Pliny's second, more personal account of the Vesuvius eruption, describing his own escape.
C. Plīnius Tacitō suō s. Ais tē adductum litterīs quās exigentī tibi dē morte avunculī meī scrīpsī, cupere cognōscere, quōs ego Mīsēnī relictus—id enim ingressus abrūperam— nōn sōlum metūs vērum etiam cāsūs pertulerim. ‘Quamquam animus meminisse horret, ... incipiam.’
TACITUS THE letter which, in compliance with your request, I wrote to you concerning the death of my uncle has raised, it seems, your curiosity to know what terrors and dangers attended me while I continued at Misenum; for there, I think, my account broke off: "Though my shock'd soul recoils, my tongue shall tell." My uncle having left us, I spent such time as was left on my studies (it was on their account indeed that I had stopped behind), till it was time for my bath.
Profectō avunculō ipse reliquum tempus studiīs—ideō enim remānseram— impendī; mox balineum cēna somnus inquiētus et brevis.
After which I went to supper, atmd then fell into a short and uneasy sleep. There had been noticed for many days before a trembling of the earth, which did not alarm us much, as this is quite an ordinary occurrence in Campania; but it was so particularly violent that night that it not only shook but actually overturned, as it would seem, everything about us.
Praecesserat per multōs diēs tremor terrae, minus formīdolōsus quia Campāniae solitus; illā vērō nocte ita invaluit, ut nōn movērī omnia sed vertī crēderentur.
My mother rushed into my chamber, where she found me rising, in order to awaken her.
Irrūpit cubiculum meum māter; surgēbam invicem, sī quiēsceret excitātūrus. Resēdimus in āreā domūs, quae mare ā tēctīs modicō spatiō dīvidēbat.
We sat down in the open court of the house, which occupied a small space between the buildings and the sea. As I was at that time but eighteen years of age, I know not whether I should call my behaviour, in this dangerous juncture, courage or folly; but I took up Livy, and amused myself with turning over that author, and even making extracts from him, as if I had been perfectly at my leisure.
Dubitō cōnstantiam vocāre an imprūdentiam dēbeam—agēbam enim duodevīcēnsimum annum—poscō librum Titī Līvī, et quasi per ōtium legō atque etiam ut coeperam excerpō. Ecce amīcus avunculī quī nūper ad eum ex Hispāniā vēnerat, ut mē et mātrem sedentēs, mē vērō etiam legentem videt, illīus patientiam sēcūritātem meam corripit. Nihilō sēgnius ego intentus in librum.
Just then, a friend of my uncle's, who had lately come to him from Spain, joined us, and observing me sitting by my mother with a book in my hand, reproved her for her calmness, and me at the same time for my careless security: nevertheless I went on with my author. Though it was now morning, the light was still exceedingly faint and doubtful; the buildings all around us tottered, and though we stood upon open ground, yet as the place was narrow and confined, there was no remaining without imminent danger: we therefore resolved to quit the town.
Iam hōrā diēī prīmā, et adhūc dubius et quasi languidus diēs. Iam quassātīs circumiacentibus tēctīs, quamquam in apertō locō, angustō tamen, magnus et certus ruīnae metus.
A panic-stricken crowd followed us, and (as to a mind distracted with terror every suggestion seems more prudent than its own) pressed on us in dense array to drive us forward as we came out.
Tum dēmum excēdere oppidō vīsum; sequitur vulgus attonitum, quodque in pavōre simile prūdentiae, aliēnum cōnsilium suō praefert, ingentīque agmine abeuntēs premit et impellit.
Being at a convenient distance from the houses, we stood still, in the midst of a most dangerous and dreadful scene. The chariots, which we had ordered to be drawn out, were so agitated backwards and forwards, though upon the most level ground, that we could not keep them steady, even by supporting them with large stones.
Ēgressī tēcta cōnsistimus. Multa ibi mīranda, multās formīdinēs patimur. Nam vehicula quae prōdūcī iusserāmus, quamquam in plānissimō campō, in contrāriās partēs agēbantur, ac nē lapidibus quidem fulta in eōdem vestīgiō quiēscēbant.
