Rectina
Rectina was a friend of the
eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE, Pliny received a message from her, which prompted him to set sail with galleys and a cutter to observe what was happening at closer range, and to attempt to rescue some of the people of the towns at the foot of the volcano.[1] Pliny's ships were unable to approach the shore to rescue Rectina. It is not documented whether she survived. Pliny himself died after putting ashore further down the coast.[1]
Pliny the Younger says that Rectina was married to a man named Bassus or Tascius or Tascus; the name is rendered differently by different translators.[1][2] Nothing is known for certain about either Rectina or her husband's identity.[2]
In modern literature
Rectina appears as a character in
book 2 of Caroline Lawrence's dramatic fiction series "The Roman Mysteries
" written for children. In that story, she appears as wife of Tascius Pomponianus of Stabia.
Several scenes in
Bay of Naples
. Pliny immediately sets out in a warship, and gets in sight of the villa, but the eruption prevents him from landing and taking off Rectina and her library – which is thus left for modern archaeologists to find.
References
- ^ a b c Pliny the Younger (1909). Eliot, Charles W. (ed.). "Letters LXV. To Tacitus". The Harvard Classics. IX Part 4. New York: Bartleby.
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires|journal=(help) - ^ ISBN 9780415374286.