Pliny the Elder Assessment 1 Flashcards
Pliny sends greetings to Tacitus
You ask me to write about the death of my uncle….
…so you can hand it on to future generations more truthfully. I thank you for I realise that everlasting renown is in prospect for his death if it is made famous by you.
Greetings
For my part I consider those people fortunate who have the ability to either do things….
…worth writing about or write things worth reading; the most fortunate are those who have the ability to do both. Among these is my uncle bc of both his own and your books.
A cloud- it was uncertain to those watching from a distance…
…from which mountain (afterwards it was realised that it had been Vesuvius) was rising, whose likeness and shape no other tree than the Mediterranean pine could better express.
A cloud pt 2- For it was raised up as if on a very long trunk into…
…the sky and was spread out in “branches” (I believe bc it was raised on a fresh blast of air), then as the force of the blast was weakened, it was left unsupported….
A cloud pt 3- ….or was even overcome by its own weight and…
….dispersed to the side, sometimes white, sometimes dirty and spotted, depending on whether it has raised up earth or ash.
It seemed to him, as he was a very learned man….
…, to be large and requiring further investigation. He ordered for a light vessel to be prepared.
He gave me the chance to go…
…with him, if I wished. I replied that I preferred to study and, by chance, he had given me some writing to do.
He was so free from fear that he dictated and took notes…
….about all the movements and all the shapes of that disaster.
Now ash pt1 -was falling on the boats, hotter and thicker…
….the nearer they approached. Now pumice stone was falling as well and blackened stones burnt and broken by fire. Now there were sudden shallows in the sea and extended shores were blocking the way because of debris from the mountain.
Now ash pt2- He hesitated for a short while as to whether to turn back, presently he said to the helmsman
….
….who was advising him to do so, “Fortune favours the brave. Make for Pomponianus!”. He was at Stabiae…
Now ash pt3- …separated from Pliny by the bay which lay between them. Although the danger was not yet approaching there…
…he had carried his baggage onto the boats, determined to flee if the contrary wind died down. My uncle was carried to him with the same wind blowing strongly behind him.
Now ash pt4- He embraced his panic-stricken friend, consoled him and gave him encouragement; in order to calm Pomponianus’ fear….
….by Pliny’s own lack of concern, he ordered that he be taken to the baths. After taking his bath, he reclined and had dinner and either was cheerful/appeared to be cheerful. (Equally remarkable)
Meanwhile from Mount Vesuvius in several places…
…very broad sheets of flame and high plumes of fire blazed, the glare and brightness of which was intensified by the darkness of the night.
Then he had a rest and did indeed rest a genuine sleep for…
…his breathing which in his case, was heavier and noisier because of the large size of his body was heard by those who hovered near his door.
But the courtyard which was now filled with a mixture of ash…
…and pumice had risen, so much that a way out would be denied if he stayed longer in his room.
