Vesuvius is a very well known volcano located near the town of Pompeii in modern day Italy. This town and the town of Herculaneum where awfully effected by the first known eruption in 79 A.D. This upsurge of the volcano was written about by the eyewitness of Pliny the Younger which gave us a very detailed account with great insight. This town is also said to be in great danger of another eruption. source(Roberts)
The eruption of Vesuvius started years before its actual explosion date. It started on February 5, 62 A.D. with a huge and roaring earthquake that went on for a whole day in unpredictable intervals. When 17 years came around the corner the people near the vicinities of MT. Vesuvius did not connect the two together so therefore did not know that the earthquake was a form of a warning. Another warning occurred about a little less than a month before the explosion is was when many of the wells dried up and there were more earthquakes but they were more insignificant. When the eruption of Vesuvius took place an eyewitness took an account of what he saw over 18 miles away across the bay, this eyewitness was Pliny the Younger. Although Pliny the Older thought that he should explore what was happening closer Pliny the Younger stayed back and watch the whole thing happen. His account of this volcanic eruption was the first account of a volcanic explosion. The account was two letters that were extremely descriptive in what he saw. Part of what he said while looking at the eruption take place was: source (Roberts)
“Its general appearance can best be expressed as being like a pine tree. It rose to a great height on a sort of trunk and then split off into branches. I imagine it was thrust upwards by the first blast . . . Broad sheets of fire and leaping flames blazed at several points. . . . The buildings were now shaking with violent shocks and seemed to be swaying to and fro as if they were torn from their foundations”. source
The result of the explosion was extreme. The city of Pompeii was hit the hardest because it was directly downwind of the volcano, Vesuvius which means that the majority of ash-cloud fell on Pompeii. Although the explosion contained great amounts of ash, rock, burning stones, flames, and mud the greater desolation that affect most the lives were the mephitic vapors that accompanied the debris. The vapors would first cause deliriousness and then would cause suffocation. Some people were able to escape the tragedy but others were not which did help the death numbers because some did leave. The approximate deaths were 3,600. The city of Pompeii itself was covered in debris more than 30 feet tall. The neighboring town of Herculaneum was also covered buy debris of about 17 feet tall. This was a shocking and terrifying experience for these people and so the people started to rebuild the city. source (Kaplan)
Today MT. Vesuvius is obviously still there and has been silent since 1944 but many researchers agree that it is not a matter of if it will erupt like the explosion in 79 A.D. but more of a matter of when. Now there are about 3 million people that live near the volcano so having it explode and kill all the people would not be good, this is why the Italian government offered 30,000 euros to who ever will move out of the area. Another explosion like the first would be catastrophic in the eyes of the government. source
Vesuvius’ explosion in 79 A.D. was a huge one that included the destruction of two towns and it included many deaths. Not knowing about the first explosion would cause us to not think much about the volcano of to be worried but because of the account given to us by Pliny the Younger we are able to know what we are to expect. This would cause many problems for the future. This leads us to believe that the History of an event affects the future. source (Kaplan)
Book sources:
Roberts, Russell. Mt. Vesuvius and the Destruction of Pompeii, A.D. 79. Mitchell Lane Publishers: U.S.A.; 2006.
Kaplan, Sarah Pitt. Pompeii: City Of Ashes. Children’s Press: New York; 2005.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Saturday, April 18, 2009
stoicism
The stoic philosophy was created by Zeno of Citium in Athens, Greece. Its philosophy is related only to the nature and universe. Even though the philosophy was stared in the 300’s B.C. it did not hit its popularity height until the 100’s B.C. and A.D. It reached its height here because people made more of an effort of to teach it and “talk it up”. source (Inwood, Copleston)
The Stoic philosophy is about how the universe is god-like. They believe that if you act according to nature’s plan you will be filled with goodness but if you do not then destruction will occur. Nature’s plan is what they also consider your conscience and virtue. This would not make being successful a necessity which would give this philosophy more likeable. source (Copleston)
The height of the Stoic philosophy was during the Roman age because of three people. The first person is Panaetius of Rhodes he put the philosophy in Rome where it was most popular and most successful in having a lasting effect. The second person is Epictetus who was the teacher of stoicism in Rome. With him Seneca popularized stoicism in Rome. These two even started an Academy for followers of the philosophy with out them this philosophy would not have been accepted as well. source (Inwood)
The stoic philosophy is a lot like our current system because its all about what you want and feel is best for you. Everything is subjective and relative in our world. This means that there are no universals or objective truths. This is all about what you feel is good and right for you. If you do what you feel like you should then you are right and you will get rewarded for it. source (Copleston)
This philosophy was obviously a big affect on our world if it has stayed with us. The stoic philosophy probably would not have probably been in our current society without the people that helped form it. Zeno had a great effect on our world that he probably did not think about when he created stoic. source (Inwood)
Book Sources:
Inwood, Brad. Reading Seneca: Stoic Philosophy at Rome. Oxford University: Oxford; May 11, 2008.
Copleston, Fredrick Charles. A History of Philosophy: Greece and Rome vl 1.Paulist Press: New York; June 1976.
