Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD
23Year 23 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.-Roman Empire:* Greek geographer Strabo publishes Geography, a work covering the world known to the Romans and Greeks at the time of Emperor Augustus – it is the only such book to survive from the ancient world.* Tiberius' son...
– August 25,
79Year 79 was a common year starting on Friday of the Julian calendar.-Roman Empire:* June 23 – Titus succeeds his father Vespasian as Roman emperor....
), better known as
Pliny the Elder, was an
authorAn author is defined both as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created...
,
naturalistNaturalist may refer to:* A scholar or student of natural history, the science of the natural world; see also natural science. It may also refer to a Wildlife enthusiast or a Conservationist....
, and natural philosopher as well as naval and army commander of the early
Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean. The term is used to describe the Roman state during and after the time of the first emperor,...
and personal friend of the emperor
VespasianTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 AD until his death in 79 AD...
. Spending most of his spare time studying, writing or investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, he wrote an encyclopedic work,
Naturalis Historia, which became a model for all such works written subsequently.
Pliny the YoungerGaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome...
, his nephew, wrote of him in a letter to the historian
TacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
:
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 is referring to the fact that Tacitus relied on his uncle's now missing work on the
History of the German Wars. Pliny the Elder died on August 25, AD 79, while attempting the rescue by ship of a friend and his family from the eruption of
Mount VesuviusMount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano east of Naples, Italy. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
that had just destroyed the cities of
PompeiiPompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei...
and
Herculaneumthumb|240px|The towns and villages under the likely pyroclastic cloud of the [[Mt Vesuvius]] 79 AD eruption. Herculaneum is visible along the northwestern edge of the shadowed area...
. The prevailing wind would not allow his ship to leave the shore. His companions attributed his collapse and death to toxic fumes, but they were unaffected by the fumes, suggesting natural causes.
Background
Pliny's dates are pinned to the eruption of Vesuvius in August, 79, and a statement of his nephew that he died in his 56th year, which would make his birth in 23 CE.
Pliny was the son of an
equestrianThe Roman equestrian order constituted the lower of the two aristocratic classes of ancient Rome, ranking below the Senatorial Order...
,
Gaius Plinius Celer, and his wife,
Marcella. Neither the younger nor the elder Pliny mention the names. Their ultimate source is a fragmentary inscription (
CIL V 1 3442The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history...
) found in a field in
VeronaVerona is a city in Veneto, northern Italy, one of the seven provincial capitals in the region. It is one of the main tourist destinations in north-eastern Italy, thanks to its artistic heritage, several annual fairs, shows and operas, such as the lyrical season in the Arena, the ancient...
and recorded by the 16th-century Augustinian monk
Onofrio PanvinioThe erudite Augustinian Onofrio Panvinio or Onuphrius Panvinius was an Italian historian and antiquary, who was librarian to Alessandro Cardinal Farnese....
at Verona. What the inscription says depends on the reconstruction, except that in all cases the names come through. Whether he was an
augurThe augur was a priest and official in the classical world, especially ancient Rome and Etruria. His main role was to interpret the will of the gods by studying the flight of the birds , known as "taking the auspices." The ceremony and function of the augur...
and she was named
Grania Marcella are less certain.
Jean HardouinJean Hardouin , French classical scholar, was born at Quimper in Brittany.Having acquired a taste for literature in his father's book-shop, he sought and obtained admission into the order of the Jesuits in around 1662...
presents a statement from an unknown source he claims was ancient that Pliny was from Verona and that his parents were Celer and Marcella. Hardouin also cites the conterraneity of
CatullusGaius Valerius Catullus was a Roman poet of the 1st century BC. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art. Catullus invented the "angry love poem."-Biography:...
.
Additional efforts to connect Celer and Marcella with other
gentesIn ancient Rome, a gens was a family or clan that shared a common name and a belief in a common ancestor...
are highly speculative. Hardouin is the only scholar to use his unknown source. How the inscription got to Verona is a mystery, but it could have arrived by dispersion of property at Pliny the Younger's then Tuscan (now Umbrian) estate at Colle Plinio, north of
Città di CastelloCittà di Castello is a city and comune in the province of Perugia, in the northern part of the Umbria region of Italy. It is situated on a slope of the Apennines, on the flood plain of the river Tiber. The city is 56 km north of Perugia and 104 km south of Cesena on the S3bis...
, identified for certain by his initials in the roof tiles. He kept statues of his ancestors there.
Pliny the Elder was born in
ComoComo is a city in Lombardy, Italy, north of Milan. Situated at the southern tip of the south-west arm of Lake Como, it is the capital of the province of Como and directly borders the comunes of Blevio, Brunate, Capiago Intimiano, Casnate con Bernate, Cavallasca, Cernobbio, Grandate, Lipomo,...