The sea seemed to roll back upon itself, and to he driven from its banks by the convulsive motion of the earth; it is certain at least the shore was considerably enlarged, and several sea animals were left upon it.
Praetereā mare in sē resorbērī et tremōre terrae quasi repellī vidēbāmus. Certē prōcesserat lītus, multaque animālia maris siccīs harēnīs dētinēbat. Ab alterō latere nūbēs ātra et horrenda, igneī spīritūs tortīs vibrātīsque discursibus rupta, in longās flammārum figūrās dehīscēbat; fulguribus illae et similēs et maiōrēs erant.
On the other side, a black and dreadful cloud, broken with rapid, zigzag flashes, revealed behind it variously shaped masses of flame: these last were like sheet-lightning, but much larger. Upon this our Spanish friend, whom I mentioned above, addressing himself to my mother and me with great energy and urgency: " If your brother," he said, "if your uncle be safe, he certainly wishes you may be so too; but if he perished, it was his desire, no doubt, that you might both survive him: why therefore do you delay your escape a moment?" We could never think of our own safety, we said, while we were uncertain of his.
Tum vērō īdem ille ex Hispāniā amīcus ācrius et īnstantius ‘Sī frāter’ inquit ‘tuus, tuus avunculus vīvit, vult esse vōs salvōs; sī periit, superstitēs voluit. Proinde quid cessātīs ēvādere?’ Respondimus nōn commissūrōs nōs ut dē salūte illīus incertī nostrae cōnsulerēmus.
Upon this our friend left us, and withdrew from the danger with the utmost precipitation. Soon afterwards, the cloud began to descend, and cover the sea.
Nōn morātus ultrā prōripit sē effūsōque cursū perīculō aufertur. Nec multō post illa nūbēs dēscendere in terrās, operīre maria; cīnxerat Capreās et absconderat, Mīsēnī quod prōcurrit abstulerat.
It had already surrounded and concealed the island of Capreae and the promontory of Misenum.
Tum māter ōrāre hortārī iubēre, quōquō modō fugerem; posse enim iuvenem, sē et annīs et corpore gravem bene moritūram, sī mihi causa mortis nōn fuisset. Ego contrā salvum mē nisi ūnā nōn futūrum; dein manum eius amplexus addere gradum cōgō. Pāret aegrē incūsatque sē, quod mē morētur.
My mother now besought, urged, even commanded me to make my escape at any rate, which, as I was young, I might easily do; as for herself, she said, her age and corpulency rendered all attempts of that sort impossible; however, she would willingly meet death if she could have the satisfaction of seeing that she was not the occasion of mine. But I absolutely refused to leave her, and, taking her by the hand, compelled her to go with me.
Iam cinis, adhūc tamen rārus. Respiciō: dēnsa cālīgō tergīs imminēbat, quae nōs torrentis modō īnfūsa terrae sequēbātur. ‘Dēflectāmus,’ inquam ‘dum vidēmus, nē in viā strātī comitantium turbā in tenebrīs obterāmur.’
She complied with great reluctance, and not without many reproaches to herself for retarding my flight.
Vix cōnsīderāmus, et nox—nōn quālis illūnis aut nūbila, sed quālis in locīs clausīs lūmine exstīnctō. Audīrēs ululātūs fēminārum, infantum quirītātūs, clāmōrēs virōrum; aliī parentēs aliī līberōs aliī coniugēs vōcibus requīrēbant, vōcibus nōscitābant; hī suum cāsum, illī suōrum miserābantur; erant quī metū mortis mortem precārentur;
The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no great quantity. I looked back; a dense dark mist seemed to be following us, spreading itself over the country like a cloud. "Let us turn out of the high-road," I said, "while we can still see, for fear that, should we fall in the road, we should be pressed to death in the dark, by the crowds that are following us." We had scarcely sat down when night came upon us, not such as we have when the sky is cloudy, or when there is no moon, but that of a room when it is shut up, and all the lights put out.
multī ad deōs manūs tollere, plūrēs nusquam iam deōs ūllōs aeternamque illam et novissimam noctem mundō interpretābantur. Nec dēfuērunt quī fictīs mentītīsque terrōribus vēra perīcula augērent. Aderant quī Mīsēnī illud ruisse illud ārdēre falsō sed crēdentibus nūntiābant.
