sea sucked back, apparently by a convulsion of 404 00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:14,159 Speaker 1: the earth, and many sea creatures were left stranded on 405 00:22:14,200 --> 00:22:17,639 Speaker 1: the dry sand. From the other direction, over the land, 406 00:22:17,920 --> 00:22:21,679 Speaker 1: a dreadful black cloud was torn by gushing flames and 407 00:22:21,840 --> 00:22:26,480 Speaker 1: great tongues of fire, like much magnified lightning. Soon afterwards, 408 00:22:26,600 --> 00:22:29,719 Speaker 1: the cloud began to descend and cover the sea. It 409 00:22:29,760 --> 00:22:33,199 Speaker 1: had already surrounded and concealed the island of Capri and 410 00:22:33,240 --> 00:22:36,679 Speaker 1: the promontory of my Sinum. My mother begged me to 411 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:38,720 Speaker 1: leave her and escape as best I could, but I 412 00:22:38,760 --> 00:22:42,560 Speaker 1: absolutely refused, taking her by the hand and making her 413 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:46,000 Speaker 1: to hurry along with me. Ash was already falling by 414 00:22:46,040 --> 00:22:49,119 Speaker 1: now they're in no great quantity. Then I turned and 415 00:22:49,119 --> 00:22:52,240 Speaker 1: saw a thick black cloud advancing over the land behind 416 00:22:52,400 --> 00:22:54,960 Speaker 1: us like a flood. Let us leave the road while 417 00:22:55,000 --> 00:22:57,320 Speaker 1: we still can see, I said, or we will be 418 00:22:57,359 --> 00:23:00,359 Speaker 1: knocked down and trampled by the crowd. We had actually 419 00:23:00,359 --> 00:23:03,320 Speaker 1: sat down when darkness came upon us, not such as 420 00:23:03,359 --> 00:23:05,760 Speaker 1: we have when the sky is cloudy or when there 421 00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:08,040 Speaker 1: is no moon, but that of a room when it 422 00:23:08,119 --> 00:23:11,200 Speaker 1: is shut up and all the lamps put out. Can 423 00:23:11,280 --> 00:23:14,320 Speaker 1: you imagine that? So this is daytime now, but the 424 00:23:14,600 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 1: it is not only dark like a night, it is 425 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: darker than night. Yeah, this is this is the darkness 426 00:23:20,080 --> 00:23:23,040 Speaker 1: at noon type situation exactly. So he goes on to 427 00:23:23,119 --> 00:23:26,160 Speaker 1: describe the terror of the scene. He says, you might 428 00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:29,040 Speaker 1: hear the shrieks of women, the screams of children, and 429 00:23:29,080 --> 00:23:32,320 Speaker 1: the shouts of men, some calling for their children, others 430 00:23:32,359 --> 00:23:35,399 Speaker 1: for their parents, others for their husbands, and seeking to 431 00:23:35,480 --> 00:23:39,280 Speaker 1: recognize each other by the voices that replied, one lamenting 432 00:23:39,359 --> 00:23:43,000 Speaker 1: his own fate, another that of his family, some praying 433 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:46,719 Speaker 1: to die from the very fear of dying, some lifting 434 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,679 Speaker 1: their hands to the gods. But the greater part convinced 435 00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:52,480 Speaker 1: that there were now no gods at all, and that 436 00:23:52,600 --> 00:23:55,320 Speaker 1: the final, endless night of which we had heard had 437 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:58,520 Speaker 1: come upon the world. Among these there were some who 438 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:02,960 Speaker 1: augmented the real terrors by others imaginary or willfully invented. 439 00:24:03,320 --> 00:24:05,639 Speaker 1: I remember some who declared that one part of my 440 00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:08,800 Speaker 1: sin him had fallen, that another was on fire. It 441 00:24:08,920 --> 00:24:12,080 Speaker 1: was false, but they found people to believe them. So 442 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:17,040 Speaker 1: just chaos is raining misinformation is flying. The world is 443 00:24:17,200 --> 00:24:20,359 Speaker 1: dark and full of terror. The day is dark and 444 00:24:20,400 --> 00:24:25,000 Speaker 1: full of terrors. All right, he continues, it now grew 445 00:24:25,119 --> 00:24:28,320 Speaker 1: rather lighter, which we imagined to be the forerunner of 446 00:24:28,359 --> 00:24:31,159 Speaker 1: an approaching burst of flames, as in truth it was 447 00:24:31,760 --> 00:24:34,720 Speaker 1: rather than the return of day. However, the fire fell 448 00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:37,880 Speaker 1: at a distance from us. Then again we were immersed 449 00:24:37,880 --> 00:24:41,040 Speaker 1: in a thick darkness, and a heavy shower of ashes 450 00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:43,960 Speaker 1: rained upon us, which we were obliged every now and 451 00:24:44,000 --> 00:24:47,520 Speaker 1: then to stand up to shake off, otherwise we should 452 00:24:47,520 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: have been crushed and buried in the heap. I might 453 00:24:50,600 --> 00:24:53,679 Speaker 1: have boasted that during all this scene of horror, not 454 00:24:53,760 --> 00:24:56,439 Speaker 1: a sigh or expression of fear escaped me. But in 455 00:24:56,480 --> 00:24:59,879 Speaker 1: truth my support was grounded in that miserable though my 456 00:25:00,119 --> 00:25:04,560 Speaker 1: d consolation, that all mankind were involved in the same calamity, 457 00:25:04,600 --> 00:25:07,760 Speaker 1: and that I was perishing with the world itself. That 458 00:25:07,840 --> 00:25:10,840 Speaker 1: line has haunted me ever since I first read it. 459 00:25:10,880 --> 00:25:14,400 Speaker 1: That he says he's not afraid because he knew it 460 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:16,760 Speaker 1: wasn't just him dying, it was the end of the 461 00:25:17,000 --> 00:25:21,040 Speaker 1: entire world. And finally he concludes the letter saying, at 462 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:24,919 Speaker 1: last the darkness paled into smoke or cloud and the 463 00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:28,920 Speaker 1: real daylight returned, but the sun shone with a lurid light, 464 00:25:29,119 --> 00:25:33,119 Speaker 1: as during an eclipse. Every object that presented itself to 465 00:25:33,160 --> 00:25:37,440 Speaker 1: our weakened eyes seemed changed, being covered deep with ashes, 466 00:25:37,480 --> 00:25:40,400 Speaker 1: as if with snow. We returned to my sin Him, 467 00:25:40,560 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: where we refreshed ourselves as well as we could, and 468 00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:47,320 Speaker 1: passed an anxious night between hope and fear, though indeed 469 00:25:47,520 --> 00:25:50,119 Speaker 1: with a much larger share of the latter, for the 470 00:25:50,160 --> 00:25:54,720 Speaker 1: earthquake still continued, while many frenzied persons ran up and down, 471 00:25:55,080 --> 00:25:59,560 Speaker 1: heightening their own and their friends calamities by terrible predictions. So, 472 00:25:59,760 --> 00:26:02,080 Speaker 1: for st of all, I think those letters are just 473 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:06,200 Speaker 1: amazing literary documents. But also I wanted to say, there 474 00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,600 Speaker 1: is a painting that I've seen online several times that 475 00:26:10,000 --> 00:26:12,840 Speaker 1: captures the spirit of those letters pretty well for me. 476 00:26:12,880 --> 00:26:16,200 Speaker 1: It's called The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum by the 477 00:26:16,240 --> 00:26:20,800 Speaker 1: English Romantic painter John Martin. Yeah, all right, so we've 478 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:24,680 Speaker 1: presented you with the drama of what is happening. Let's 479 00:26:24,920 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 1: provide a little background just about this region, about Pompeii 480 00:26:29,920 --> 00:26:32,880 Speaker 1: and some of these other cities that we were name dropping, Right, 481 00:26:33,400 --> 00:26:35,879 Speaker 1: what was going on in the area before the seventy 482 00:26:35,960 --> 00:26:39,760 Speaker 1: nine CE eruption of Vesuvius. So the part of Italy 483 00:26:40,240 --> 00:26:44,080 Speaker 1: immediately surrounding Mount Vesuvius. The the larger region here is 484 00:26:44,200 --> 00:26:47,640 Speaker 1: known as Campania, which Plenty makes reference to because he says, 485 00:26:47,680 --> 00:26:50,719 Speaker 1: you know, we were used to earthquakes in Campania. It's 486 00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:53,480 Speaker 1: kind of a geologically active region. So when the little 487 00:26:53,520 --> 00:26:56,359 Speaker 1: earthquakes began, we weren't too worried at first, and still, 488 00:26:56,800 --> 00:27:00,280 Speaker 1: you know, until it started rocking the house back and forth. Um, 489 00:27:00,480 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: and so Campania translates into I think roughly into the 490 00:27:04,640 --> 00:27:08,440 Speaker 1: word countryside. Apparently it was once known as the Campania 491 00:27:08,560 --> 00:27:12,560 Speaker 1: felix or the happy countryside. And it's this region in 492 00:27:12,640 --> 00:27:17,560 Speaker 1: the southwestern part of the Italian Peninsula along the Tyrannian Sea, 493 00:27:17,680 --> 00:27:19,960 Speaker 1: and its capital is, of course, the coastal city of 494 00:27:20,040 --> 00:27:23,000 Speaker 1: Naples or Napoly in Italian. This is where the pizza 495 00:27:23,000 --> 00:27:25,159 Speaker 1: comes from, is it? I think maybe it is, or 496 00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:27,520 Speaker 1: at least a famous variety of pizza that comes from 497 00:27:27,560 --> 00:27:31,720 Speaker 1: He here's Nepolitan and Neapolitan. I'm not sure. I don't 498 00:27:31,720 --> 00:27:33,720 Speaker 1: know what the relationship between those two words. You thinking 499 00:27:33,720 --> 00:27:36,439 Speaker 1: about ice cream? Maybe, yeah, I don't know we'll have 500 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:37,879 Speaker 1: to do this, We'll have to come back to it 501 00:27:37,960 --> 00:27:40,920 Speaker 1: on our other show, Invention. Just right in and shame us. 502 00:27:40,960 --> 00:27:46,240 Speaker 1: Go ahead, Okay. So today, Campania is a highly sought 503 00:27:46,280 --> 00:27:49,960 Speaker 1: after tourist destination, in large part due to the natural 504 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:54,680 Speaker 1: beauty of its coastline, including stretches like the famous Amalfi Coast. 