Letters of Pliny
threatened destruction. In this choice of dangers they resolved for the
fields: a resolution which, while the rest of the company were hurried
into by their fears, my uncle embraced upon cool and deliberate
consideration. They went out then, having pillows tied upon their heads
with napkins; and this was their whole defence against the storm of
stones that fell round them. It was now day everywhere else, but there a
deeper darkness prevailed than in the thickest night; which however was
in some degree alleviated by torches and other lights of various kinds.
They thought proper to go farther down upon the shore to see if they
might safely put out to sea, but found the waves still running extremely
high, and boisterous. There my uncle, laying himself down upon a sail
cloth, which was spread for him, called twice for some cold water, which
he drank, when immediately the flames, preceded by a strong whiff of
sulphur, dispersed the rest of the party, and obliged him to rise. He
raised himself up with the assistance of two of his servants, and
instantly fell down dead; suffocated, as I conjecture, by some gross and
noxious vapour, having always had a weak throat, which was often
inflamed. As soon as it was light again, which was not till the third
day after this melancholy accident, his body was found entire, and
without any marks of violence upon it, in the dress in which he fell,
and looking more like a man asleep than dead. During all this time my
mother and I, who were at Miscnum--but this has no connection with your
history, and you did not desire any particulars besides those of my
uncle's death; so I will end here, only adding that I have faithfully
related to you what I was either an eye-witness of myself or received
immediately after the accident happened, and before there was time to
vary the truth. You will pick out of this narrative whatever is most
important: for a letter is one thing, a history another; it is one thing
writing to a friend, another thing writing to the public. Farewell.
LXVI -- To CORNELIUS TACITUS
THE letter which, in compliance with your request, I wrote to you
concerning the death of my uncle has raised, it seems, your curiosity to
know what terrors and dangers attended me while I continued at Misenum;
for there, I think, my account broke off:
"Though my shock'd soul recoils, my tongue shall tell."
My uncle having left us, I spent such time as was left on my studies (it
was on their account indeed that I had stopped behind), till it was time
for my bath. After which I went to supper, and then fell into a short
and uneasy sleep. There had been noticed for many days before a
trembling of the earth, which did not alarm us much, as this is quite an
ordinary occurrence in Campania; but it was so particularly violent that
night that it not only shook but actually overturned, as it would seem,
everything about us. My mother rushed into my chamber, where she found
me rising, in order to awaken her. We sat down in the open court of the
house, which occupied a small space between the buildings and the sea.
As I was at that time but eighteen years of age, I know not whether I
should call my behaviour, in this dangerous juncture, courage or folly;
but I took up Livy, and amused myself with turning over that author, and
even making extracts from him, as if I had been perfectly at my leisure.
Just then, a friend of my uncle's, who had lately come to him from
Spain, joined us, and observing me sitting by my mother with a book in
my hand, reproved her for her calmness, and me at the same time for my
careless security: nevertheless I went on with my author. Though it was
now morning, the light was still exceedingly faint and doubtful; the
buildings all around us tottered, and though we stood upon open ground,
yet as the place was narrow and confined, there was no remaining without
imminent danger: we therefore resolved to quit the town. A panic-
stricken crowd followed us, and (as to a mind distracted with terror
every suggestion seems more prudent than its own) pressed on us in dense
array to drive us forward as we came out. Being at a convenient distance
from the houses, we stood still, in the midst of a most dangerous and
dreadful scene. The chariots, which we had ordered to be drawn out, were
so agitated backwards and forwards, though upon the most level ground,
that we could not keep them steady, even by supporting them with large
stones. The sea seemed to roll back upon itself, and to be driven from
its banks by the convulsive motion of the earth; it is certain at least
the shore was considerably enlarged, and several sea animals were left
upon it. On the other side, a black and dreadful cloud, broken with
rapid, zigzag flashes, revealed behind it variously shaped masses of
flame: these last were like sheet-lightning, but much larger. Upon this
our Spanish friend, whom I mentioned above, addressing himself to my
mother and me with great energy and urgency: "If your brother," he said,
"if your uncle be safe, he certainly wishes you may be so too; but if he
perished, it was his desire, no doubt, that you might both survive him:
why therefore do you delay your escape a moment?" We could never think
of our own safety, we said, while we were uncertain of his. Upon this
our friend left us, and withdrew from the danger with the utmost
precipitation. Soon afterwards, the cloud began to descend, and cover
the sea. It had already surrounded and concealed the island of Capreae
and the promontory of Misenum. My mother now besought, urged, even
commanded me to make my escape at any rate, which, as I was young, I
might easily do; as for herself, she said, her age and corpulency
rendered all attempts of that sort impossible; however, she would
willingly meet death if she could have the satisfaction of seeing that
she was not the occasion of mine. But I absolutely refused to leave her,
and, taking her by the hand, compelled her to go with me. She complied
with great reluctance, and not without many reproaches to herself for
retarding my flight. The ashes now began to fall upon us, though in no
great quantity. I looked back; a dense dark mist seemed to be following
us, spreading itself over the country like a cloud. "Let us turn out of
the high-road," I said, "while we can still see, for fear that, should
we fall in the road, we should be pressed to death in the dark, by the
crowds that are following us." We had scarcely sat down when night came
upon us, not such as we have when the sky is cloudy, or when there is no
moon, but that of a room when it is shut up, and all the lights put out.