, not at Verona: it is only as a native of
Gallia Transpadana that he calls
CatullusGaius Valerius Catullus was a Roman poet of the 1st century BC. His surviving works are still read widely, and continue to influence poetry and other forms of art. Catullus invented the "angry love poem."-Biography:...
of Verona his
conterraneus, or fellow-countryman, not his
municeps, or fellow-townsman. A statue of Pliny on the facade of the Duomo of Como celebrates him as a native son. He had a sister,
Plinia, who married into the Caecilii and became the mother of his nephew,
Pliny the YoungerGaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome...
, whose letters describe his work and study regimen in detail.
Two inscriptions identifying the hometown of Pliny the Younger as Como take precedence over the Verona theory. One (
CIL V 5262The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history...
) commemorates the younger's career as imperial magistrate and details his considerable charitable and municipal expenses on behalf of the people of Como. Another (
CIL V 5667The Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum is a comprehensive collection of ancient Latin inscriptions. It forms an authoritative source for documenting the surviving epigraphy of classical antiquity. Public and personal inscriptions throw light on all aspects of Roman life and history...
) identifies his father Lucius' village as Fecchio (tribe Oufentina) near Como. It is likely therefore that Plinia was a local girl and Pliny the Elder, her brother, was from Como.
Gaius was a scion of the Plinii
gensIn ancient Rome, a gens was a family or clan that shared a common name and a belief in a common ancestor...
. He did not take his father's
cognomenThe cognomen was the third name of a citizen of Ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. The cognomen started as a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became hereditary...
, Celer, but assumed his own, Secundus, "prosperous." As his adopted son took the same cognomen, Pliny founded a branch, the Plinii Secundi. The family was prosperous; Pliny the Younger's inherited estates combined made him so wealthy that he could found a school and a library, endow a fund to feed the women and children of Como and own multiple estates around Rome and Lake Como, as well as enrichen some of his friends as a personal favor. No earlier instances of the Plinii are known, however, either because there were none or perhaps because none were sufficiently wealthy or notable to receive mention in any surviving writing.
In 59 BC, only 82 years before Pliny's birth,
Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar , , was a Roman military and political leader. He played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
founded Novum Comum (reverting to Comum) as a colonia to secure the region against the Alpine tribes, whom he had been unable to defeat. He imported a population of 4500 from other provinces (not clear where) to be placed in
ComascoComasco is a dialect of Western Lombard language spoken in the city and suburbs of Como. It belongs to the Comasco-Lecchese group.- Characteristics :...
and 500 aristocratic Greeks to found Novum Comum itself. The community was thus multi-ethnic and the Plinies could have come from anywhere; whether any conclusions can be drawn from Pliny's preference for Greek words, or
Julius PokornyJulius Pokorny was a scholar of the Celtic languages, particularly Irish, and a supporter of Irish nationalism....
's derivation of the name from north Italic as "bald" is a matter of speculative opinion. There appears to be no record of any ethnic distinctions in Pliny's time. The population prided itself on being Roman citizens.
Pliny the Elder did not marry and had no children. In his will he adopted his nephew, which entitled the latter to inherit the entire estate. The adoption is called a "testamental adoption" by writers on the topic, who assert that it applied to the name change only, but Roman jurisprudence recognizes no such category. Pliny the Younger was thus the adopted son of Pliny the Elder, but not in Pliny the Elder's lifetime. For at least some of the time, however, Pliny resided under the same roof with his sister and nephew (whose husband and father died young), as they were doing so when Pliny decided to investigate the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, and was sidetracked by the need for rescue operations and a messenger from his friend asking for assistance.
Student and lawyer
Pliny's father took him to
RomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated municipality , with over 2.7 million residents in , while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat to be 3.46 million. The metropolitan area of Rome is estimated by OECD to have a population of 3.7 million...
to be educated. Pliny relates that he saw Marcus Servilius Nonianus as
consul-Ancient Rome:During the time of ancient Rome as a Republic, the consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates, serving as the heads of government for the Republic. New consuls were elected every year. There were two consuls, and they ruled together...
, who served half a year in 35 AD, when Pliny was 12, and then fled to escape
proscriptionProscription is the public identification and official condemnation of enemies of the state. It is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as a "decree of condemnation to death or banishment" and is a heavily politically-charged word frequently used to refer to state-approved murder or persecution...
by
Marcus Antonius PrimusMarcus Antonius Primus was a Roman Empire general.Primus was born at Tolosa in Gaul. During the reign of Nero, he was resident in Rome and a member of the Senate, from which he was expelled for forgery in connection with a will and was banished from the city...
, who desired an expensive jewel owned by Servilius. Pliny was still in Rome at age 15, when he observed
Lollia PaulinaLollia Paulina was a noble Roman woman who lived in the 1st century.-Life:Her father was Marcus Lollius Paulinus, who was a formal consul and her mother was Volusia Saturnina, a sister of senator and consul Lucius Volusius Saturninus. Her maternal grandmother was a distant relative to Emperor...