505 00:27:55,200 --> 00:27:58,639 Speaker 1: If you've seen these gorgeous photos of like little antique 506 00:27:58,640 --> 00:28:03,240 Speaker 1: towns nestled into the steeply descending hillsides between looming cliffs, 507 00:28:03,240 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: sull covered in trees and lush greenery, this kind of 508 00:28:07,080 --> 00:28:09,399 Speaker 1: stuff along the waterfront in Italy, I think there's a 509 00:28:09,480 --> 00:28:11,480 Speaker 1: very good chance that you are looking at images of 510 00:28:11,520 --> 00:28:14,720 Speaker 1: the Amalfi Coast. But it turns out that the tourism 511 00:28:14,840 --> 00:28:18,359 Speaker 1: industry is not new in Campania. Even in the first 512 00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:22,440 Speaker 1: century during the Roman Empire, places especially around the Bay 513 00:28:22,440 --> 00:28:26,960 Speaker 1: of Naples, were extremely fashionable as vacation resorts for the 514 00:28:27,080 --> 00:28:29,960 Speaker 1: rich elite of Rome and other capitals of the Empire. 515 00:28:30,359 --> 00:28:32,399 Speaker 1: And again, you just look up pictures of this place 516 00:28:32,440 --> 00:28:35,320 Speaker 1: and you instantly understand why it is a place of 517 00:28:35,320 --> 00:28:40,560 Speaker 1: of of absolutely gorgeous natural formations and vegetation. The coastline 518 00:28:40,640 --> 00:28:43,040 Speaker 1: is pristine and striking. I mean I want to go 519 00:28:43,080 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: there right now. Yes, yes, looking at a photos of 520 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:49,640 Speaker 1: this region which which is still a vacation destination, like 521 00:28:49,680 --> 00:28:53,160 Speaker 1: you said, it looks very inviting. But that's not all. 522 00:28:53,200 --> 00:28:56,280 Speaker 1: Of course. Campania also has a reputation as a rich 523 00:28:56,440 --> 00:29:00,080 Speaker 1: and fertile farmland both then and now, and it's and 524 00:29:00,200 --> 00:29:03,959 Speaker 1: today it's very densely populated, but it's also a center 525 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,560 Speaker 1: of agricultural food production for Italy. Yes, lots of orchards, 526 00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:12,560 Speaker 1: lots of vineyards. Uh. Now. Probably the most famous point 527 00:29:12,720 --> 00:29:16,520 Speaker 1: of destruction within this this sort of broad cone of 528 00:29:16,600 --> 00:29:20,560 Speaker 1: destruction from the vesuvious eruption is the city of Pompeii. 529 00:29:20,600 --> 00:29:23,160 Speaker 1: It was a city that had been settled by seafaring 530 00:29:23,240 --> 00:29:26,480 Speaker 1: Greeks almost a thousand years before, like in the eighth 531 00:29:26,480 --> 00:29:29,760 Speaker 1: century b C. And then for several centuries after that 532 00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:33,760 Speaker 1: was a city controlled variously by the Greeks and the Etruscans, 533 00:29:33,800 --> 00:29:37,600 Speaker 1: sometimes trading off. It only fell under Roman control during 534 00:29:37,600 --> 00:29:40,520 Speaker 1: the second century b c. E Before the Empire. This 535 00:29:40,560 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 1: would have been during the period of the Roman Republic 536 00:29:43,640 --> 00:29:47,200 Speaker 1: uh and then by seventy nine CE, Pompeii had somewhere 537 00:29:47,240 --> 00:29:51,680 Speaker 1: between like ten thousand and twenty thousand inhabitants. It was wealthy, 538 00:29:51,840 --> 00:29:55,400 Speaker 1: it was thriving. Like other places in Campania, Pompei was 539 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:58,560 Speaker 1: a resort for the famous and the powerful families of Rome, 540 00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:04,000 Speaker 1: with expensive illa's, bath houses, restaurants, brothels, you know, kind 541 00:30:04,000 --> 00:30:07,440 Speaker 1: of a kind of an aspen of ancient Rome. All right. Uh. 542 00:30:07,720 --> 00:30:09,840 Speaker 1: The one problem, of course, that is that all of 543 00:30:09,880 --> 00:30:14,680 Speaker 1: this was built up in the region surrounding Vesuvius, and uh, 544 00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:18,360 Speaker 1: and of course Vesuvius at the time was slumbering, or 545 00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:23,040 Speaker 1: seemed to be slumbering, but then in seventy nine it awakens. 546 00:30:23,240 --> 00:30:25,120 Speaker 1: And you know, I would say, it's not We can 547 00:30:25,120 --> 00:30:27,320 Speaker 1: come back to this later if you want, but it's 548 00:30:27,360 --> 00:30:30,440 Speaker 1: not necessarily just a coincidence that like this is a 549 00:30:30,440 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: place of great beauty and agricultural production, so it draws 550 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,760 Speaker 1: a lot of people and just happens to be near 551 00:30:36,960 --> 00:30:40,640 Speaker 1: a dangerous, active volcano. There might be some reasons that 552 00:30:40,720 --> 00:30:43,560 Speaker 1: both of these things are true. Oh yeah, I mean yeah, 553 00:30:43,600 --> 00:30:45,880 Speaker 1: we can go and touch on these facts really quickly, 554 00:30:46,360 --> 00:30:48,720 Speaker 1: because first of all, we