16. Up To Half a Million Lives Lost
The historian Ammianus Marcellinus described the Cretan Earthquake’s impact on Alexandria: “The solidity of the earth was made to shake … and the sea was driven away. The waters returning when least expected killed many thousands by drowning. Huge ships perched on the roofs of houses … hurled miles from the shore“.
Such descriptions were rare, however. The historical records lack a reliable contemporary narrative describing the damage elsewhere in the Mediterranean with the degree of attention that was common when Greco-Roman civilization and culture were at their height. There was no equivalent to Pliny the Younger’s description of the Vesuvius eruption of 79 AD. What is known is that the devastation was massive and widespread, and that the loss of life was high, with estimated casualties between 300,000 to half a million.