Saturday, December 10, 2022

Review of Foss, Pliny and the eruption of Vesuvius

BRYN MAYR CLASSICAL REVIEW: Pliny and the eruption of Vesuvius.
Pedar W. Foss, Pliny and the eruption of Vesuvius. Abingdon and New York: Routledge, 2022. Pp. 352. ISBN 9780415705462 $160.00.

Review by
Margot Neger, University of Cyprus. neger.margot@ucy.ac.cy

... One would expect that by now everything important has already been said about these letters, but Foss succeeds in showing that there are still several aspects which deserve further discussion and analysis. An archaeologist, he examines the two Vesuvius letters from an interdisciplinary perspective, choosing a “multifaceted” approach, “from volcanology to verb forms; from chiasmus references to retracing coastlines”, as the preface announces (xv). ...

For many PaleoJudaica posts on the eruption of Vesuvius and its destruction of Pompeii and Heculaneum, as well as the younger Pliny's two letters about the eruption and the Elder Pliny's rescue mission into the conflagration, start here and follow the links.

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