mentioned how fertile, uh, the 555 00:30:48,880 --> 00:30:51,720 Speaker 1: the area is, how well things grow even on the 556 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:55,520 Speaker 1: slopes of Vesuvius itself. And that is because of this 557 00:30:55,680 --> 00:30:58,520 Speaker 1: rich volcanic soil. Yes, and I think it's also possible 558 00:30:58,560 --> 00:31:01,320 Speaker 1: to argue that some of the geologic features that make 559 00:31:01,400 --> 00:31:04,320 Speaker 1: it kind of risky in terms of volcanic activity also 560 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 1: contribute to the beauty of its coastline. Absolutely. I mean 561 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:11,280 Speaker 1: the the the volcanic activity is the the the engine 562 00:31:11,480 --> 00:31:14,680 Speaker 1: that formed the land that people are occupying, that people 563 00:31:14,680 --> 00:31:18,880 Speaker 1: are growing crops upon, etcetera. Now, on the day of 564 00:31:18,880 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 1: the eruption, it's estimated that of the between ten thousand 565 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:26,840 Speaker 1: and twenty thousand inhabitants of Pompeii, about two thousand inhabitants 566 00:31:26,840 --> 00:31:29,960 Speaker 1: were probably killed. And when you add up all those 567 00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:34,280 Speaker 1: who perished in other Vesuvian settlements like the towns of Herculaneum, 568 00:31:34,520 --> 00:31:38,400 Speaker 1: Oplontis and Stabbia, Stabia was where plenty of the elder 569 00:31:38,480 --> 00:31:41,520 Speaker 1: sale to help his friend, Somewhere close to maybe like 570 00:31:41,600 --> 00:31:44,960 Speaker 1: sixteen thousand people died in total, though it's very difficult 571 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:47,840 Speaker 1: to have accurate numbers. But one thing that makes Pompeii 572 00:31:47,960 --> 00:31:51,800 Speaker 1: special is because of the way it was buried under 573 00:31:51,840 --> 00:31:55,920 Speaker 1: the ash and ejecta of the eruption, Pompeii became at 574 00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:59,720 Speaker 1: once both obscure and illuminating obscure of course, because it 575 00:31:59,800 --> 00:32:04,040 Speaker 1: was literally hidden from investigation. It's sort of vanished from 576 00:32:04,120 --> 00:32:06,320 Speaker 1: history as if wiped off the face of the earth 577 00:32:06,360 --> 00:32:09,560 Speaker 1: because it had been paved over by the volcano. But 578 00:32:09,640 --> 00:32:12,480 Speaker 1: at the same time, uh it kind of became a 579 00:32:12,600 --> 00:32:16,600 Speaker 1: bright and transparent window into life in ancient Roman times 580 00:32:16,880 --> 00:32:20,000 Speaker 1: because under all of that dust, the city was almost 581 00:32:20,040 --> 00:32:23,640 Speaker 1: perfectly preserved. Since it had been buried in e raced 582 00:32:23,680 --> 00:32:26,120 Speaker 1: from history, there's no way for the remains of the 583 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:30,360 Speaker 1: city to be disturbed. And it was also very democratic 584 00:32:30,440 --> 00:32:34,200 Speaker 1: in its preservation of the dead. Uh So it's one 585 00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:36,120 Speaker 1: of these great examples where we we get a little 586 00:32:36,120 --> 00:32:40,240 Speaker 1: inside into just how daily life worked in this city 587 00:32:40,280 --> 00:32:44,600 Speaker 1: before the eruption. Yeah, many people are just found, presumably 588 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,880 Speaker 1: lying dead, exactly where they were when the calamity hit, 589 00:32:48,360 --> 00:32:52,080 Speaker 1: and so the city basically stayed that way until amateur 590 00:32:52,120 --> 00:32:56,600 Speaker 1: excavation of the of this geologically paved oversight began around 591 00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: seventy an event that is sometimes referred to as the 592 00:33:00,040 --> 00:33:03,000 Speaker 1: Earth of modern archaeology. All right, on that note, we're 593 00:33:03,000 --> 00:33:05,040 Speaker 1: going to take one more break, but when we come back, 594 00:33:05,280 --> 00:33:08,400 Speaker 1: we're going to continue our exploration by looking at the 595 00:33:08,480 --> 00:33:16,080 Speaker 1: volcanic eruption itself. Than alright, we're back. Okay, so we've 596 00:33:16,080 --> 00:33:19,000 Speaker 1: gotten the ground level view of what was happening on 597 00:33:19,040 --> 00:33:23,240 Speaker 1: the day of the eruption of Vesuvius in but what 598 00:33:23,320 --> 00:33:26,400 Speaker 1: do we know now looking back with the scientific lens, 599 00:33:26,480 --> 00:33:29,000 Speaker 1: What do we think probably happened on that day in 600 00:33:29,040 --> 00:33:32,080 Speaker 1: geological terms? All right, well, let's let's back up a 601 00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:36,560 Speaker 1: little bit and just talk about the basic idea of volcano. Volcano, 602 00:33:36,600 --> 00:33:39,360 Speaker 1: of course, is just a rupture in a planet's crust, 603 00:33:39,760 --> 00:33:42,280 Speaker 1: but there are are various types of volcanoes, depending on 604 00:33:42,320 --> 00:33:47,320 Speaker 1: their location, their history, and the the underlying activity. Fun fact, though, 605 00:33:47,320 --> 00:33:52,320 