Translating Pliny’s letters about Vesuvius, pt. 3. The Historian’s Request
Bay of Naples: pulcherrimarum terrarum 6.16.1-3: The Historian’s Request This post belongs to a serialized translation and commentary of Pliny the Younger’s letters (6.16 and 6.20) to the historian...
View ArticleTranslating Pliny’s letters about Vesuvius, pt. 4. A Strange Cloud
Strange Cloud: non alia magis arbor quam pinus 6.16.4-6: A Strange Cloud This post belongs to a serialized translation and commentary of Pliny the Younger’s letters (6.16 and 6.20) to the historian...
View ArticleTranslating Pliny’s letters about Vesuvius, pt. 5. The Hero Embarks
Relative location of Vesuvius compared to the naval base at Misenum (inner and outer harbors visible at lower center). Based on GoogleEarth. 6.16.7-10: The Hero Embarks This post belongs to a...
View ArticleTranslating Pliny’s letters about Vesuvius, pt. 6. Fortune Favors the Brave
A Roman seaside villa on a sunnier day (fresco from Stabiae) 6.16.11-12: Fortune Favors the Brave This post belongs to a serialized translation and commentary of Pliny the Younger’s letters (6.16 and...
View ArticleTranslating Pliny’s letters about Vesuvius, pt. 7. An Anxious Night
Lightning from the Eyjafjallajökull volcano in October, 2010, by Sigurdur Hrafn Stefnisson, from National Geographic 6.16.13-16: An Anxious Night This post belongs to a serialized translation and...
View ArticleTranslating Pliny’s letters about Vesuvius, pt. 8. The Smell of Sulfur
John Martin’s early 19th-c. vision of the beach at Stabiae (detail) 6.16.17-22: The Smell of Sulfur This post belongs to a serialized translation and commentary of Pliny the Younger’s letters (6.16 and...
View ArticleTranslating Pliny’s letters about Vesuvius, pt. 9. Shuddering to Remember
The world turned topsy-turvy: detail of a relief from Pompeii depicting the earthquake of AD 62/3 toppling the Temple of Jupiter (see below for details) 6.20.1-3: Shuddering to Remember This post...
View ArticleTranslating Pliny’s letters about Vesuvius, pt. 10. When in Doubt, Study
Angela Kauffmann, Pliny the Younger and his Mother at Misenum, 79 A.D. (1785) Princeton University Art Museum (detail; see full painting below) 6.20.4-6: When in Doubt, Study. This post belongs to a...
View ArticlePliny and the Eruption of Vesuvius – publication March 2022
Pliny and the Eruption of Vesuvius (Routledge, March 2022) is in press. Here is how to order for your library at a 20% discount. My blog posts about the Vesuvius eruption are well obsolete, but I will...
View ArticleThe Date of the AD 79 Vesuvius eruption in the textual sources
20-min. lecture from 6 January 2022, Archaeological Institute of America Annual Meeting. All details and data to be published in March 2022:...
View ArticleHerculaneum Society: Pliny the Younger and the Date and Sequence of the...
Two talks for the Herculaneum Society, based at Oxford, 26 February 2022, now on YouTube: Professor Pedar Foss, DePauw University, on “Ashy Tuesday-Wednesday: The Date and Sequence of the AD 79...
View ArticleTwo Reviews of the Two Plinys and Vesuvius
Two reviews of Pliny and the Eruption of Vesuvius have come out, one by Margot Neger in BMCR, and one by Paolo Bernardini in La Provincia di Como (here is the PDF and a translation). I should note...
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