The Stoic philosophy is about how the universe is god-like. They believe that if you act according to nature’s plan you will be filled with goodness but if you do not then destruction will occur. Nature’s plan is what they also consider your conscience and virtue. This would not make being successful a necessity which would give this philosophy more likeable. source (Copleston)
The height of the Stoic philosophy was during the Roman age because of three people. The first person is Panaetius of Rhodes he put the philosophy in Rome where it was most popular and most successful in having a lasting effect. The second person is Epictetus who was the teacher of stoicism in Rome. With him Seneca popularized stoicism in Rome. These two even started an Academy for followers of the philosophy with out them this philosophy would not have been accepted as well. source (Inwood)
The stoic philosophy is a lot like our current system because its all about what you want and feel is best for you. Everything is subjective and relative in our world. This means that there are no universals or objective truths. This is all about what you feel is good and right for you. If you do what you feel like you should then you are right and you will get rewarded for it. source (Copleston)
This philosophy was obviously a big affect on our world if it has stayed with us. The stoic philosophy probably would not have probably been in our current society without the people that helped form it. Zeno had a great effect on our world that he probably did not think about when he created stoic. source (Inwood)
Book Sources:
Inwood, Brad. Reading Seneca: Stoic Philosophy at Rome. Oxford University: Oxford; May 11, 2008.
Copleston, Fredrick Charles. A History of Philosophy: Greece and Rome vl 1.Paulist Press: New York; June 1976.
Saturday, April 11, 2009
The Romans affect on the Early Christians
The early Christians where certainly effected by the Roman Empire greatly. In some ways the Roman Empire made it easier to travel from place to place to evangelize to the different towns. However the Christians were also persecuted by the Romans in the beginning but stuck through and I believe this made them stronger. In the end however, the Roman Empire did not just affect Christianity but it was also vise-versa. Rome before the spread of Christianity had a major pagan view but because of this spread they accepted this religion and with it many of their morals. source (Rives)
The Roman Empire was an extremely big and well designed empire which was quite helpful to the early Christians in their travels to witness to the people. This was a special help to the apostle Paul, who used the Roman roads to get from place to place for his travels. In this they were able to reach the big cities that needed it most. Paul mainly kept in the area known best as Greece and the city of Rome, we see this in the Bible and his letters to the different cities he had visited. source
The hard beginning did not stop the early Christians from persevering on which in the end paid off. But in the middle it must have been really hard they were threatened to be killed and some were, they also were not in the best place with money. But these men looked to God and said that they will not crumble in times of distress. The Roman government looked very poorly at the time to Christianity and along with the Jews were blamed for anything that went wrong and many were persecuted for it. This I believe only made the Christians have more faith and more fire to witness to everyone. Intern the this made to Romans more interested in what was so special about that religion. source (Rives)
Not only did the Roman Empire affect the witnessing of the early Christians but Christianity affected the religion in the Roman Empire. Before the birth of Christianity Rome was mainly a pagan empire but Christianity became more popular in the Romans eyes and they changed greatly because of this religion. Not only did they accept it but many also changed their morals to fit the bill. Instead of gladiator fights and tiger wrestling you would every now and then see the apostle Paul and many others speak the message of Christianity, many Romans also turned from their very sinful ways. source (Glover)
So we see that the Roman Empire helped in both good and bad ways. We also see that not only did the Roman Empire affect the early years of Christianity but that Christianity also affected the Roman Empire. Both sides of this connection left their mark on history and have been made a huge part of the present. source (Glover)
Book Sources:
Glover, T. R. The Religion of the Roman Empire. Kessinger Publishing. New York; December 30, 2005.
Rives, J.B. Religion in the Roman Empire. Blackwell Pub. Oxford; June 19, 2006.
Image 1:
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/maps/romanempire.jpg
The Roman Empire was an extremely big and well designed empire which was quite helpful to the early Christians in their travels to witness to the people. This was a special help to the apostle Paul, who used the Roman roads to get from place to place for his travels. In this they were able to reach the big cities that needed it most. Paul mainly kept in the area known best as Greece and the city of Rome, we see this in the Bible and his letters to the different cities he had visited. source
The hard beginning did not stop the early Christians from persevering on which in the end paid off. But in the middle it must have been really hard they were threatened to be killed and some were, they also were not in the best place with money. But these men looked to God and said that they will not crumble in times of distress. The Roman government looked very poorly at the time to Christianity and along with the Jews were blamed for anything that went wrong and many were persecuted for it. This I believe only made the Christians have more faith and more fire to witness to everyone. Intern the this made to Romans more interested in what was so special about that religion. source (Rives)
Not only did the Roman Empire affect the witnessing of the early Christians but Christianity affected the religion in the Roman Empire. Before the birth of Christianity Rome was mainly a pagan empire but Christianity became more popular in the Romans eyes and they changed greatly because of this religion. Not only did they accept it but many also changed their morals to fit the bill. Instead of gladiator fights and tiger wrestling you would every now and then see the apostle Paul and many others speak the message of Christianity, many Romans also turned from their very sinful ways. source (Glover)
So we see that the Roman Empire helped in both good and bad ways. We also see that not only did the Roman Empire affect the early years of Christianity but that Christianity also affected the Roman Empire. Both sides of this connection left their mark on history and have been made a huge part of the present. source (Glover)
Book Sources:
Glover, T. R. The Religion of the Roman Empire. Kessinger Publishing. New York; December 30, 2005.
Rives, J.B. Religion in the Roman Empire. Blackwell Pub. Oxford; June 19, 2006.
Image 1:
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/maps/romanempire.jpg
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