Speaker 1: the word volcano derives from the volcanic isle of Volcano, 606 00:33:52,520 --> 00:33:56,080 Speaker 1: named for Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. The Greeks 607 00:33:56,360 --> 00:33:58,880 Speaker 1: knew this island by other names, but they also considered 608 00:33:58,920 --> 00:34:02,760 Speaker 1: it the foundry of Festus, basically the equivalent of Vulcan. Yeah, 609 00:34:02,840 --> 00:34:06,640 Speaker 1: they like the forge, god of sparks and banging. Yeah, 610 00:34:06,760 --> 00:34:09,240 Speaker 1: So so again, you know, the ancient people is definitely 611 00:34:09,400 --> 00:34:13,239 Speaker 1: knew of volcanoes, and they were remembered, at least in 612 00:34:13,239 --> 00:34:16,880 Speaker 1: in the construction of myths and the naming of places. Now, 613 00:34:17,120 --> 00:34:24,200 Speaker 1: Vesuvius itself is considered a soma stratovolcano. Um, it's also 614 00:34:24,680 --> 00:34:28,960 Speaker 1: considered a complex volcano. So let's talk about what this means. First, 615 00:34:29,000 --> 00:34:31,400 Speaker 1: we'll talk about the Soma part. So, if you were 616 00:34:31,440 --> 00:34:35,520 Speaker 1: to travel back four hundred thousand years or so, you 617 00:34:35,560 --> 00:34:39,120 Speaker 1: would not find Mount Vesuvius at all. Rather, you'd find 618 00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:45,200 Speaker 1: Mount Soma. So Mount Soma underwent various eruptions, and we 619 00:34:45,239 --> 00:34:48,680 Speaker 1: have to remember that volcanoes are places of violent change, 620 00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:53,440 Speaker 1: and due to these violent eruptions, Mount Soma eventually collapse 621 00:34:53,560 --> 00:34:57,000 Speaker 1: into what is known as a caldera. So this occurs 622 00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:02,160 Speaker 1: when a particularly violent eruption empties the underlying magma chamber 623 00:35:02,200 --> 00:35:04,960 Speaker 1: of a volcano, making it impossible for it to support 624 00:35:05,000 --> 00:35:09,200 Speaker 1: its own weight. Alright, So um again, it's like the 625 00:35:09,239 --> 00:35:12,759 Speaker 1: volcano just has erupted so much, and it grew so much, 626 00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,560 Speaker 1: erupted so much that it's just caved in on itself. 627 00:35:15,800 --> 00:35:18,319 Speaker 1: It's just destroyed itself. It's like if you you were 628 00:35:18,360 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 1: too empty out all of the molten lava from your 629 00:35:20,560 --> 00:35:23,160 Speaker 1: molten lava cake and then the cake just collapses, right. 630 00:35:23,160 --> 00:35:24,959 Speaker 1: All you have with like the edges of the cake 631 00:35:25,080 --> 00:35:28,319 Speaker 1: that form like like ring mountain around a center it's 632 00:35:28,320 --> 00:35:31,080 Speaker 1: like a crater um. And this is where we get 633 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:33,640 Speaker 1: that classic image of what a volcano you usually looks like. 634 00:35:33,680 --> 00:35:36,520 Speaker 1: If you draw a cartoon volcano, you're probably drawing a 635 00:35:36,640 --> 00:35:39,440 Speaker 1: ring shaped caldera where the top of the mountain has 636 00:35:39,480 --> 00:35:42,919 Speaker 1: collapsed after some eruption in the past. But even though 637 00:35:42,960 --> 00:35:47,520 Speaker 1: the the the the mountain itself has collapsed, the underlying 638 00:35:47,600 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 1: volcanic avic activity is still there, so magma and volcanic 639 00:35:51,400 --> 00:35:54,080 Speaker 1: gases continue to build, and this can result in a 640 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:57,239 Speaker 1: few different varieties of caldera. The center can swell back 641 00:35:57,320 --> 00:35:59,879 Speaker 1: up into what is known as a resurgent dome, like 642 00:36:00,040 --> 00:36:02,400 Speaker 1: with a yellow stone, and it's you know, it's so 643 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:07,279 Speaker 1: called supervolcano. But in the case of Avessuvius, another volcanic 644 00:36:07,360 --> 00:36:10,520 Speaker 1: cone and this is the Mount of Vesuvius, rises up 645 00:36:10,560 --> 00:36:13,960 Speaker 1: in the center of the Soma caldera, and this is 646 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:17,360 Speaker 1: why we call this type of volcano a Soma volcano. 647 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:21,560 Speaker 1: So the remnants again of the old mountain the caldera, 648 00:36:21,640 --> 00:36:24,399 Speaker 1: are still around it, and the Soma caldera is also 649 00:36:24,480 --> 00:36:27,600 Speaker 1: sometimes referred to who's just Mount Soma today, But again 650 00:36:27,680 --> 00:36:29,920 Speaker 1: it is the remnant of the old mountain and in 651 00:36:29,920 --> 00:36:33,440 Speaker 1: the center is Vesuvius. That's hard, I mean volcano inside 652 00:36:33,440 --> 00:36:35,799 Speaker 1: a volcano, right, and again it's important to know. Yeah, 653 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:38,120 Speaker 1: Vesuvius certainly in jel other time is a is a 654 00:36:38,160 --> 00:36:43,040 Speaker 1: young volcano? Okay, So what sort of volcano is Vesuvius itself? 655 00:36:43,040 --> 00:36:46,760 Speaker 1: We'll remember we use the the description a soma strato volcano. 