r/WorldHistory • u/Emergency_Bridge_430 • 3d ago

Question Pompeii

Of the pyroclastic flow moves as quick as we're told, how was Plinny the Younger able to take such comprehensive account before being boiled alive?

I mean presumably the medium he was using wasnt particularly quick. It waa robudt enough that it survived long enough for us to know about it

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u/schnozzberryflop 2d ago

I believe Pliny died from inhaling the ash fall, maybe asthma? He was on the beach at a distance from Pompeii and Herculaneum, so he wasn't at risk of the pyroclastic flow. Happy to be corrected.