Pliny the Elder (born Gaius Plinius Secundus, AD 23 – 79) was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and friend of the emperor Vespasian.
Spending most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, Pliny wrote the encyclopedic Naturalis Historia (Natural History), which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. His nephew, Pliny the Younger, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus:
For my part I deem those blessed to whom, by favour of the gods, it has been granted either to do what is worth writing of, or to write what is worth reading; above measure blessed those on whom both gifts have been conferred. In the latter number will be my uncle, by virtue of his own and of your compositions.
Pliny the Younger refers to Tacitus’s reliance upon his uncle’s book, the History of the German Wars. Pliny the Elder died in AD 79, while attempting the rescue, by ship, of a friend and his family, in Stabiae, from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which already had destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The wind caused by the sixth and largest pyroclastic surge of the volcano’s eruption did not allow his ship to leave port, and Pliny probably died during that event.
More info at: Pliny the Elder – Wikipedia
Additional Articles associated with this person’s firsts:
Name(s):
Pliny the Elder
Gaius Plinius Secundus
Occupation:
Lawyer,>
Author,>
Natural Philosopher,>
Naturalist,>
Military Commander,>
Provincial Governor
Birth:
AD 23>
Novum Comum (Como),>
Roman Italy,>
Roman Empire
Death:
August 25, AD 79>
Stabiae, Campania,>
Roman Empire
Children:
Pliny the Younger >
(nephew, later adopted son)
Education:
Rhetoric>
Grammar
Additional Information:
- Pliny the Elder – Wikipedia
Pliny the Elder (born Gaius Plinius Secundus, AD 23 – 79) was a Roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and friend of the emperor Vespasian. - Pliny the Elder – Livius
Gaius Plinius Secundus – or, to use his English name: Pliny – was born in 23 or 24 CE in Novum Comum (modern Como), a small city in the region known as Gallia Transpadana. - Pliny the Elder – Ancient History Encyclopedia
Aside from the usual contributions of its noble politicians and military commanders, the story of a nation also records the invaluable literary influences of its poets, dramatists, and historians. - Pliny the Elder – PBS
Solder, lawyer and writer, Pliny the Elder’s (23 – 79 AD) research into the natural world formed the basis of scientific authority for centuries to come. He died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. - Who was Pliny? – Pliny Mysteries
Two men named Pliny are known to us from their writings, and that sometimes causes confusion. The older man, Gaius Plinius Secundus, is called Pliny the Elder. - Pliny the Elder | Roman scholar | Britannica.com – Encyclopedia …
Pliny the Elder, Latin in full Gaius Plinius Secundus, (born ad 23, Novum Comum, Transpadane Gaul [now in Italy]—died Aug. 24, 79, Stabiae, near Mt. Vesuvius), Roman savant and author of the celebrated Natural History, an encyclopaedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the Middle Ages. - Pliny the Elder’s Natural History: The Empire in the Encyclopedia …
The most important surviving encyclopaedia from the ancient world, Pliny the Elder’s Natural History is unparalleled as a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in 1st-century Rome. - Pliny the Elder, Natural History – Livius
There is no book so bad that some good can not be got out of it,” Pliny the Elder used to say, and he read everything that he could obtain. - Pliny the Elder’s Natural History: The Empire in the Encyclopedia
Without question, in their own quiet way the newly attested Dii Itinerarii (or Itineris)1 must have viewed the writing of this fine book with favor.