656 00:36:46,840 --> 00:36:50,760 Speaker 1: So a strato volcano is a steep conical volcano built 657 00:36:50,800 --> 00:36:55,360 Speaker 1: from many layers of lava ash pumas and tefra tefra. 658 00:36:55,480 --> 00:36:59,080 Speaker 1: That's a pyroclass or rejected fragments from the volcano that 659 00:36:59,080 --> 00:37:02,000 Speaker 1: have fallen to the round. All of this from various 660 00:37:02,120 --> 00:37:06,560 Speaker 1: eruptions building up, building up this volcano. Now you mentioned 661 00:37:06,560 --> 00:37:10,400 Speaker 1: it was a young volcano. Yes, relatively young again in 662 00:37:10,480 --> 00:37:15,080 Speaker 1: terms of geologic time. Uh, certainly human times a different matter, 663 00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:18,279 Speaker 1: which we'll get into. Uh. During its life, it's had 664 00:37:18,280 --> 00:37:22,200 Speaker 1: periods of activity and inactivity. Its most recent period of 665 00:37:22,239 --> 00:37:26,400 Speaker 1: activity as of this recording was between nineteen thirteen and 666 00:37:26,480 --> 00:37:30,200 Speaker 1: nineteen forty four CEH. And today it's uh, you know 667 00:37:30,280 --> 00:37:33,040 Speaker 1: it's it's it's inactive. You rather inactive. You can actually 668 00:37:33,120 --> 00:37:36,200 Speaker 1: hike up to the top. Uh. It's eruptions, however, were 669 00:37:36,280 --> 00:37:38,879 Speaker 1: known in ancient times, but at the time of its 670 00:37:39,000 --> 00:37:42,719 Speaker 1: eruption in seventy nine CE, it had been inactive for 671 00:37:42,840 --> 00:37:46,319 Speaker 1: at least two hundred and ninety five years. It was 672 00:37:46,400 --> 00:37:51,160 Speaker 1: reputed to have erupted into seventeen b c E based 673 00:37:51,160 --> 00:37:54,600 Speaker 1: on the writings of Solicitalicus, but a great many modern 674 00:37:54,600 --> 00:37:58,440 Speaker 1: writers have rejected this. We know it's sustained a particularly 675 00:37:58,600 --> 00:38:01,960 Speaker 1: powerful erupt and during the second millennium b c E. 676 00:38:02,400 --> 00:38:06,040 Speaker 1: This is the Avellino eruption, which decimated the Bronze Age 677 00:38:06,080 --> 00:38:11,000 Speaker 1: settlements in the area. UH. But again, well, it's ultimately 678 00:38:11,040 --> 00:38:13,520 Speaker 1: a situation where we don't have a lot of information 679 00:38:13,560 --> 00:38:16,399 Speaker 1: about its pre about its activity in pre seventy nine 680 00:38:16,480 --> 00:38:19,200 Speaker 1: c E uh in that time period, but we can 681 00:38:19,239 --> 00:38:22,680 Speaker 1: presume that it had been centuries since its last eruption. 682 00:38:23,040 --> 00:38:26,719 Speaker 1: Avelino is the name of another town nearby Naples, So 683 00:38:26,760 --> 00:38:29,120 Speaker 1: it's actually I remember that because it's the town that 684 00:38:29,239 --> 00:38:33,359 Speaker 1: Tony Soprano's family comes from. Okay, At any rate, enough 685 00:38:33,400 --> 00:38:36,400 Speaker 1: time had passed for humans in this region to lose 686 00:38:36,480 --> 00:38:40,400 Speaker 1: their immediate fear of the mountain um and so cities 687 00:38:40,800 --> 00:38:44,640 Speaker 1: encroached upon its domain. Gardens and vineyards popped up around it. 688 00:38:44,920 --> 00:38:48,799 Speaker 1: The children of Prometheus grew bold in the silence of Vesuvius. 689 00:38:49,640 --> 00:38:52,000 Speaker 1: But again it's it's clear that they had not really 690 00:38:52,239 --> 00:38:56,560 Speaker 1: completely forgotten what Vesuvius had been capable of in the past. 691 00:38:57,160 --> 00:39:01,840 Speaker 1: Myths of giants battling Hercules. Uh, you know, still remained 692 00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:05,440 Speaker 1: about the mountain. Uh. There were geologic connections that linked 693 00:39:05,440 --> 00:39:08,960 Speaker 1: that clearly linked to suvious to Mount Edna, which was 694 00:39:09,000 --> 00:39:12,640 Speaker 1: certainly active and was described erupting again in Virgils and need, 695 00:39:12,680 --> 00:39:15,680 Speaker 1: which I referred to earlier. So it's not like people 696 00:39:16,920 --> 00:39:19,720 Speaker 1: did not know what had happened here in the past 697 00:39:20,160 --> 00:39:22,440 Speaker 1: or what a volcano looked like. I mean, there was 698 00:39:22,480 --> 00:39:25,239 Speaker 1: it was the world wasn't completely ignorant of what it 699 00:39:25,239 --> 00:39:28,120 Speaker 1: could do. You know, it's kind of weird. It's it's 700 00:39:28,120 --> 00:39:31,960 Speaker 1: one of these tragedies of time scales that humans are 701 00:39:32,440 --> 00:39:35,960 Speaker 1: I feel like, almost constantly facing off against, where if 702 00:39:36,000 --> 00:39:40,800 Speaker 1: you look at the activity of a volcano across geologic time, 703 00:39:41,200 --> 00:39:43,840 Speaker 1: you just see it's pretty regular, you know, pretty frequently 704 00:39:43,880 --> 00:39:46,680 Speaker 1: this thing's going to erupt. But then you zoom into 705 00:39:46,760 --> 00:39:50,800 Speaker 1: human historical time and the eruptions are not quite frequent 706 00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:54,640 Speaker 1: enough to discourage settlement. Because our memories are not that long, 707 00:39:55,200 --> 00:39:57,400 Speaker 1: like a few hundred years. Seems like, you know, an 708 00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:00,719 Speaker 1: eternity to an individual person. Yeah, yeah, I mean the 709 00:40:00,719 --> 00:40:05,080 Speaker 1: whole whole lives will pass during the periods of relative 710 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:09,080 Speaker 1: inactivity of a volcano. Uh in many of these cases. 