The "skull of Pliny". The skeleton of the great Roman writer was found at the beginning of the 20th century
Pliny the Elder (23-79 AD), writer, naturalist and Roman admiral, was the most illustrious victim of the eruption of Vesuvius that in 79 A.D. submerged Pompeii, Herculaneum and Stabia.
Sources attest that man was overwhelmed by the lava while trying to bring relief to the population and, at the same time, to study a phenomenon about which practically nothing was known at the time.
At the beginning of the 1900s, 73 skeletons were found near the mouth of the Sarno belonging to as many victims of the time, but one of them aroused particular interest:rather distant from the others, the body was adorned with gold and jewels, including a snake-shaped bracelet, a gold necklace, a ring depicting a double head lion and a sword with a precious ivory hilt.
The discovery caused a sensation and emotion:almost certainly we were in front of the skeleton of Pliny the Elder, to this day the only relic of a famous person from Ancient Rome in our possession.
A very important find, which should be studied and analyzed in every detail, also taking advantage of the high precision of the technological means available today, and which instead for too long has been guilty almost forgotten in a case kept at the Museum of Health Art of Rome indicated by the simple words “skull of Pliny “.
Bureaucracy and neglect which, fortunately, thanks to the commitment, among others, of the Turin newspaper La Stampa, they could be, hopefully, soon overcome:http://www.lastampa.it/2017/08/25/cultura/il-cranio-di-plinio-il-vecchio-perso-nei-meandri-della-burocrazia-6iJUlwKE2eLDlFpksFtGPO /page.html and https://percevalasnotizie.wordpress.com/2017/08/25/sponsor-cercasi-per-il-teschio-di-plinio-eroe-delleruzione-di-pompei/. .