, the emperor's wife, at a wedding. She was only married to the emperor for 6 months, in 38 AD. At 20 years old in 43 AD he saw a trapped whale capsize a boat at
OstiaOstia may refer to:*Ostia , a municipio of Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast.*Ostia Antica, a township and port of ancient Rome*Ostia Antica , a district of the commune of Rome...
, the port of Rome, when the harbor was being constructed, a dateable event. Pliny was a teenager, ages 14–18, during the short reign of
CaligulaGaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his cognomen Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41...
, considered insane by his contemporaries. He says that he saw the construction of the impious Palace of Caligula (it joined the Palace of Tiberius to the Temple of Castor and Pollux, where Caligula posed as a god).
Pliny mentions the grammarians and rhetoricians,
Remmius PalaemonQuintus Remmius Palaemon was a Roman grammarian and a native of Vicentia. He lived during the reigns of Emperors Tiberius and Claudius.From Suetonius we learn that he was originally a slave who obtained his freedom and taught grammar at Rome. Suetonius preserves several anecdotes of his profligate...
and
Arellius FuscusArellius Fuscus was an ancient Roman orator. He spoke with ease in both Latin and Greek, in an elegant and ornate style. Charles Thomas Cruttwell says Arelius was an Asiatic, which in all likelihood meant he was a man of a dark complexion.He was probably the teacher of Ovid and Pliny the Elder. He...
, and he may have been their student, as he claims to have personally observed the silver rings of Fuscus' hand when the latter's school was at its peak of popularity. In Rome he visited the
topiarius (garden) of the aged Antonius Castor, and saw the fine old
lotus treeThe lotus tree is a plant that occurs in two stories from Greek mythology:* In Homer's Odyssey, the lotus bore a fruit that caused a pleasant drowsiness and was the only food of an island people called the Lotophagi or Lotus-eaters.* In another story, the nymph, Lotis, is turned into a lotus...
s in the grounds that had once belonged to Crassus, for which the latter was once offered 10 million sesterces (and refused).
Pliny the YoungerGaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome...
wrote of his uncle:
... for a considerable time he practiced at the bar ... he died in his fifty-sixth year ... between these two periods he was much distracted and hindered partly by the discharge of important offices, and partly by his intimacy with the emperors.
This passage is evidence that Pliny was a career lawyer. Unknown for certain is when he began practicing. Roman lawyers generally began young; his nephew, a famous lawyer almost immediately, pleaded his first cases at age 18. As Pliny the Elder certainly returned to the law on his discharge from the service in his 30's, it is likely that he had practiced it in his early 20's before enlistment, perhaps earlier.
Junior officer
In 46 AD at age 23 Pliny entered the army as a junior officer, as was the custom for young men of equestrian rank.
Ronald SymeSir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he was acclaimed as the twentieth century's greatest historian of ancient Rome.- Life :...
, Plinian scholar, reconstructs three periods at three ranks. Pliny's interest in Roman letters attracted the attention and friendship of other men of letters in the higher ranks, with whom he formed lasting friendships. Later these friendships assisted his entry into the upper echelons of the state; however, he was trusted for his knowledge and ability as well. According to Syme, he began as a
praefectus cohortis, a "commander of a
cohortA cohort was the basic tactical unit of a Roman legion following the reforms of Gaius Marius in 107 BC.-Legionary Cohort:...
" (an infantry cohort, as junior officers began in the infantry), under
Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo-Descent:Corbulo was born in Italy into a senatorial family. His father had the same name and his mother was named Vistilia, who came from a family who held the praetorship.-Under Caligula:...
, himself a writer (whose works did not survive) in
Germania InferiorGermania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of Flanders, and Nordrhein-Westfalen left of the Rhine...
. In 47 AD he took part in the Roman conquest of the
ChauciThe Chauci were a populous Germanic tribe that inhabited the extreme northwestern shore of Germany between Frisia in the west and the Elbe estuary in the east...
and the construction of the canal between the rivers
MaasMaas is a Dutch and North German surname allegedly from a short form of Thomas. The Dutch spelling of the French name Maes...
and
RhineThe Rhine is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe, at , with an average discharge of more than ....
. His description of the Roman ships anchored in the stream overnight having to ward off floating trees has the stamp of an eyewitness account.
At some uncertain date Pliny was transferred to the command of
Germania SuperiorGermania Superior , so called for the reason that it lay upstream of Germania Inferior, was a province of the Roman Empire. It comprised the area of western Switzerland, the French Jura and Alsace regions and south-western Germany...
under Publius Pomponius Secundus with a promotion to
military tribuneA military tribune was an official in ancient Rome who was both a military officer of the Roman Legion and an official of the Roman State.-Overview:...
, which was a staff position, with duties assigned by the district commander. Pomponius was a half-brother of Corbulo. They had the same mother,
VistiliaVistilia was a Roman woman who lived in the 1st century and came from a family that held the praetorship. Her brother was probably Sextus Vistilius, a former praetor, who was a former close friend to late Roman General Nero Claudius Drusus. Nero Claudius Drusus was the younger brother to Roman...
