A simple charcoal scrawl may prove centuries of historical texts wrong
Posted on 10/17/2018 12:27:06 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
The inscription discovered in the new excavations is nothing more than a scrawl in charcoal, likely made by a worker renovating a home.
But it is dated to 16 days before the "calends" of November in the old Roman calendar style - which is 17 October in our modern dating method.
"Since it was done in fragile and evanescent charcoal, which could not have been able to last long, it is highly probable that it can be dated to the October of AD 79," the archaeology team said in a statement.
They believe the most likely date for the eruption was, in fact, 24 October.
There has long been some speculation that the eruption happened later than August, particularly centred around evidence of autumnal fruits and heating braziers discovered in the ruins.
The charcoal inscription supports that theory, the Pompeii archaeology team said.
So did Pliny the Younger record things incorrectly?
His letter to Tacitus was written some 20 years after the eruption in 79 AD. And the original copies have not survived the intervening 1,939 years.
Instead, our modern reading of the text is based on translations and transcriptions made over the centuries. In fact, various copies of the letters have contained dates ranging anywhere from August to November - though 24 August has long been accepted.
The differences between the texts could easily have been influenced by confusion over the ancient and modern systems of counting days.
(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.com ...
A simple charcoal scrawl may prove centuries of historical texts wrong
In before the usual stupid tired old BS about how the previous date was settled science, posted by snarky old nitwits.
So it is off by a few months..
Not bad for Pliny the younger for recording information Twenty years after the fact.
They had a better grasp of real news than our present fake news.
I wholeheartedly agree.
I suppose that we will be celebrating the anniversary at this time next week.
October = “eighth month” - might other dates be off by two months also?
Pliny the Younger actually wrote Nonum Kal. Septembres - the 9th day before the Kalends of September.
24-25-26-27-28-29-30-31-1.
That would be 24 August, yes.
At first glance, I’d say that’s not likely, but I don’t have another explanation.
Ancient calendars went through some changes, with January eventually being the first month for the Romans; previously it had been March, so that September as the seventh month made sense, October as eight, November as nine, December as ten.
Maybe, but this writing may have been made with charcoal because it was made during one of the post-eruption excavations -- ancient, filled-in holes have been found in the past, where apparently the homeowners (or robbers?) returned, figured out where their homes had been, and made excavation to recover cash or other property, or more poignantly, to search for loved ones.
Well, that changes everything! /s
Sure glad I wasn’t in the shower when this bombshell dropped.
I thought the months moved back because Julius inserted his July and Augustus his August. Not true?
I seriously doubt anyone would misremember such a dramatic event. Details, maybe but not something so important as a date like this.
Most likely, is that the scrawl was done post eruption....should have been plenty of charcoal laying around.
Yes, much later. The eruption occurred in 2016 while David Gilmore was telling people to “Run Like Hell” in Pompeii, but they didn’t. It was captured on this video near the end.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=El4AEHR1ANw
That is what I understood as well: Julius and Augustus got their months inserted in the summer - moving September (seven), October (eight) and November (nine) and December (en) back. Depending on the person interpreting months before (and after!) this change, I can see the date getting “moved” around hundreds of eyars later.
Also, one person could have correctly read and interpreted and written the date, a second person decided the “correction” was wrong based on a different calendar, then a third trying to re-re-correct the first and second.
They didn’t find an old calendar on a wall somewhere?...............
Well, obviously Young Bretticus Kavanaughicus wasn't keeping his journal at the time ...
LOL!!!!.......That’s a keeper!...................
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