28. The Ancient World’s Most Famous Tragic Disaster
One of antiquity’s most famous and tragic natural disasters was Mount Vesuvius’ eruption around noon on August 24th, 79 AD. It was one of Europe’s most powerful volcanic explosions. Vesuvius blew its top with a force 100,000 times greater than that of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs. The eruption tossed deadly debris mixed with a cloud of poisonous gasses over 20 miles up into the air. As it spewed gasses into the skies, lava and hot pumice poured out of the volcano’s mouth at a rate of 1.5 million tons per second. The scorching mixture raced down Vesuvius’ side to devastate the surrounding region and destroy nearby towns, of which Pompeii and Herculaneum are the best known.
Pliny the Younger, a Roman author and magistrate, was 15 miles away at Cape Misenum, visiting his uncle, Pliny the Elder. The elder Pliny was a Roman admiral, who ended up losing lose his life during the course of rescue efforts. Pliny the Younger penned a detailed description of the events he saw and those told him by first-hand witnesses. Pliny’s account is the best-written and most thorough narrative of the event, and history is deeply indebted to him.