, a powerful matron of the Roman upper classes, who had seven children by six husbands, many of which children had imperial connections, including a future empress. Pliny's assignments are not clear, but he must have participated in the campaign against the
ChattiThe Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
of 50 AD, at age 27, in his fourth year of service. Associated with the commander in the
praetoriumThe praetorium, also spelled prœtorium or pretorium, was originally the name for the commander's tent or house in a Roman fortification, a castra or castellum....
he became a familiar and close friend of Pomponius, who also was a man of letters.
At another uncertain date Pliny was transferred back to
Germania InferiorGermania Inferior was a Roman province located on the left bank of the Rhine, in today's southern and western Netherlands, parts of Flanders, and Nordrhein-Westfalen left of the Rhine...
. Corbulo had moved on assuming command in the east. This time Pliny was promoted to
praefectus alae, "commander of an ala", with responsibility for a cavalry battalion of about 480 men. A distinction was still being made between legionaries and allied auxiliaries, even though all Italians were now Roman citizens. Pliny, being from north Italy, was an allied commander, like most of the cavalry at that time (but equal in rank, authority and benefits to Roman counterparts). He spent the rest of his enlistment there. A decorative
phaleraPhalera can mean:* Phalera , a genus of butterflies* Phalera , a piece of horse harness, frequently decorated in antiquity* Phalera , a sculpted disk of precious metal worn on the breastplate as a form of medal by soldiers of the Roman Empire...
, or piece of harness, with his name on it has been found at
Castra VeteraXanten is a historic town in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany, located in the district of Wesel. Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park , its medieval picturesque city centre with Xanten Cathedral and many museums, its large man-made lake for various watersport activities as well...
, a large Roman army and naval base on the lower Rhine river. Pliny's last commander there, apparently neither a man of letters nor a close friend of his, was Pompeius Paulinus, governor of Germania Inferior 55-58 AD. Pliny relates that he personally knew Paulinus to have carried around 12,000 pounds of silver service on which to dine on campaign against the Germans (a practice which would not have endeared him to the disciplined Pliny).
According to his nephew, it was during this period that he wrote his first book (perhaps in winter-quarters when spare time was more abundant), a work on the use of
missileMissile can mean:*In older usage, any thrown object*In usual modern usage, a self-propelled explosive projectile used as a weapon towards a target; see also List of missiles.* Missile , a 1987 documentary* "Missile" , a 2005 single by IAMX...
s on horseback,
De jaculatione equestri. It did not survive but in
Natural History he seems to reveal at least in part its content: using the intelligence of the horse to assist the javelineer to throw missles from its back. During this period also he dreamed that the spirit of
Drusus NeroNero Claudius Drusus Germanicus , born Decimus Claudius Drusus also called Drusus, Drusus I, Nero Drusus, or Drusus the Elder was a Roman politician and military commander...
begged him to save his memory from oblivion. The dream prompted Pliny to begin forthwith a history of all the
warWar is a reciprocated, armed conflict, between two or more non-congruous entities, aimed at reorganising a subjectively designed, geo-politically desired result...
s between the Romans and the Germans, which he was not to complete for some years.
Book I, Chapter 1 of
Historia Naturalis dedicates the work to the emperor,
Titus FlaviusTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Titus , was a Roman Emperor who briefly reigned from 79 until his death in 81...
, son of
VespasianTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 AD until his death in 79 AD...
. In that dedication Pliny calls Titus an old messmate (the relationship of a
contuberniumThe contubernium was the smallest organized unit of soldiers in the Roman Army and was composed of eight legionaries, comparable to the modern squad, known as an octet. It was led by a Decanus, the equivalent of a junior non-commissioned officer. Two auxiliary "servants" were assigned to each...
, "sharing the same tent"): "you ... have regarded me as a fellow-soldier and a messmate. Nor has the extent of your prosperity produced any change in you ...." The problem with the passage is the 16-year difference in age between Pliny and the younger Titus. At the time Titus was a military tribune. He could not have been a comrade, of the same rank as Pliny, in Germania Superior, as in 50 AD Titus was only 11 years old. Recourse to the later campaigns of Titus in the east lack evidence and do not fit the circumstances: Titus was the commanding general (not a lower-ranking comrade) while Pliny was either a private citizen or a general himself on assignment by Vespasian.
The duty in Germania Inferior is the only credible opportunity for Titus to have shared a
contubernium with Pliny. Officers of the upper classes assumed a 10-year obligation (as opposed to the ordinary legionary's 20 or 25 years). Pliny's term would have been up in 56 AD at age 33. As his account of a solar eclipse, which occurred in
CampaniaCampania is a region of southern Italy in Europe. The region has a population of around 5.8 million people, making it the second-most-populous region of Italy; its total area of 13,595 km² makes it the most densely populated region in the country...
in 59 AD, appears to be an eyewitness account, he was probably a civilian at that time. In 56 AD Titus was 17 years old. His father was not then emperor. The staff of a commander often shared quarters and mess with the commander, especially in the field. On the bare circumstances, Titus was a new officer on Pliny's staff toward the end of Pliny's service. The relationship between the two, one almost old enough to be the other's father, must have been as close as had been Pliny's with Pomponius.
