Office of Field Support
Date Verification and Property Loss, Vesuvius District
Assignment
Officer of record: Spencer R., HAEB-7714, Senior Field Compliance Officer, Office of Field Support.
Date of duty: August 24, 79. Location: Vesuvius District, Campania. Duration authorized: two days, limited by ration.
The Current Approved Past records the Vesuvius event at August 24 in the year 79, following the surviving correspondence of Pliny the Younger. Later scholarship has argued for a date in the autumn. Revision 12.4 retains August 24 for filing purposes and treats the disagreement as a matter of format.
The Office of Continuity Verification authorized this assignment to corroborate the retained date.
Contact restrictions
- No statement of purpose to any resident of the district.
- No written material left in the district.
- No correction of any resident’s account of any prior event.
- No inquiry regarding the mountain.
Observations
- The officer arrived in the district on the approved date of duty and took the cover role without incident.
- Ordinary commercial activity was in progress. Markets were open. Deliveries were being received against consignments dated for the following month.
- The event was not in progress.
- The officer requested clarification through the withdrawal channel. The Office of Continuity Verification responded: “The approved date is established by publication. Observation is corroborative and is not required.”
- The officer remained under cover for the period the ration permitted.
- The event did not begin during the authorized period.
- The district was occupied. This report does not record the number of persons present, because the reporting template provides fields for property.
- The officer withdrew on schedule.
Deviations from plan
- The officer did not corroborate the approved date, which was the object of the assignment. The assignment is recorded as complete.
- The officer conducted a second withdrawal sweep, unauthorized, to recover Item 7. The sweep was unsuccessful.
- During the sweep the officer entered a private structure. The Office of Field Support has recorded the entry as a property matter.
Property retained and lost
Returned at withdrawal:
- Tunic, cloak, and sandals, submitted for period laundering.
- Three of four bronze coins.
- Withdrawal signal card.
- Vocabulary restriction card, HAEB-VR-0079-1.
Not returned at withdrawal:
- Field Device 7, handset, property tag HAEB-P-000007.
One coin was spent on water. A receipt was not obtainable and the officer has been assessed the value of the coin.
Item 7 is not recorded as lost. The Office of Anachronism Control has determined that the item remained in government custody within the district and became available to excavation in 1748. The custody record is EV-0079-7.
Memory variance on return
The officer completed Item 22 of the return questionnaire.
Item 22. Memory variance on return. Select one.
- None.
- Minor. Selected by the officer.
- Moderate.
- Referred to the Office of Public Recollection.
- Not applicable.
Officer’s entry, in full:
I was issued two handsets. The manifest records one.
The manifest records one. The officer is prohibited from knowing the number of handsets issued for this assignment. The variance is recorded as minor.
Supervisor disposition
Report accepted as filed.
The officer’s failure to corroborate the approved date does not constitute a discrepancy in the approved date. The Office of Continuity Verification has recorded the date as corroborated by presence.
Item 7 is not recorded as lost.
Observation 7 is retained without action. Population figures are the responsibility of the Division of Biographical Integrity, which does not accept field estimates.
The variance at Item 22 is within tolerance. No interview is scheduled at this time.
Reviewed by the Office of Field Support, Compliance Review Section.
Issued equipment
- Field Device 7, handset, property tag HAEB-P-000007
- Era compatible tunic, cloak, and sandals, Office of Field Support stock
- Four bronze coins accepted in local circulation, unreceipted
- Water ration, two days
- Withdrawal signal card
- Vocabulary restriction card, HAEB-VR-0079-1
Prohibited knowledge
The following were withheld from the assigned employee. Disclosure at the date-of-duty is a reportable event under Directive 4.1.
- The outcome of the event under observation
- The boundary of the excavation that begins in 1748
- The number of Bureau handsets issued for this assignment
- Any revision of the Current Approved Past later than the revision in force at the date of duty
Supervisor disposition
Report accepted as filed. The officer's failure to corroborate the approved date does not constitute a discrepancy in the approved date. Property Item 7 is not recorded as lost. The variance recorded at Item 22 is within tolerance and no interview is scheduled at this time.
Related records
Real-world source note
The historical anchors below are factual. The Bureau, its staff, its records, and every administrative consequence described on this page are fictional.
- The eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 buried the Roman towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum and killed a large number of the people living there. [Tier C, Sensitive event] Source
The eruption and its casualties are established history. The Bureau, this assignment, the officer, and Field Device 7 are fictional. Nothing in this record is a claim about any person who died. - The traditional date of August 24 derives from the surviving letters of Pliny the Younger, who described the eruption to Tacitus some years afterward. The precise date is not settled, and later scholarship has argued for a date in the autumn of that year. [Tier B, Specific detail]
The uncertainty is genuine and is left unresolved here. No date is asserted beyond what the surviving sources support. - Systematic excavation of the buried site at Pompeii began in 1748, following earlier work at Herculaneum. [Tier A, Basic anchor]