Pompeii, The Last Day (an excerpt from a BBC documentary)

It should be remembered that Melito writing about 170 CE stated that the only events of persecution took place under Nero and Domitian. Pliny Govenor of Pontus/Bithynia to Trajan 110 CE Pliny to the Emperor Trajan It is my practice, my lord, to refer to you all matters concerning which I am in doubt. For who can better give guidance to my hesitation or inform my ignorance? I have never participated in trials of Christians. I therefore do not know what offenses it is the practice to punish or investigate, and to what extent. And I have been not a little hesitant as to whether there should be any distinction on account of age or no difference between the very young and the more mature; whether pardon is to be granted for repentance, or, if a man has once been a Christian, it does him no good to have ceased to be one; whether the name itself, even without offenses, or only the offenses associated with the name are to be punished. Meanwhile, in the case of those who were denounced to me as Christians, I have observed the following procedure: I interrogated these as to whether they were Christians; those who confessed I interrogated a second and a third time, threatening them with punishment; those who persisted I ordered executed. For I had no doubt that, whatever the nature of their creed, stubbornness and inflexible obstinacy surely deserve to be punished. There were others possessed of the same folly; but because they were Roman citizens, I signed an order for them to be transferred to Rome. Soon accusations spread, as usually happens, because of the proceedings going on, and several incidents occurred. An anonymous document was published containing the names of many persons. Those who denied that they were or had been Christians, when they invoked the gods in words dictated by me, offered prayer with incense and wine to your image, which I had ordered to be brought for this purpose together with statues of the gods, and moreover cursed Christ--none of which those who are really Christians, it is said, can be forced to do--these I thought should be discharged. Others named by the informer declared that they were Christians, but then denied it, asserting that they had been but had ceased to be, some three years before, others many years, some as much as twenty-five years. They all worshipped your image and the statues of the gods, and cursed Christ. They asserted, however, that the sum and substance of their fault or error had been that they were accustomed to meet on a fixed day before dawn and sing responsively a hymn to Christ as to a god, and to bind themselves by oath, not to some crime, but not to commit fraud, theft, or adultery, not falsify their trust, nor to refuse to return a trust when called upon to do so. When this was over, it was their custom to depart and to assemble again to partake of food--but ordinary and innocent food. Even this, they affirmed, they had ceased to do after my edict by which, in accordance with your instructions, I had forbidden political associations. Accordingly, I judged it all the more necessary to find out what the truth was by torturing two female slaves who were called deaconesses. But I discovered nothing else but depraved, excessive superstition. I therefore postponed the investigation and hastened to consult you. For the matter seemed to me to warrant consulting you, especially because of the number involved. For many persons of every age, every rank, and also of both sexes are and will be endangered. For the contagion of this superstition has spread not only to the cities but also to the villages and farms. But it seems possible to check and cure it. It is certainly quite clear that the temples, which had been almost deserted, have begun to be frequented, that the established religious rites, long neglected, are being resumed, and that from everywhere sacrificial animals are coming, for which until now very few purchasers could be found. Hence it is easy to imagine what a multitude of people can be reformed if an opportunity for repentance is afforded.

Quebec City, Canada. IFLA 2008 conference. An impromptu interview with Tord Høivik. Associate Professor of Library and Information Science at Oslo University College, aka Pliny the Librarian (http://pliny.wordpress.com) We met face-to-face for the first time, while at the IFLA 2008 conference. I asked if he was willing to be interviewed and he gamely said yes. Except for the intro/ end title and music, the entire video has not been unedited. See also: http://tinyurl.com/6n2xnx

http://www.godvsthebible.com/ Three more questionable pieces of "evidence" for Jesus from the second century.