Literary interlude
At the earliest time Pliny could have left the service,
NeroNero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great uncle Claudius to become heir to the throne...
, the last of the
Julio-Claudian DynastyThe Julio-Claudian dynasty normally refers to the first five Roman Emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula , Claudius, and Nero, or the family to which they belonged; they ruled the Roman Empire from its formation, in the second half of the first century BC, until AD 68, when the last of the line,...
, had been emperor for two years. He did not leave office until 68 AD, when Pliny was 45 years old. During that time Pliny did not hold any high office or work in the service of the state. In the subsequent
Flavian DynastyThe Flavian dynasty was a Roman imperial dynasty, which ruled the Roman Empire between 69 and 96 CE, encompassing the reigns of Vespasian , and his two sons Titus and Domitian . The Flavians rose to power during the civil war of 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors...
his services were in such demand that he had to give up the law practice, which suggests that he had been trying not to attract the attention of Nero, a ruler believed by his contemporaries (not without justification) to be a dangerous acquaintance.
Under
NeroNero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great uncle Claudius to become heir to the throne...
Pliny lived mainly in Rome. He mentions the map of
ArmeniaThe Kingdom of Armenia was an independent kingdom from 190 BC to AD 387 and a client state of the Roman and Persian empires until 428, stretching from the Caspian to the Mediterranean seas.- History :...
and the neighbourhood of the
Caspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. It has a surface area of 371,000 square kilometres and a volume of 78,200 cubic kilometres...
, which was sent to Rome by the staff of Corbulo in 58. He also saw the building of Nero's
Domus AureaThe Domus Aurea was a large landscaped portico villa, designed to take advantage of artificially created landscapes built in the heart of Ancient Rome by the Roman emperor Nero after the Great fire of Rome, which devastated Rome in 64 AD, had cleared away the aristocratic dwellings on the slopes...
or "Golden House" after the fire of 64.
Besides pleading law cases, Pliny wrote, researched and studied. His second published work was a biography of his old commander, Pomponius Secundus, in two books. After several years in prison under
TiberiusTiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla...
, 31-37 AD (which he used to write tragedies), Secundus was rehabilitated by
CaligulaGaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , more commonly known by his cognomen Caligula , was the third Roman Emperor, reigning from 16 March 37 until his assassination on 24 January 41...
(who later married his half-sister,
Caesonia-Life:Milonia Caesonia was born between the 2nd and 4th of June in an unknown year.Coming from modest origins, Caesonia was a daughter of Vistilia. Her younger half-brother was the Roman Consul and General Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo. Her niece, Domitia Longina, married the future Roman Emperor...
) in 38, made consul in 41 and was sent as
legatus to Germany, where he won a victory against the
ChattiThe Chatti were an ancient Germanic tribe whose homeland was near the upper Weser. They settled in central and northern Hesse and southern Lower Saxony, along the upper reaches of the Weser River and in the valleys and mountains of the Eder, Fulda and Weser River regions, a district approximately...
and was allowed a triumph. After this peak he disappears from history, never to be mentioned again, except by the Plinies, and is not among either the friends or the enemies of Nero.
The elder Pliny mentions that he saw "in the possession of Pomponius Secundus, the poet, a very illustrious citizen," manuscripts in the "ancient handwriting of Tiberius and Caius Gracchus." The time of his maximum illustriousness would have been his triumph of 50 or 51. In 54 Nero came to power; at that time Pliny was working on his two military writings. Pliny the Younger says that the biography of Secundus was "a duty which he owed to the memory of his friend", implying that Secundus had passed away. The circumstances of this duty and whether or not it had anything to do with his probable avoidance of Nero have disappeared with the work.
Meanwhile he was completing the twenty books of his
History of the German Wars, the only authority expressly quoted in the first six books of the
AnnalsThe Annals is a history book by Tacitus covering the reign of the four Roman Emperors succeeding to Caesar Augustus. The parts of the work that survived from antiquity cover most of the reigns of Tiberius and Nero....
of
TacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
, and probably one of the principal authorities for the
GermaniaThe Germania , written by Gaius Cornelius Tacitus around 98, is an ethnographic work on the Germanic tribes outside the Roman Empire....
. It disappeared in favor of the writings of Tacitus (which are far shorter), and, early in the 5th century,
SymmachusQuintus Aurelius Symmachus , the cultured and prominent son of a prominent father, Lucius Aurelius Avianius Symmachus, in the patrician gens Aurelia, held the offices of governor of Africa in 373, urban prefect of Rome in 384 and 385, and consul in 391...
had little hope of finding a copy.
