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The complete letter in English; the Anthology extract starts half-way through at line 9:"Before daybreak he used to wait upon Vespasian...", cutting out lines 12-13, and finishes at the end of line 16.

The rest of the letter is also worth reading!

Scroll down to Letter 5 to view the whole of the letter to Baebius Macer (Book III, Letter 5). Note that there are variations to the Anthology extract which starting at line 9, is cut in places and has different word-order in some sentences.

Good, detailed biography. Vespasian (ruled AD 69-79) was a man of action who gave the empire a period of stable and efficient government. Tacitus tells us that "he, unlike his predecessors, was the only emperor who was changed for the better by his office".

Good description of the Roman ritual of salutatio or "greeting", whereby men regularly visited their higher-status patrons.
More links on Patronage can be found in Stage 31.

A simple chair or more elaborate enclosed bench that was carried on the shoulders of slaves.

Another more luxurious mode of transport for important Romans was the portable couch known as a lectica, known in English as a "litter".

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Terrific, precise translation produced by Stephen O'Brien and Clive Madel of the Camden School for Girls, London.

Depending on your default audio player, you may need to save the file on your computer before opening it.

The complete letter (VI.16) written to Tacitus by Pliny the Younger describing his uncle's death during the eruption of Vesuvius in AD79.

This is followed by a follow-up letter (VI.20) to Tacitus describing how Pliny the Younger himself experienced the eruption. Well worth a read!

This excellent animation shows a timelapse of the eruption of AD 79.

A detailed article on the life and works of Tacitus which amply reveals how little we really know about this important Roman historian.

Misenum was northern headland of the Bay of Naples. It was also the name of the adjoining harbour and town,

It was the largest base of the Roman navy during the early empire, with the fleet making use of several natural and man-made harbours.

Map 1 of the Misenum headland.

Map 2 of the Misenum headland showing Roman naval harbours.

Map 3 of the Misenum headland (line drawing).

Map 4 of the Misenum headland, Vesuvius and the rest of the Bay of Naples.

The Roman fleet's presence is still hinted at by the massive, underground cistern, today known as the Piscina Mirabilis (photo 1, photo 2) which is located here. It once held the fresh drinking water needed for the thousands of sailors. The pillars supported the cistern's ceiling, and would have been submerged by the water that poured into the cistern from an aqueduct. Explore it in this video and plan.

In AD79 there were two imperial fleets at the ready: one based at Ravenna on the northern Adriatic coast of Italy, and the other based at Misenum in the Bay of Naples on the west coast.The Misenum fleet was the more important and remained in service for four centuries. There may have been over 10,000 sailors at the time of Nero manning perhaps 50 ships.

This website gives details, known from inscriptions, of the boats in the fleets.

Terrific possible reconstruction of the libunica or liburnia which was a relatively small warship with two banks of oars (thus a type of bireme) that was renowned for its speed and agility. Developed by the Liburnians (from modern Croatia), it was adopted by the Roman navy from the time of Augustus.

Another view showing arrangement of rowers who sit on the same level, although the oars sit at two levels. These reconstructions are based on the ships depicted on Trajan's Column in Rome.

The famous wall-paintings of biremes from the House of the Vettii in Pompeii show biremes, but there is not sufficient detail to specify the type of bireme.

A quadrireme was a large Roman warship, the exact form of which is unknown, but which was probably fitted with either a single bank of oars with 4 men at each oar, or two banks of oars, one above each other with 2 men at each oar - either system providing 4 men close to each other - and so satisfying its designation as a quadrireme or a "4er". (The systematic reckoning that there were four banks of oars, following from the known use of two banks in biremes and three banks in triremes, however, can no longer be applied on practical grounds).
This ship was a development of the highly succesful Classical Greek trireme, a modern reconstruction of which has dispelled any doubts that such awkward-looking ships (in this case with 3 banks of oars; 1 man at each oar) could in fact be rowed.

Marvellous painting of the 1774 eruption by Joseph Wright of Derby.
In the Derby Museums and Art Gallery.

Dramatic 18th-century painting depicting Pliny the Elder's final moments.

Entitled "The Eruption of Vesuvius" it was painted in 1779 by Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes.
In a private collection.

Background notes, cultural and literary analysis courtesy of Godfrey Evans of Chelmsford County High School for Girls.

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