You might hear the shrieks of women, the screams of children, and the
shouts of men; some calling for their children, others for their
parents, others for their husbands, and seeking to recognise each other
by the voices that replied; one lamenting his own fate, another that of
his family; some wishing to die, from the very fear of dying; some
lifting their hands to the gods; but the greater part convinced that
there were now no gods at all, and that the final endless night of which
we have heard had come upon the world.[95] Among these there were some
who augmented the real terrors by others imaginary or wilfully invented.
I remember some who declared that one part of Misenum had fallen, that
another was on fire; it was false, but they found people to believe
them. It now grew rather lighter, which we imagined to be rather the
forerunner of an approaching burst of flames (as in truth it was) than
the return of day: however, the fire fell at a distance from us: then
again we were immersed in thick darkness, and a heavy shower of ashes
rained upon us, which we were obliged every now and then to stand up to
shake off, otherwise we should have been crushed and buried in the heap.
I might boast that, during all this scene of horror, not a sigh, or
expression of fear, escaped me, had not my support been grounded in that
miserable, though mighty, consolation, that all mankind were involved in
the same calamity, and that I was perishing with the world itself. At
last this dreadful darkness was dissipated by degrees, like a cloud or
smoke; the real day returned, and even the sun shone out, though with a
lurid light, like when an eclipse is coming on. Every object that
presented itself to our eyes (which were extremely weakened) seemed
changed, being covered deep with ashes as if with snow. We returned to
Misenum, where we refreshed ourselves as well as we could, and passed an
anxious night between hope and fear; though, indeed, with a much larger
share of the latter: for the earthquake still continued, while many
frenzied persons ran up and down heightening their own and their
friends' calamities by terrible predictions. However, my mother and I,
notwithstanding the danger we had passed, and that which still
threatened us, had no thoughts of leaving the place, till we could
receive some news of my uncle.
And now, you will read this narrative without any view of inserting it
in your history, of which it is not in the least worthy; and indeed you
must put it down to your own request if it should appear not worth even
the trouble of a letter. Farewell.
LX VII -- To MACER
How much does the fame of human actions depend upon the station of those
who perform them! The very same conduct shall be either applauded to the
skies or entirely overlooked, just as it may happen to proceed from a
person of conspicuous or obscure rank. I was sailing lately upon our
lake,[96] with an old man of my acquaintance, who desired me to observe
a villa situated upon its banks, which had a chamber overhanging the
water. "From that room," said he, "a woman of our city threw herself and
her husband." Upon enquiring into the cause, he informed me, "That her
husband having been long afflicted with an ulcer in those parts which
modesty conceals, she prevailed with him at last to let her inspect the
sore, assuring him at the same time that she would most sincerely give
her opinion whether there was a possibility of its being cured.
Accordingly, upon viewing the ulcer, she found the case hopeless, and
therefore advised him to put an end to his life: she herself
accompanying him, even leading the way by her example, and being
actually the means of his death; for tying herself to her husband, she
plunged with him into the lake." Though this happened in the very city
where I was born, I never heard it mentioned before; and yet that this
action is taken less notice of than that famous one of Arria's, is not
because it was less remarkable, but because the person who performed it
was more obscure. Farewell.
LXVIII -- To SERVIANUS
I AM extremely glad to hear that you intend your daughter for Fuscus
Salinator, and congratulate you upon it. His family is patrician,[97]
and both his father and mother are persons of the most distinguished
merit. As for himself, he is studious, learned, and eloquent, and, with
all the innocence of a child, unites the sprightliness of youth and the
wisdom of age. I am not, believe me, deceived by my affection, when I
give him this character; for though I love him, I confess, beyond
measure (as his friendship and esteem for me well deserve), yet
partiality has no share in my judgment: on the contrary, the stronger my
affection for him, the more exactingly I weigh his merit. I will
venture, then, to assure you (and I speak it upon my own experience) you
could not have, formed to your wishes, a more accomplished son-in-law.
May he soon present you with a grandson, who shall be the exact copy of
his father! and with what pleasure shall I receive from the arms of two
such friends their children or grand-children, whom I shall claim a sort
of right to embrace as my own! Farewell.
LXIX -- To SEVERUS