Like Caligula, Nero seemed to grow gradually more insane as his reign progressed. Pliny devoted much of his time to writing on the comparatively safe subjects of
grammarIn linguistics, grammar is the set of logical and structural rules that govern the composition of sentences, phrases, and words in any given natural language. The term refers also to the study of such rules, and this field includes morphology and syntax, often complemented by phonetics, phonology,...
and rhetoric. He published a three-book, six-volume educational manual on rhetoric, entitled
Studiosus, "the Student." Pliny the Younger says of it: "the orator is trained from his very cradle and perfected." It was followed by eight books on
Dubii sermonis, "On Doubtful Phraseology." (These are both now
lost workA lost work is a document or literary work produced some time in the past of which no surviving copies are known to exist. Works may be lost to history either through the destruction of the original manuscript, or through the non-survival of any copies of the work. Deliberate destruction of works...
s.) His nephew relates: "He wrote this under Nero, in the last years of his reign, when every kind of literary pursuit which was in the least independent or elevated had been rendered dangerous by servitude."
In 68 Nero no longer had any friends and supporters. He committed suicide, and the reign of terror was at an end; also the interlude in Pliny's obligation to the state.
Senior officer
At the very end of 69 AD, after a year of civil war consequent on the death of Nero,
VespasianTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 AD until his death in 79 AD...
, a successful general, became emperor. Like Pliny, he had come from the middle, or equestrian, class, rising through the ranks of the army and public offices and defeating his contenders for the highest office. His main tasks were to reestablish peace under imperial control and place the economy on a sound footing. He needed in his administration all the loyalty and assistance he could find. Pliny, apparently trusted without question, perhaps (reading between the lines) recommended by Titus, was put to work immediately and was kept in a continuous succession of the most distinguished procuratorships, according to
SuetoniusGaius Suetonius Tranquillus, commonly known as Suetonius , was an equestrian and a historian during the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies of twelve successive Roman rulers, from Julius Caesar until Domitian, entitled De Vita Caesarum...
. A
procuratorA procurator was the title of various officials of the Roman Empire, posts mostly filled by equites . A procurator Augusti was the governor of the smaller imperial provinces...
was generally a governor of an imperial province. The empire was perpetually short of, and always was seeking, office-holders for its numerous offices.
A definitive study of the procuratorships of Pliny was done by the classical scholar,
Friedrich MünzerFriedrich Münzer was a German classical scholar noted for the development of prosopography, particularly for his demonstrations of how family relationships in ancient Rome connected to political struggles....
(who wrote for the encyclopedia,
Pauly-WissowaThe Realencyclopädie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, commonly called the Pauly–Wissowa or simply RE, is a German encyclopedia of classical scholarship. With its supplements it comprises well over a hundred volumes....
), which was re-asserted by
Ronald SymeSir Ronald Syme, OM, FBA was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. Long associated with Oxford University, he was acclaimed as the twentieth century's greatest historian of ancient Rome.- Life :...
and became a standard reference point. Münzer hypothesized four procuratorships, of which two are certainly attested and two are probable but not certain. However, two does not satisfy Suetonius' description of a continuous succession. Consequently Plinian scholars present two to four procuratorships, with the others described as visits if they do not utilize the full range. Münzer's full range is as follows.
According to Syme, Pliny may have been "successor to Valerius Paulinus", procurator of
Gallia NarbonensisGallia Narbonensis was a Roman province located in what is now Languedoc and Provence, in southern France. It was also known as Gallia Transalpina , which was originally a designation for that part of Gaul lying across the Alps from Italia...
(southeastern France), early in 70 AD. He seems to have a "familiarity with the provincia", which, however, might otherwise be explained. For example, he says
In the cultivation of the soil, the manners and civilization of the inhabitants, and the extent of its wealth, it is surpassed by none of the provinces, and, in short, might be more truthfully described as a part of Italy than as a province.
It is certain that Pliny spent some time in
Africa ProvinceThe Roman province of Africa was established after the Romans defeated Carthage in the Third Punic War. It roughly comprised the territory of present-day northern Tunisia, north-eastern Algeria and the Mediterranean coast of modern-day western Libya along the Syrtis Minor...
, most likely as a procurator. Among other events or features that he saw are the provoking of
rubetae, poisonous toads (Bufonidae), by the
PsylliIn his discussion of North Africa Herodotus tells the story of the Psylli, “a tribe thatmet with extinction.” After the desert wind dried up their water holes, they marched out todo battle with it and were buried alive...
; the buildings made with molded earthen walls, "superior in solidity to any cement;" and the unusual, fertile seaside oasis of
GabèsGabès is the capital city of the Gabès Governorate, a province of Tunisia.-History:Gabès was an integral city in the territory of Carthage. Following the Second Punic War in the 2nd century BC Gabès came under Roman control with a new name Tacape....
