DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.70303#0376
346 FIRST IRRUPTION OF M^OUNT VESUVIUS*
They thought proper to go down farther upon the
shore, to observe if they might safely put out to sea; but
they found that the waves still ran extremely high and
boisterous. There Pliny, taking a draught or two of wa*
ter, threw himself down upon a cloth that was spread for
him; when immediately the flames and a strong smell of
sulphur, which was the forerunner of them, dispersed
the rest of the company, and obliged him to arise. He
raised himself, with the assistance of two of his servants,
for he was pretty fat, and instantly fell down dead;—-
Suffocated, as his nephew conjectures, by some gross and
and noxious vapour; for he had always weak lungs, and
was frequently subject to a difficulty of breathing. As
soon as it was light again, which was not till the third
day after, his body was found entire, and without any
marks of violence upon it; exactly in the same posture
that he fell, and looking more like a man asleep than
dead. The sister and nephew, whom the uncle left at
Misenum, continued there that night, but had their rest
extremely broken and disturbed. There had been for
many days before some shocks of an earthquake,
which was the less surprizing, as they were always ex-
tremely frequent in Campania; but they were so particu-
larly violent that night, that they hot only shook every
thing, but seemed to threaten a total destruction. When
the morning came, the light was exceedingly faint and
languid, and the buildings continued to totter; so that
Pliny and his mother resolved to quit the town, and the
people followed them in the utmost consternation. Having
got to a convenient distance from the houses, they stood
still, in the midst of a most dangerous and dreadful
scene. The chariots they had ordered to be drawn out,
were so agitated backwards and forwards, though upon
the most level ground, that they could not keep them
stedfast, even by supporting them with large stones..
They thought proper to go down farther upon the
shore, to observe if they might safely put out to sea; but
they found that the waves still ran extremely high and
boisterous. There Pliny, taking a draught or two of wa*
ter, threw himself down upon a cloth that was spread for
him; when immediately the flames and a strong smell of
sulphur, which was the forerunner of them, dispersed
the rest of the company, and obliged him to arise. He
raised himself, with the assistance of two of his servants,
for he was pretty fat, and instantly fell down dead;—-
Suffocated, as his nephew conjectures, by some gross and
and noxious vapour; for he had always weak lungs, and
was frequently subject to a difficulty of breathing. As
soon as it was light again, which was not till the third
day after, his body was found entire, and without any
marks of violence upon it; exactly in the same posture
that he fell, and looking more like a man asleep than
dead. The sister and nephew, whom the uncle left at
Misenum, continued there that night, but had their rest
extremely broken and disturbed. There had been for
many days before some shocks of an earthquake,
which was the less surprizing, as they were always ex-
tremely frequent in Campania; but they were so particu-
larly violent that night, that they hot only shook every
thing, but seemed to threaten a total destruction. When
the morning came, the light was exceedingly faint and
languid, and the buildings continued to totter; so that
Pliny and his mother resolved to quit the town, and the
people followed them in the utmost consternation. Having
got to a convenient distance from the houses, they stood
still, in the midst of a most dangerous and dreadful
scene. The chariots they had ordered to be drawn out,
were so agitated backwards and forwards, though upon
the most level ground, that they could not keep them
stedfast, even by supporting them with large stones..