You might hear the shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the shouts of men; some calling for their children, others for their parents, others for their husbands, and seeking to recognise each other by the voices that replied; one lamenting his own fate, another that of his family; some wishing to die, from the very fear of dying; some lifting their hands to the gods; but the greater part convinced that there were now no gods at all, and that the final endless night of which we have heard had come upon the world.95 Among these there were some who augmented the real terrors by others imaginary or wilfully invented. I remember some who declared that one part of Misenum had fallen, that another was on fire; it was false, but they found people to believe them.
Paulum relūxit, quod nōn diēs nōbīs, sed adventantis ignis indicium vidēbātur. Et ignis quidem longius substitit; tenebrae rūrsus cinis rūrsus, multus et gravis. Hunc identidem assurgentēs excutiēbāmus; opertī aliōquī atque etiam oblīsī pondere essēmus.
It now grew rather lighter, which we imagined to be rather the forerunner of an approaching burst of flames (as in truth it was) than the return of day: however, the fire fell at a distance from us: then again we were immersed in thick darkness, and a heavy shower of ashes rained upon us, which we were obliged every now and then to stand up to shake off, otherwise we should have been crushed and buried in the heap.
Possem glōriārī nōn gemitum mihi, nōn vōcem parum fortem in tantīs perīculīs excidisse, nisi mē cum omnibus, omnia mēcum perīre—miserō, magnō tamen mortālitātis sōlāciō— crēdidissem.
I might boast that, during all this scene of horror, not a sigh, or expression of fear, escaped me, had not my support been grounded in that miserable, though mighty, consolation, that all mankind were involved in the same calamity, and that I was perishing with the world itself. At last this dreadful darkness was dissipated by degrees, like a cloud or smoke; the real day returned, and even the sun shone out, though with a lurid light, like when an eclipse is coming on.
Tandem illa cālīgo tenuāta quasi in fūmum nebulamve discessit; mox diēs vērus; sōl etiam effulsit, lūridus tamen quālis esse cum dēficit solet. Occursābant trepidantibus adhūc oculīs mūtāta omnia altōque cinere tamquam nive obducta.
Every object that presented itself to our eyes (which were extremely weakened) seemed changed, being covered deep with ashes as if with snow.
Regressī Mīsēnum cūrātis utcumque corporibus suspēnsam dubiamque noctem spē ac metū exēgimus. Metus praevalēbat; nam et tremor terrae persevērābat, et plērīque lymphātī terrificīs vāticinātiōnibus et sua et aliēna mala lūdificābantur.
We returned to Misenum, where we refreshed ourselves as well as we could, and passed an anxious night between hope and fear; though, indeed, wIth a much larger share of the latter: for the earthquake still continued, while many frenzied persons ran up and down heightening their own and their friends' calamities by terrible predictions. However, my mother and I, notwithstanding the danger we had passed, and that which still threatened us, had no thoughts of leaving the place, till we could receive some news of my uncle.
Nōbīs tamen nē tunc quidem, quamquam et expertīs perīculum et exspectantibus, abeundī cōnsilium, dōnec dē avunculō nūntius. Haec nēquāquam historiā digna nōn scrīptūrus legēs et tibi scīlicet quī requīsīstī imputābis, sī digna nē epistulā quidem vidēbuntur. Valē.
And now, you will read this narrative without any view of inserting it in your history, of which it is not in the least worthy; and indeed you must put it down to your own request if it should appear not worth even the trouble of a letter. Farewell.