Category: Tacitus

Drought responsible for British rebellion against Romans

Nov 28, 2025

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by

Mark

in Ancient Rome, British History, Everything Latin, hadrians-wall, Roman Britain, Roman Empire, Tacitus, Vindolanda

The following article was published in The Guardian online by Harriet Sherwood on Thursday 17th April 2025 The pivotal ‘barbarian conspiracy’ of AD 367 saw Picts, Scotti and Saxons inflicting crushing blows on Roman defences. A series of exceptionally dry summers that caused famine and social breakdown were behind one of the most severe threats…
Pliny the Elder: Eyewitness to the fury of Vesuvius

Jun 21, 2025

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by

Mark

in Everything Latin, Herculaneum, Mount Vesuvius, Pliny the Elder, Pliny the Younger, Pompeii, Roman Empire, Tacitus

A Plinian eruption is the name given to any volcanic eruption of the ferocity of the one which destroyed the ancient Roman cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii in 79AD, and which subsequently cost Pliny his life. He, his sister and nephew (Pliny the Younger) were living in a villa in Misenum, across the Bay of Naples from Mount Vesuvius at…