Historical story

Destruction of Pompeii:August 24 or October 24?

Pompeii overwhelmed by the fury of Vesuvius; the destruction of the city occurred on 24 August or 24 October in the year 79 AD

Pompeii it was buried by the lava of Vesuvius in 79 AD , that's for sure, but on the exact day of the event is not clear:let's see why.

Pliny the Younger he described the frightening event in two letters addressed to Tacitus and in the most reliable variant of the manuscript of one of them, we read, verbatim, “ nonum kal. Septembres ” , which means nine days before the Kalends of September, therefore the 24 August , a date which therefore appears to be the "official" date of the catastrophe.

However, not all scholars agree, especially due to some archaeological finds which would be incompatible with this period of the year, that is the full summer; some types of dried fruit and the presence of braziers, usually used to heat up, would make us lean more towards autumn.

To all this is added the presence, on site , of a coin which refers to the fifteenth acclamation of Titus as Emperor of Rome, which took place after 8 September 79, therefore irreconcilable with an earlier date.

How are things then?

On what exact day did the destruction of Pompeii take place?

Probably it was a transcription error on the part of the copyist:August 24 instead of October 24 .