Pliny the Younger http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pl iny_the_Younger witness to the eruption of Vesuvius on August 24th, 79 AD This Canadian Series was made in 1976 - Understanding the Earth by TV Ontario. This series was part of a extension course at Laurentian, i believe from 1976 to 1986. The complete volcano geology lesson can be found @ http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=AF211B76F9D1177F

Tasting The Pliny Elder by Russian River, This was one of the best ones I'v had this year,

A short movie about Pliny the Younger for Latin class by Noah and Logan.

From off of Lee and Herring's This Morning With Richard Not Judy series 1, episode 8.

THE greatest performance EVER

2nd greatest performance EVER

Video Cam Direct Upload

Intro

2 urbane hipsters and their new country lifestyle.

"The Pliny Song"

An adorable Pliny shows us the inner beauty of his Uncle Roo's nose!

pliny stuff

Tyler, Whitney, and Mike...the new line-up for Pliny the Elder.

@Bourbon Street

@ Bourbon Street

@ Bourbon Street

Intro to Pliny

cooll

Plac Zamkowy - Warszawa (www.maciejdobrowolski.za.pl)

Why are so many ancient historians silent about Jesus? A man who was said to be a healer and preacher that could gather crowds by the thousands. If Jesus really was the son of God, wouldn't more historians have come foward during Jesus's time and written about him? The land was said to go dark around Jesus's death. The entire Earth went dark for 3 hours and yet not one human being mentioned it at that time. This would have been a great unusual phenomenon, during the life of Jesus people like Pliny the Elder and Seneca recorded eclipses yet these men do not mention anything unusual happening. So what really happened? Also here are the list of the following writers who lived during the time, or within a century after the time, that Jesus is supposed to have lived: Josephus Philo-Judæus Seneca Pliny Elder Arrian Petronius Dion Pruseus Paterculus Suetonius Juvenal Martial Persius Plutarch Pliny Younger Tacitus Justus of Tiberius Apollonius Quintilian Lucanus Epictetus Hermogones Silius Italicus Statius Ptolemy Appian Phlegon Phædrus Valerius Maximus Lucian Pausanias Florus Lucius Quintius Curtius Aulus Gellius Dio Chrysostom Columella Valerius Flaccus Damis Favorinus Lysias Pomponius Mela Appion of Alexandria Theon of Smyrna

Prima parte http://it.youtube.com/watch?v=DMRrAD_nwDs Superquark: un programma di Piero e Alberto Angela. Stabiae è una antica città dell'Italia meridionale che sorgeva nei pressi dell'odierna Castellammare di Stabia, in una zona chiamata Varano a pochi passi dal comune di Gragnano. La città scomparve insieme a Pompei ed Ercolano durante l'eruzione del Vesuvio avvenuta nel 79. Fonte: wikipedia.org Stabiae was an ancient Roman town, located close to the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia approximately 4.5 km southeast of Pompeii. It was positioned on a 50 m high headland overlooking the Bay of Naples. Being only sixteen kilometers from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD, this seaside resort was largely destroyed by 2 metres of tephra ash. Originally a small port, by the 6th century BC Stabiae had already been overshadowed by the much larger port at Pompeii. The town was destroyed by Lucius Cornelius Sulla on 30 April 89 BC during the Social War, a revolt by many of Rome's allies in the area. The Roman author and admiral Pliny the Elder recorded that the town was rebuilt and became a popular resort for wealthy Romans. He reported that there were several miles of luxury villas built along the edge of the headland, all enjoying panoramic views out over the bay. According to the account written by his nephew, Pliny the Elder was at the other side of the bay in Misenum when the eruption started. He traveled by galley across the bay, partly to observe the eruption more closely, and partly to rescue people from the coast near the volcano. Unable to land to carry out the rescue because of volcanic debris blocking the shoreline, he continued south to Stabiae. Pliny died at Stabiae the following day, probably during the arrival of the sixth and largest pyroclastic surge of the eruption caused by the collapse of the eruption plume. The very dilute outer edge of this surge was the only one to reach Stabiae and left two centimetres of ash on top of the tephra deposits. wikipedia.org