711 00:40:09,560 --> 00:40:12,640 Speaker 1: So you know, we don't know everything about the seventy 712 00:40:12,680 --> 00:40:16,360 Speaker 1: nine eruption a k the plan a plan a in 713 00:40:16,520 --> 00:40:19,560 Speaker 1: eruption named for plenty, but but we still know quite 714 00:40:19,560 --> 00:40:22,360 Speaker 1: a bit, as it was again the first volcanic eruption 715 00:40:22,400 --> 00:40:24,960 Speaker 1: to be described in detail. We have plenty of the 716 00:40:25,000 --> 00:40:29,520 Speaker 1: Younger's excellent descriptions of the pre eruption quakes, the eruption itself, 717 00:40:29,560 --> 00:40:33,640 Speaker 1: the ash fall, pyroclastic flows, and the resulting mild tsunami 718 00:40:33,719 --> 00:40:37,120 Speaker 1: in the Bay of Naples. It is estimated that the 719 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:39,920 Speaker 1: column of ash that rose up into the sky towered 720 00:40:40,000 --> 00:40:43,040 Speaker 1: some twenty miles or thirty two kilometers, and then it 721 00:40:43,120 --> 00:40:47,239 Speaker 1: ejected one cubic mile or four cubic kilometers of ash 722 00:40:47,320 --> 00:40:51,440 Speaker 1: in just something like nineteen hours. Ten ft of tephra 723 00:40:51,560 --> 00:40:56,399 Speaker 1: fell on Pompeii. Pyroclastic flow buried herculaneum under seventy five 724 00:40:56,760 --> 00:41:00,239 Speaker 1: or twenty three ms of ash and will eventually look 725 00:41:00,280 --> 00:41:02,200 Speaker 1: at what all of this meant for the humans who 726 00:41:02,239 --> 00:41:04,560 Speaker 1: resided in the impacted cities as well, like on a 727 00:41:04,680 --> 00:41:06,920 Speaker 1: biological level. I think we'll have to get into them 728 00:41:06,920 --> 00:41:10,160 Speaker 1: in the next episode. Yeah, it's also been estimated that 729 00:41:10,200 --> 00:41:14,799 Speaker 1: the eruption itself would have carried the thermal energy of 730 00:41:14,800 --> 00:41:19,319 Speaker 1: a hundred thousand Hiroshima atomic bombs, and all of this 731 00:41:19,360 --> 00:41:23,080 Speaker 1: would have lasted roughly two days. Vesuvius has erupted some 732 00:41:23,239 --> 00:41:27,399 Speaker 1: three dozen times since UH, sometimes with deadly results. Mud 733 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:30,600 Speaker 1: flows and lava flows from a se eruption killed but 734 00:41:30,760 --> 00:41:35,480 Speaker 1: some three thousand, five hundred people. And today, as before 735 00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:39,840 Speaker 1: the seventy nine CE eruption, vineyards and orchards covered the 736 00:41:39,840 --> 00:41:43,280 Speaker 1: slopes of the mountain UH, there's an there's an enormous 737 00:41:43,280 --> 00:41:47,520 Speaker 1: population surrounding the volcano today. I believe the area is 738 00:41:47,560 --> 00:41:51,239 Speaker 1: like the most densely populated part of Italy. Right. I've 739 00:41:51,239 --> 00:41:54,560 Speaker 1: also seen it described as the as the most densely 740 00:41:54,680 --> 00:41:59,280 Speaker 1: populated area surrounding volcano on Earth. But again, the people, 741 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:00,960 Speaker 1: but it's speed of full. You look at these pictures, 742 00:42:00,960 --> 00:42:03,759 Speaker 1: it's beautiful. There's an actually tremendous amount of growth there. Again, 743 00:42:03,800 --> 00:42:07,600 Speaker 1: the soil is very fertile um, and before the eruption 744 00:42:07,640 --> 00:42:10,640 Speaker 1: of six thirty one, during a very long period of inactivity, 745 00:42:10,800 --> 00:42:13,440 Speaker 1: forests are actually said to have grown in the crater, 746 00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:15,560 Speaker 1: and you would have found three lakes there as well. 747 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:20,399 Speaker 1: So yeah, given the the amount of time, the great 748 00:42:20,400 --> 00:42:23,319 Speaker 1: amount of time relative to the human experience and even 749 00:42:23,360 --> 00:42:28,160 Speaker 1: the lives of plants that transpires between eruptions, I mean 750 00:42:28,200 --> 00:42:31,280 Speaker 1: you can have a great greening of the mountain occur. 751 00:42:31,560 --> 00:42:33,200 Speaker 1: Oh man, I wish I could see what that was 752 00:42:33,280 --> 00:42:35,200 Speaker 1: like to have the forests and the lakes down in there, 753 00:42:35,239 --> 00:42:37,320 Speaker 1: because I love that kind of thing. I don't know 754 00:42:37,360 --> 00:42:40,640 Speaker 1: if you've been the Crater Lake in Oregon. I have not, Well, 755 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:43,920 Speaker 1: you've probably seen images of it. At least it's absolutely gorgeous, 756 00:42:43,920 --> 00:42:46,359 Speaker 1: one of the most amazing beautiful places I've ever been. 757 00:42:46,640 --> 00:42:50,000 Speaker 1: But I think it's exactly that contrast of like of uh, 758 00:42:50,120 --> 00:42:54,120 Speaker 1: this clear still water and all these forests in life 759 00:42:54,239 --> 00:42:58,120 Speaker 1: just flooding in to this place where there was catastrophic 760 00:42:58,239 --> 00:43:01,719 Speaker 1: destruction you know, some number centuries