Although Greek mythology preserves stories of threats
from wind and fl ood, the most dangerous natural disas-
ters faced by the Greeks were connected with earthquakes,
whose causes the Greeks traced to the god Poseidon, whom
they nicknamed the “Earthshaker.” In 373 b.c.e. an earth-
quake destroyed Apollo’s temple at Delphi. Between 228 and
226 b.c.e. an earthquake toppled the giant statue of the sun
god Helios, known as the Colossus of Rhodes. Th e island of
Rhodes also suff ered a serious earthquake again around 142
c.e. Ancient sources tell us that earthquakes severely dam-
aged cities, such as both Myrina and Philadelphia in 17 c.e.,
and they destroyed others, such as Boura (also Bura and Bira)
and Helice in 373 b.c.e. An earthquake may have disrupted
the Minoan culture on Crete around 1700 b.c.e. and even-
tually caused the abandonment of the Cretan city Knossos
about 2,100 years later.
One of the most signifi cant earthquakes in Greek his-
tory occurred in 464 b.c.e. in the area around Sparta. So
many Spartans died as a result of the earthquake that their
slaves, called helots, revolted against their masters. Th e re-
volt continued for many months and became so serious that
in 462 b.c.e. the Spartans called upon their rivals, the people
of Athens, for military assistance. Th e Athenians agreed to
help, but when their forces arrived the Spartans changed
their minds about wanting assistance from Athens. Th is re-
jection angered the Athenians and further strained relations
between the two cities.
As is common in areas frequented by earthquakes, the
Greeks were also familiar with volcanoes. Like with other
natural disasters, mythological traditions were connected
with volcanoes. Th e monster Typhon, trapped beneath
Mount Etna, was said to cause that mountain’s eruptions.
Signs resembling volcanic activity on the island of Lemnos
were attributed to the workshop of Hephaestus, the craft s-
man of the gods.
Beyond the realm of mythology, we know that on main-
land Greece, near the southeastern coast, the Methana vol-
cano sent a fl ow of lava over 500 yards into the nearby Saronic
Gulf in the third century b.c.e. Several Greek islands in the
southern part of the Aegean Sea have volcanoes. Th e island of
Melos (modern-day Mílos) has experienced volcanic activity
and was, along with some other nearby islands, formed by
such activity. Off the coast of southwestern Turkey the Greek
islands of Kos, Gyali (also spelled Yali), and Nísiros (also
Nísyros) were all formed by volcanic activity.
Th e most famous volcanic eruption in Greek history took
place on the central Aegean island of Th íra (modern Santorini)
around 1600 b.c.e. Th is eruption, also one of the most power-
ful known in the history of the world, completely blew apart
the western half of the island and led to the abandonment
of the island for the next four centuries. Fortunately, some
of the inhabitants seem to have evacuated the island before
the eruption. As in the case of Roman Pompeii, volcanic ash
from the eruption buried a city; in this case Akrotiri, a town
on the island of Th íra, was covered. Excavations of the site
have revealed a vibrant civilization that shared much in com-
mon with that on the island of Crete to the south. In fact, the
eruption on Th íra may have disrupted civilization on Crete.
In the early second century b.c.e. further eruptions and lava
fl ows from Th íra’s volcano formed two small islands in the
volcano’s caldera, or crater. Some modern scholars have sug-
gested that Th íra was the mysterious island of Atlantis, which
Plato describes in both the Timaeus and the Critias and says
suddenly vanished into the Atlantic Ocean because of earth-
quakes and fl ooding. Plato’s description of the island’s im-
mense size, its location west of Africa, and his time frame for
the destruction of Atlantis make it an unlikely equivalent for
the tiny Aegean island of Th íra.ROME
BY DAVID R. SEAR
Rome dominated the Mediterranean world for more than
600 years, from the time of the pivotal victories over the Car-
thaginian Hannibal in 202 b.c.e., Philip V of Macedon in 197
b.c.e., and Antiochus the Great of Syria in 190 b.c.e. to the
collapse of Roman power in the West in the fi ft h century c.e.
Inevitably, over such a long period of time and in a region so
extensive and geographically diverse the occurrence of natu-
ral disasters was of some frequency.
With population levels generally much lower than in
modern times many of these disasters, especially those in
remoter regions, went unrecorded, or at least no knowledge
of them has come down to us. Others, however, were fully
documented, most famously the eruption of Mount Vesu-
vius on the Bay of Naples on August 24, 79 c.e., just two
months aft er the accession of the emperor Titus (r. 79–81
c.e.). Th e writer Pliny the Younger (61 or 62–ca. 113 c.e.)
was an eyewitness to this catastrophe, which buried the
towns of Pompeii, Herculaneum, and Stabiae (modern Cas-
tellammare di Stabia) in ashes and took the life of Pliny’s
own uncle and adoptive father, Pliny the Elder (23–79 c.e.).
Pliny’s account is contained in letters to his friend, the his-
torian Tacitus (ca. 56–ca. 120 c.e.). Later eruptions of Vesu-
vius took place in 203 c.e., 472 c.e., and 512 c.e., but less is
known of these events.
A valuable source of information on many of the impor-
tant historical events of the Roman Empire is provided by
the reverse types and inscriptions of the imperial coinage.
Th e currency was used extensively by the Roman govern-
ment as a vehicle for offi cial propaganda and frequent ref-
erence was made to contemporary events, especially when
the emperor and his advisers considered that by so doing the
popularity of the regime could be enhanced. An excellent
early example of this is to be found on the coinage of the
emperor Tiberius (r. 14–37 c.e.), stepson and successor of
the Roman Empire’s founder, Augustus (r. 27 b.c.e.–14 c.e.).
Th e Roman historian Tacitus records that a great earthquake
had shaken the Roman province of Asia Minor (western Tur-
key) in 17 c.e., causing extensive damage to at least a dozennatural disasters: Rome 781