Recreation of Vesuvius Erupting

 Enquire: What happened when Vesuvius erupted?

Draw up a table to record what is happening as you watch the video recreation of Vesuvius exploding.

Now read the accounts of the explosion by an eyewitness: Letters of Pliny the Younger to the Historian Tacitus. Add to the table the details you learn from Pliny the Younger's account.

What information is not provided by these two accounts? List questions you would like to ask an eyewitness. (For example: Why did some people remain in the city until the next morning when the pyroclastic flow killed them?)

How reliable is Pliny the Younger as a witness?

Are these accounts primary or secondary sources? Why? Compare a primary source with a secondary source talking about the Vesuvius explosion. How are they different?

Life as a Gladiator 

 

Life as a Slave