(then Tacape), Tunisia, currently a
World Heritage SiteA UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list that is maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 state parties which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term.A World Heritage Site is a...
. Syme assigns the African procuratorship to 70-72 AD.
The procuratorship of
Hispania TarraconensisHispania Tarraconensis was one of three Roman provinces in Hispania. It encompassed much of the Mediterranean coast of Spain along with the central plateau and the north coast, and part of northern Portugal. Southern Spain, the region now called Andalucia, was the province of Hispania Baetica...
is next. A statement by Pliny the Younger that his uncle was offered 400,000 sesterces for his manuscripts by Larcius Licinius while he (Pliny the Elder) was procurator of Spain makes it the most certain of the three. Pliny lists the peoples of "Hither Spain", including population statistics and civic rights (modern
AsturiasThe Principality of Asturias is an autonomous community within the kingdom of Spain, former Kingdom of Asturias in the Middle Ages...
and
GallaeciaGallaecia or
Callaecia was the name of a Roman province and an early Mediaeval kingdom that comprised a territory in the north-west of
Hispania...
). He stops short of mentioning them all for fear of "wearying the reader". As this is the only geographic region for which he gives this information, Syme hypothesizes that Pliny contributed to the census of Hither Spain conducted in 73/74 by Vibius Crispus, legate from the emperor, thus dating Pliny's procuratorship there.
During his stay in Hispania he became familiar with the
agricultureAgriculture is the production of food and goods through farming and forestry. Agriculture was the key development that led to the rise of human civilization, with the husbandry of domesticated animals and plants creating food surpluses that enabled the development of more densely populated and...
and especially the gold mines of the north and west of the country. His descriptions of the various methods of mining appear to be eye-witness judging by his discussion of
gold miningGold mining consists of the processes and techniques employed in the removal of gold from the ground. There are several techniques by which gold may be extracted from the Earth.-Panning:...
methods in the Natural History. He might have visited the mine excavated at
Las MedulasLas Médulas, located near the town of Ponferrada in the region of El Bierzo , used to be the most important gold mine in the Roman Empire...
.
The last procuratorship, an uncertain one, was of
Gallia BelgicaGallia Belgica was a Roman province located in what is now the southern part of the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg, northeastern France, and western Germany. The indigenous population of southern Gallia Belgica consisted of a mixture of Celtic and Germanic tribes, often described as the Belgae...
(Belgium), based on Pliny's familiarity with it. The capital of the province was Augusta Treverorum (
TrierTrier in Rhineland-Palatinate, whose history dates to the Roman Empire, is often claimed to be the oldest city in Germany.- Prehistory :The first traces of human settlement in the area of the city show evidence of linear pottery settlements dating from the early Neolithic period.Since the last...
), named for the
TreveriThe Treveri or Treviri were a tribe of Gauls who inhabited the lower valley of the Moselle from around 150 BCE, at the latest, until their eventual absorption into the Franks...
surrounding it. Pliny says that in "the year but one before this" a severe winter killed the first crops planted by the Treviri; they sowed again in March and had "a most abundant harvest." The problem is to identify "this", the year in which the passage was written. Using 77 as the date of composition Syme arrives at 74-75 AD as the date of the procuratorship, when Pliny is presumed to have witnessed these events. The argument is based entirely on presumptions; nevertheless, this date is required to achieve Suetonius' continuity of procuratorships, if there was one in Gallia Belgica.
Pliny was allowed home (Rome) at some time in 75/76 AD. He was presumably at home for the first official release of
Natural History in 77. Whether he was in Rome for the dedication of Vespasian's Temple of Peace in the Forum in 75 AD, which was in essence a museum for display of art works plundered by Nero and formerly adorning the Domus Aurea, is uncertain, as is his possible command of the
vigiles (night-watchmen), a lesser post. The latter post is not consistent with what Pliny the Younger says of this period:
Before daybreak he used to wait upon Vespasian (who also used his nights for transacting business), and then proceed to execute the orders he had received.
When that business was transacted, he turned to reading and making extracts, clearly in the process of working on the
Natural History. No actual post is discernable in this regimen, which he could not have conducted as admiral at
MisenumMisenum is the site of an ancient port in Campania, in southern Italy. It is located on a cape on the northwest end of the Bay of Naples, at modern Miseno.- History :...
, unless his duties as admiral did not require his presence at Misenum. On the bare circumstances he was an official agent of the emperor in a quasi-private capacity. Perhaps he was between posts. In any case, his appointment as prefect of the fleet at Misenum took him to Misenum, where he was residing with his sister and nephew. Vespasian died of disease on June 23, 79. Pliny outlived him by two months.
