Pliny Account of the Destruction of Pompeii Research Paper (Research Paper Sample)

PLINY ACCOUNT OF THE DESTRUCTION OF POMPEII
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Pliny Account of the Destruction of Pompeii
In the accounts given Pliny on the destruction of Pompeii, he provides a revealing experience on the in-depth occurrences that took place on the said day. In his descriptions, he describes how the sea waters became unstable, and a huge cloud engulfed the sky with stones falling from the heavens. Pliny describes how he witnessed the deep dark cloud arising from the mountains which he later knew was Vesuvius and the fear that gripped him at the tender age of seventeen years (Jashemski, 1979). According to Pliny, The view on the sky look looked like a pine tree and ascended into the heavens like a very long stalk and later spread like it created branches in the air. His belief was it was caused by a sudden blast which raised the thick ash into the sky but then became weak in support which left it descending towards the ground spreading sideways. The buildings were shocked strongly by the tremors which made them sway uncontrollably. The fire consumed the whole place, although, it was day time, the sky was dark and thick that night, and there was a smell of sulphur which filled the place (Jashemski, 1979).
Archaeological findings of today describe how Mount Vesuvius erupted catastrophically and caused the destruction and disappearance of a nearby Roman town, Pompeii. Ruins of Pompeii were discovered by a surveying engineer in 1748 and had been frozen and buried in the ground since summer of A.D. 79 (Binford, 1981). The evidence provided by Pliny gives a more deta...