ago, right, and then 761 00:43:01,880 --> 00:43:03,880 Speaker 1: that and then the humans come in as well, And 762 00:43:03,920 --> 00:43:05,920 Speaker 1: there's probably something elegant to be said about just like 763 00:43:05,960 --> 00:43:09,160 Speaker 1: the nature of of the human experience too. You know, 764 00:43:09,239 --> 00:43:12,920 Speaker 1: like even though something terrible happened here, humans have a 765 00:43:12,960 --> 00:43:16,440 Speaker 1: way in many cases of moving forward through it and 766 00:43:16,440 --> 00:43:18,880 Speaker 1: and finding a way to make a life there. I 767 00:43:18,920 --> 00:43:21,600 Speaker 1: know it's not this way, but it almost it seems 768 00:43:21,640 --> 00:43:25,680 Speaker 1: almost malicious, like the the the volcano with this fertile 769 00:43:25,760 --> 00:43:29,160 Speaker 1: volcanic soil is just sort of like baiting you. It 770 00:43:29,520 --> 00:43:32,480 Speaker 1: is like leaving out this bait to attract you into 771 00:43:32,560 --> 00:43:37,040 Speaker 1: the geologic trap. Sorry, I know that's anthropomorphizing. It's it's 772 00:43:37,080 --> 00:43:40,799 Speaker 1: not the volcano's fault. It doesn't mean to hurt you. Yeah. 773 00:43:40,880 --> 00:43:44,600 Speaker 1: I think even Tolkien didn't say Mount Doom itself was evil, right, 774 00:43:44,640 --> 00:43:47,560 Speaker 1: it was just but Mount Doom is more what you'd expect. 775 00:43:47,560 --> 00:43:49,640 Speaker 1: It's in more door, which is a place where even 776 00:43:49,680 --> 00:43:51,800 Speaker 1: the air, the very air you breathe, as a toxic 777 00:43:51,840 --> 00:43:54,000 Speaker 1: fume and nothing grows there. And you know, it's just 778 00:43:54,080 --> 00:43:57,359 Speaker 1: like it's just this blasted landscape. I mean, no, that 779 00:43:57,400 --> 00:43:59,600 Speaker 1: this is the case where the area right around this 780 00:43:59,719 --> 00:44:04,040 Speaker 1: vult cano that could erupt again is extremely beautiful and 781 00:44:04,120 --> 00:44:07,600 Speaker 1: fertile and inviting to life. Yeah. Alright, on that note, 782 00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:09,440 Speaker 1: we're gonna go ahead and call it for this episode. 783 00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:11,640 Speaker 1: But We will be back in the next episode of 784 00:44:11,640 --> 00:44:15,000 Speaker 1: Stuff to Blow Your Mind to continue our discussions regarding 785 00:44:15,040 --> 00:44:18,000 Speaker 1: the suvious. We're gonna get into, uh, some of the 786 00:44:18,160 --> 00:44:21,520 Speaker 1: sort of forensic evidence of what happened to the people 787 00:44:21,840 --> 00:44:25,480 Speaker 1: in Pompeii. We're gonna get into. We're gonna discuss the 788 00:44:25,480 --> 00:44:29,239 Speaker 1: possible remains of plenty of the elder and I will 789 00:44:29,280 --> 00:44:32,560 Speaker 1: also just discuss the continued threat posed by volcanoes to 790 00:44:32,640 --> 00:44:35,879 Speaker 1: settled regions today and you know, and some some about 791 00:44:36,160 --> 00:44:38,160 Speaker 1: you know, what we what we're prepared to do or 792 00:44:38,239 --> 00:44:41,799 Speaker 1: unprepared to do about their eruptions. I can't wait. I've 793 00:44:41,800 --> 00:44:43,680 Speaker 1: been wanting to talk about this for so long. I'm 794 00:44:43,719 --> 00:44:45,839 Speaker 1: so glad we finally got here. Yeah, and I think 795 00:44:45,840 --> 00:44:49,880 Speaker 1: it may kick off even further, um uh further episodes 796 00:44:49,920 --> 00:44:54,600 Speaker 1: that deal with volcanoes and uh human history. There's a 797 00:44:54,680 --> 00:44:57,160 Speaker 1: there's a lot of rich there's a lot of rich 798 00:44:57,239 --> 00:45:00,719 Speaker 1: soil uh that that is left behind by these uh 799 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:05,080 Speaker 1: these often cata cataclysmic events. In the meantime, if you 800 00:45:05,080 --> 00:45:07,040 Speaker 1: want to check out other episodes of Stuff to Blow 801 00:45:07,080 --> 00:45:09,799 Speaker 1: your Mind, you can find our show wherever you get 802 00:45:09,800 --> 00:45:12,399 Speaker 1: your podcasts um. If you go to Stuff to Blow 803 00:45:12,440 --> 00:45:14,560 Speaker 1: your mind dot com. That will definitely redirect you to 804 00:45:14,640 --> 00:45:17,440 Speaker 1: the I Heart page for our show, where you can subscribe, 805 00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:21,560 Speaker 1: you can download, et cetera, and wherever you get the show. 806 00:45:21,560 --> 00:45:25,000 Speaker 1: We encourage you to do those things. Rate, review, subscribe. 807 00:45:25,680 --> 00:45:28,759 Speaker 1: These are the things you can do to help the show, 808 00:45:28,800 --> 00:45:32,600 Speaker 1: as well as just telling a friend in the real world, 809 00:45:33,160 --> 00:45:35,880 Speaker 1: just spread the word huge thanks as always to our 810 00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:39,200 Speaker 1: excellent audio producer Seth Nicholas Johnson. If you would like 811 00:45:39,239 --> 00:45:41,080 Speaker 1: to get in touch with us with feedback on this 812 00:45:41,160 --> 00:45:43,640 Speaker 1: episode or any other to suggest topic for the future, 813 00:45:43,840 --> 00:45:46,560 Speaker 1: just to say hi, you can email us at contact 814 00:45:46,640 --> 00:45:57,279 Speaker 1: at stuff to Blow your Mind dot com. 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