[February 25, 2022] Sometimes, I find something that just interests me. An archeological article came out last year that suggested that during the A.D. 79 Mount Vesuvius eruption, a Roman Soldier was on the Herculaneum beach as part of a major rescue effort.
We know that a rescue mission was undertaken by naval commander Pliny, the Elder. Pliny’s story alone is worthy of our attention, but the unknown Roman Soldier is my focus here. Pliny the Elder also died during the rescue mission.
Discovered nearly 40 years ago, archeologists discovered a lone Soldier lying face down on the Herculaneum beach. Skeleton number 26, as it is known, is believed to have belonged to a man between 40 and 45 and in good health. He had been thrown to the ground by the force of the eruption. A boat was found nearby, and it is now thought that the 300 other skeletons found massed on the beach were close to being rescued.
Herculaneum and Pompeii are two of the more famous towns consumed by debris from the eruption, but many others met the same deadly fate.
Items found with skeleton 26 suggest he may have played a more critical role than initially thought. Silver and gold coins were found on the skeleton, along with a highly decorated gold and silver belt and a sword with an ivory handle. This indicates he may have been a member of the famous Roman Praetorian Guard.1 At the very least, he was a senior Roman officer.
Some scholars said we might never know whether this man was a member of the naval rescue fleet. It’s an exciting idea. Was this Roman Soldier a hero or just unlucky?
The evidence is clear that this Roman Soldier was there as part of a rescue mission. The mission did not succeed. But I think we can say, without much doubt, that he and his sailors were heroes of that day, nearly 2,000 years ago.
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- The Praetorian Guard was a unit of the Imperial Roman army that served as personal bodyguards and intelligence agents for the Roman emperors. During the Roman Republic, the Praetorian Guard were an escort for high-rank political officials and were bodyguards for the senior officers of the Roman legions.
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A hero!
As a leader we must learn to tell the stories of heroes. Gen. Satterfield is doing exactly this.
“Tell Stories of Heroes”
https://www.theleadermaker.com/tell-stories-of-heroes/
Jose, you got that right and I’ve been trying to do this. I found a number of great leaders on YouTube and watch them to learn more about HOW to tell the story. Their tone of voice, where they put emphasis, etc. These techniques go a long way in getting people interested in our story.
Like ferreting out a mystery. We can only infer this soldier’s intent but all the evidence surely points to a rescue attempt that failed. He and his shipmates were too late.
Good reference with video (that doesn’t work well on my computer).
“Volcano-blasted Herculaneum Roman Soldier Tells His Ancient Secrets”
https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-history-archaeology/roman-soldier-0015311
Thanks JT. I found this article about a Soldier who was caught in the volcano blast, to be a good example of someone putting their life on the line to help others. That is what being a hero is about.
True enough. Rare that we can find a hero like this. I’m sure that many other heroes came from those terrible days but, of course, we will never know them.
To be a hero is not about recognition.
Thanks Gen. Satterfield for a quick article on what appears to be a hero from ancient times. It is, of course, difficult to identify them. Until now, we would only see writings about heroes and those were often exaggerated.
I’ll bet that the ‘woke’ people of Pompeii and Herculaneum were still planting their gardens as the molten lava flowed down the sides. NOT.
In BBC2’s 2013 documentary The Other Pompeii: Life and Death in Herculaneum , presenter Wallace-Hadrill told the story of the tragic event of 79 AD. “We all make the mistake of seeing ancient Roman society as comprising of only rich and poor people,” said Hadrill, but “Herculaneum gives us back the middle people – and they are extraordinary,” said the presenter.
Not sure where we can find the documentary.
Nobody at that time would have associated the increasing tremors and smoking mountain peak as a sign of impending disaster, so, everyone in the region was taken by surprise and for the most part vaporized soon after the volcano erupted.
I’m not so sure about that. Ancient peoples had a much better grasp of the natural world that us moderns will ever know.
Yes, probably part of a rescue mission. This tells us a lot about the Roman Empire. It tells us that there is some form of intertown communications. Altho in this case it was obvious from miles away what was happening. Too bad so many waited to the last minute to evacuate. This cause Pliny the Elder to take action and the direct cause of his death and the death of many of his sailors and soldiers.
He was no coward. Today, we have many cowards as our leaders. Joe Biden, Justin Trudeau, Boris Johnson, Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Scholz (replacing Angela Merkel who is no different). The list goes on and on. V. Putin (an evil man) is a strong man and that is why he is liked by his countrymen.
Weak leaders create bad times. Nothing could be so right. We have great weakness in the West and China, Russia, and NK leaders are taking us for wimps and are taking action.
Appeasement is their MO.
Boris Johnson, a weirdo besides. 👎👎👎👎👎
I agree with you, why is it that evil always seems to rise to the top or is it something to do with poop floating? Pliny the Elder and the other elite could of watch from there villas but instead took action, just like the politicians of today.(sarcasm)
Interesting, yes! Why was this Roman soldier standing on the beach and not near those 300 huddled in shelter? He was brave?!
Yes, he was brave and I’m sure he was also afraid at the same time. 😊
He was, its a conscious decision, to over ride, what you know is dangerous and do it. Like our troops of today, grand children of heroes maybe