Originally posted on July 5, 2012 by Canicus
Stabiae
The route of Circumvesuviana seems to be a closely guarded secret. There is, to be sure, a map posted on the wall of the ticket office. And there are some on the trains which are not easily visible and consulted. But apparently maps for travelers are not available. Today I took a pencil and paper and copied the stops from Pompeii to Stabiae from the map. It was a good thing I did because, on the trip to Stabiae the station signs south of Pompeii were, with one exception, not visible from the train. But counting stops did get me to Stabiae – again not marked.
Coming out of the station, there was absolutely no clue as to how to get from the station to the archeological site. I debated whether to get back on the train and return to Naples or not. But eventually I persuaded a taxi driver to take me to the archeological site. I would have never found it on my own. For that matter, I’m not even sure I visited the site I had planned to visit. But I had a guided tour from the taxi driver – albeit no one there spoke any English and my Italian is not much better.
The place I visited was called the Villa de San Marcos. I have no idea what the connection of the villa to Saint Mark might have been. I am positive it has absolutely nothing whatever to do with the evangelist.
This was the “country villa” of an extremely wealthy Roman. That I do know. The place was huge with gardens, pools, a big kitchen and a private bath. What I know of Stabiae is that when Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, Admiral Pliny the Elder, who commanded the Roman fleet stationed at Misenium at the other end of the Bay of Naples set the fleet to sail to Herculaneum to rescue people there. He was unable to get to Herculaneum because of the winds, currents and volcanic ash which made navigation impossible and risked setting fire to the ships. He sailed south, by passing Pompeii, and landed at Stabiae where he sought shelter at the villa of a friend. It is possible that this is the villa I visited today, but I am not sure of it. It would be appropriate for a friend of someone of Pliny’s importance.
The accounts are that Pliny spent the night there, bathing and then sleeping. They decided to evacuate Stabiae in the morning. The reports are that as they were leaving Pliny stopped to look at the progress of the volcano because of his interest in natural phenomenon. He had written numerous volumes on natural history, some of which we have today. Apparently, though he was not in good health and collapsed. Lying on the ground he quickly suffocated from the noxious gases close to the ground. Others in his party did escape.
Pliny the Elder did not, of course, leave a record of the disaster. His nephew, known to history as Pliny the Younger, did witness the eruption from Misenium and lived to write a detailed description of it and the “umbrella cloud.” Long thought to be an exaggeration, modern volcanologist have verified its accuracy as a description of what is known today as a Plinian eruption, similar to that which occurred several years ago at Mount Helena in the U.S.
Canicus Modius