People have long appreciated the high, incomparable fertility of volcanic soils and have begun to cultivate them since time immemorial. Scientists have at their disposal written sources that more than two thousand years ago, rich grape harvests were gathered around Vesuvius and on its slopes.
Such a historical fact is also known. When Spartacus raised disenfranchised slaves to fight the mighty Rome (73 BC), he attacked the legionnaires, using the vines growing on Vesuvius. From them ropes were woven, with the help of which the gladiators went down the steep, which was considered insurmountable.
And today, despite the dark past of Vesuvius, people settle on its wide and fertile slopes. And at the beginning of the new era, the area near the Gulf of Naples was also a favorite place of residence of wealthy Romans. In the north was the city of Herculaneum, to the south were Pompeii and Stabia - three kind of suburban suburbs of Naples.
But Vesuvius from time to time menacingly and inexorably reminded people of the impermanence of nature. Burning in its bowels also took place in the most distant antiquity. It sometimes intensified, turning into an eruption itself, sometimes it subsided for tens and even whole hundreds of years. But this outward calm is deceiving. Even the Roman poet Martial, in one of his epigrams, reflected on this topic:
Cornelius Tacitus in his "History" also ranks the disasters caused by Vesuvius among the most terrible misfortunes of that time: lava and ash”. According to the generally accepted opinion of geologists, Vesuvius originated from the seabed in prehistoric times, at the same time as the coastal western hills of Central and Lower Italy.
Now the absolutely regular cone of Vesuvius rises above the bay, but its contours until 79 were completely different. Vesuvius was a picturesque mountain, towering majestically over the Gulf of Naples, rising 1300 meters above sea level. But early in the morning of August 24, 79, a cloud of extraordinary shape suddenly rose over Vesuvius. If we compare it with trees, then most of all it resembled a pine - an Italian pine. The huge trunk of the pine rose up and diverged at the top with its branchy crown, which seemed to be supported by ascending air currents. Then, as if this stream began to dry up, the trunk of the tree began to dissolve, at times turning white, then acquiring the color of mud. It depended on whether the volcano was throwing ash or earth. This is how the Roman writer Pliny the Younger described the eruption of Vesuvius in a letter to the Roman historian Tacitus,who was visiting at that time in Miseno - his uncle's estate on the shores of the Gulf of Naples. Although the letter mainly concerned the death of his uncle and patron Pliny the Elder, it is nevertheless an important document.
At first, few people paid attention to the cloud of ash and steam that rose above the volcano. Until the 1st century AD, the Romans considered their Vesuvius to be an inactive volcano.
The blessed day of August 24 has come, for which regular gladiator fights have been scheduled. Around one in the afternoon, sister Pliny the Elder noticed a cloud swirling over Vesuvius. The sky suddenly became menacing, the cloud grew darker and darker … The sun completely disappeared behind the abundant ash fall, and pitch darkness fell. This further increased people's anxiety and confusion. It was impossible to go out into the street without covering his head with a pillow, since heavy stones fell on his head along with the ash.
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Pliny the Elder in 79 was in command of the Roman fleet in the northwestern part of the Gulf of Naples, but his research interest immediately aroused, and he ordered the preparation of a ship that would take him to the place of the eruption. Meanwhile, cries for help began to be heard, messengers came from the villages at the foot of the mountain. Pliny changed his plans and ordered several ships to go to sea in case an evacuation was necessary. He sent the rest of the ships to the villages, and he headed closer to the volcano.
Underestimating the scale of the catastrophe and the power of the raging Vesuvius, demonstrating his "fearlessness" in front of the inhabitants of Stabia, fleeing in panic, Pliny the Elder died on the third day of the volcanic eruption. His nephew in his letter informed Tacitus: “The smell of sulfur and heat dissipated the remnants of the group. Pliny got up with difficulty, supported by two servants, but immediately fell to the ground dead. " Pliny the Younger had no doubt that his uncle was gassed.
The city of Pompeii was close enough to the volcano. The rich residents realized in time what the eruption that had begun could threaten them, and tried to quickly go to a safe place. Not had time to leave Herculaneum and Pompeii only those who did not really believe in the catastrophe even when it had already begun, but the slaves who were left on purpose to take care of household property, and the soldiers who were serving their sentences. All of them were covered with ash and flooded with lava, no one could escape.
By the time the horrified residents realized the seriousness and danger of their situation, the streets were already buried under a thick layer of ash, and he kept falling and falling from the sky. Soft ash on the ground, falling ash from the sky, sulfurous vapors in the air …
People, distraught with fear and horror, fled, stumbled and fell, dying right in the streets, and ash instantly fell on them. Some of them chose to stay in houses where there was no ash, but the houses quickly filled with poisonous fumes, and hundreds of people died from suffocation. Many found their death under the ruins of their own houses, were crushed by roofs that collapsed under the weight of ash.
The eruption of Vesuvius completely destroyed Pompeii. The city hid under a layer of ash, reaching a thickness of three meters. When the excavations of Pompeii began in the middle of the 18th century, the remains of many dead people were found in an alley called Skeleton Street by archaeologists. Among them is a woman lying on her side and as if sleeping peacefully; next to him is a girl in embroidered sandals, frozen in a pose of deep despair. Next to them is a man stuck in the ashes of an enormous height, who froze in the last effort to get to his feet.
Subsequently, archaeologists have also restored the picture of the death of the priests of the temple of Isis. The beginning of the eruption found them in the triclinium at a modest meal. Then eggshells and fish remains were found on the table. Not caring about personal salvation and deeply believing in the afterlife, they rushed to save the statue of Isis and the sacred utensils. The strongest of them, with a heavy linen sack on his back, filled with precious relics, the first fell near the temple. The rest, picking up the scattered treasures, moved to the forum, where the column of the portico collapsed on them. After picking up the fallen golden dishes, they decided to seek refuge in the house, where everyone died.
Many residents were ruined by attachment to loved ones or valuable things. The owners of the famous Faun's house, instead of saving their lives, wasted a lot of time packing jewelry.
In the barracks of the gladiators, a richly dressed, jeweled young matron, who chose this very day to meet her lover, remained forever. During the eruption itself, many Pompeians sat in theaters where games, drama performances or gladiatorial battles took place. They did not have time to escape, and they found their death where they came for pleasure.
Located on the other side of Vesuvius, the city of Herculaneum was not covered with ash falling from the sky, but it was also doomed and disappeared from the face of the earth. High on the slopes of the volcano, a huge amount of ash has accumulated, which threatened to fall down at any moment. And when the pouring rain passed, these masses of ash got wet and began to creep. Semi-liquid mud streams rushed along the slopes, which flooded Herculaneum. Some of these streams were as deep as fifteen meters. But by that time most of the population had already left the city.
When Vesuvius finally calmed down, the sky over Campania was again illuminated by the sun, but its rays no longer found their beloved country. In the place of olive trees and green vineyards, in marble villas and throughout the city, ash and undulating lava lay.
HUNDRED GREAT DISASTERS. N. A. Ionina, M. N. Kubeev