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While Pliny the Elder was trying to aid
Pompeii’s besieged residents, his sister and
nephew were up against it as well. They
were far enough away that they were not
threatened by the toxic air, but tremors
made their villa treacherous, so they fled.
At one point Plinia told her son to go ahead
without her as she was old and could not
keep up, but the boy would not hear of it
and demanded she push on. They escaped,
and today Pliny the Younger’s letters give
us the only surviving account of the erup‐
tion and its catastrophic consequences.
So there are the letters. And the beer.
Like so much else about Pompeii, we will
never know what Pliny the Elder, a Roman
naturalist, historian, and fleet admiral,
would make of a double India pale ale
named for him. Surely he had a streak of
vanity and would be pleased. But perhaps
not.
The brewers
at Russian River
named their beer
for Pliny because
his “Natural His‐
tory” contains
one of the first
known refer‐
ences to India
Pale Ale’s essen‐
tial ingredient,
Humulus lupulus, known to us as hops.
Without Pliny the Elder the person, Pliny Above: A Pompeii interior. This one doesn’t
the Elder™ the beer might not be possible. show erotic art, a common decor theme,
There are many paths that lead to im‐ but images from mythology.
mortality, and Pliny the Elder took more Pompeii’s amphitheater, which staged
than one. gladiator and animal contests.
The author of this article would like to Opposite: A morning view of a Pompeii
credit “The Shadow of Vesuvius, A Life of street, with carriage ruts evident in the
Pliny” by Daisy Dunn for her account of cobblestones.
Pliny the Elder’s final moments. Left: Pliny the Elder™ beer.

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