The eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 is without a doubt one of the most famous, if not iconic, volcanic events in history. The first rumblings were felt on 23 August - which was the feast day of Vulcan, no less - and then, on 24 August, the volcano erupted.
The event was witnessed by a 17 year-old Pliny the Younger, who wrote some vivid, first person accounts in his letters. It’s because of his descriptions that particularly violent volcanic eruptions are still referred to as Plinian.
Herculaneum was one of the Roman towns which were buried under tens of metres of pumice and ash during the eruption. One house in Herculaneum contained a library filled with papyrus scrolls which were turned into charcoal by the heat of the volcanic ash.
These charcoal scrolls were discovered by excavators in the 1750s. Four of them were presented to the Bodleian Library in 1810 by George, Prince of Wales.
So I submitted a video for The JET Programme Video Contest. My entry is a little different to the others in that I didn’t make a montage or just “introduce” my region, but decided to be creative and do a fake movie trailer instead. If you can spare a couple of minutes, I would really appreciate a vote!!
