On This Day In Roman History, February 5
An earthquake strikes in Campania causing severe damage to the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum on February 5, 62 CE. Modern day estimations rate this earthquake from somewhere between a 5 to a 6.1 on the Richter scale. Damage from this earthquake had been reported as far away as Naples and Nuceria. Modern views point to this as being a notable precursor for later seismic activity and the eventual eruption of Mount Vesuvius 17 year later in 79. Most of the information for this earthquake is found in a set of bas-reliefs within the Pompeiian home of a Roman baker by the name of Lucius Caecilius Iucundus, and within the writing of Seneca the Younger's book Naturales quaestiones. Notable damages include the Temple of Jupiter, the Aquarium of Cesar, and the Vesuvius Gate, as depicted in today's image.
Did you know?
In the sixth book of Seneca's Naturales quaestiones is a section on earthquakes titled De Terrae Motu, or "Concerning Earthquakes" in English. This compilation by Seneca is one of the very few Roman works that attempts to deal with truly scientific matters in a somewhat scientific way. Most of his findings were wrong concerning these natural events and moral/ethical lessons are scattered regularly throughout the work. For example, Seneca thought that the aftershocks felt for days post the original earthquake were due to entrapped toxic gasses jostling below the earth's surface attempting to free themselves, and some of these poison gasses were responsible for the death of 300 sheep that died in the mentioned earthquake.
Pictured: One of the marble bas-reliefs, in the form of an artistic slab, depicting the event of the 62 CE earthquake. From The Wilhelmina and Stanley A. Jashemski archive in the University of Maryland Library, Special Collections, via Creative Commons.
Seneca enquired deeply on why these events around him were taking place, quoted in Naturales quaestiones stating: "...why at times are fires caused to shoot out through some hitherto unknown opening in mountain or crag, while sometimes well-known fires, that have been famous for centuries, are suppressed? The earthquake produces a thousand strange sights, changing the aspect of the ground, leveling mountains, elevating plains, exalting valleys, raising new islands in the deep. What are the causes that bring these things to pass? That is a subject well worthy our discussion."
Opinion
Welcome to my daily opinion! The eruption of Mt. Vesuvius was no doubt a tragic event. However, its historic value in terms of preservation of archeological information, is truly immense. How else would we have such a preserved home of Lucius Caecilius Iucundus? We can find his business transactions in the form of wax tablets. They prove how complex the Roman economy was, showing business loans, city contracts, and various private records. It appears from these wax records, which stop mentioning Iucundus shortly before the earthquake, that he probably perished in this mentioned tragedy. I'll make sure to have a toast to you tonight at my family's SuperBowl party tonight, Lucius!
Sources
Andreau, J. (1999). Banking and business in the Roman world. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
Butterworth, A., & Laurence, R. (2006). Pompeii: the living city. New York: St. Martin's Press.
Carolis, E. D., & Patricelli, G. (2003). Vesuvius, A.D. 79 the destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum. Roma: L'Erma di Bretschneider.
Seneca, L. A., & Corcoran, T. H. (1971). Naturales quaestiones. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Further Reading:
Special Thanks: Michael Houghan
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