Famous author
During Nero's reign of terror, Pliny avoided working on any writing that would attract attention to himself. His works on oratory in the last years of Nero's reign (67, 68) focused on form rather than on content. He began working on content again probably after Vespasian's rule began in 69, when it was clear that the terror was over and was not going to be replaced. It was to some degree reinstituted (and later cancelled by his son Titus) when Vespasian suppressed the philosophers at Rome, but not for Pliny, who was not among them, representing, as he says, something new at Rome, an encyclopedist (certainly, a venerable tradition outside Italy).
In his next work, he "... completed the history which
Aufidius BassusAufidius Bassus was a Roman historian who lived in the reign of Tiberius.His work, which probably began with the civil wars or the death of Caesar, was continued by the elder Pliny. The elder Pliny carried it down at least as far as the end of Nero's reign...
left unfinished, and ... added to it thirty books." Aufidius Bassus was a
cause célèbre according to
Seneca the YoungerLucius Annaeus Seneca was a Roman Stoic philosopher, statesman, dramatist, and in one work humorist, of the Silver Age of Latin literature. He was tutor and later advisor to emperor Nero...
, a man much admired at Rome. He had begun his history at some unknown contemporaneous time, ending with the reign of
TiberiusTiberius Julius Caesar Augustus, born Tiberius Claudius Nero , was the second Roman Emperor, from the death of Augustus in AD 14 until his own death in 37. Tiberius was by birth a Claudian, son of Tiberius Claudius Nero and Livia Drusilla...
. It was cut short when Bassus died slowly of a lingering disease, with such spirit and objectivity that Seneca remarked he seemed to treat it as someone else's dying.
Pliny's Bassus'
History was one of the authorities followed by
SuetoniusDe vita Caesarum commonly known as The Twelve Caesars, is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus.The work, written in 121 during the reign of the emperor Hadrian, was the most popular work of Suetonius, at...
and
PlutarchPlutarch, born Plutarchos then, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. AD 46 – 120, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
.
TacitusPublius Cornelius Tacitus was a senator and a historian of the Roman Empire. The surviving portions of his two major works—the Annals and the Histories—examine the reigns of the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Claudius, Nero and those who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors...
also cites Pliny as a source. He is mentioned concerning the loyalty of Burrus, commander of the
Praetorian GuardThe Praetorian Guard was a force of bodyguards used by Roman Emperors. Before being appropriated for the use of the Emperors' personal guards, the title was used for the guards of Roman generals, at least since the rise to prominence of the Scipio family around 275 BC...
, whom
NeroNero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus , born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, also called Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, was the fifth and last Roman emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Nero was adopted by his great uncle Claudius to become heir to the throne...
removed for disloyalty. Tacitus portrays parts of Pliny's view of the
Pisonian conspiracyThe conspiracy of Gaius Calpurnius Piso in AD 65 represented one of the major turning points in the reign of the Roman emperor Nero . The plot signified the growing discontent among the upper social strata of the Roman state with regards to Nero's increasingly despotic leadership, and as a result...
to kill Nero and make Piso emperor as "absurd" and mentions that he could not decide whether Pliny's account or that of Messalla was more accurate concerning some of the details of the
Year of the Four EmperorsThe Year of the Four Emperors was a year in the history of the Roman Empire, AD 69, in which four emperors ruled in a remarkable succession. These four emperors were Galba, Otho, Vitellius, and Vespasian....
. Evidently Pliny's extension of Bassus extended at least from the reign of Nero to that of Vespasian. Pliny seems to have known it was going to be controversial, as he deliberately reserved it for publication after his death:
It has been long completed and its accuracy confirmed; but I have determined to commit the charge of it to my heirs, lest I should have been suspected, during my lifetime, of having been unduly influenced by ambition. By this means I confer an obligation on those who occupy the same ground with myself; and also on posterity, who, I am aware, will contend with me, as I have done with my predecessors.
Pliny's last work, according to his nephew, was the
Naturalis Historia, an
encyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a comprehensive written compendium that holds information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge. Encyclopedias are divided into articles with one article on each subject covered...
into which he collected much of the knowledge of his time. Answers concerning the date of its publication, composition, or when he started or stopped work upon it, depend on the questions asked.
The encyclopedia utilizes some material from his memories of earlier times and from his prior works, such as the book on Germany. There is no evidence that he had planned to use this material in an encyclopedia later in his career. Most of the references in the encyclopedia must have come from his extracts, which he kept on an ongoing basis, hiring a reader and a secretary to keep them, and furnishing that secretary with gloves in winter so that his writing hand would not stiffen with cold. The extracts collected for this purpose filled rather less than 160 volumes, which Larcius Licinus, the
praetorianPraetorian is an adjective derived from the ancient Roman office of praetor. It may refer to:*Praetorian Guard, a special force of skilled and celebrated troops serving as the personal guard of Roman Emperors...
legateA legatus was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer. Being of senatorial rank, his immediate superior was the dux, and he outranked all military tribunes...
of Hispania Tarraconensis, vainly offered to purchase for 400,000 sesterces. That would have been in 73/74 (see above). At his death Pliny left the 160 volumes to his nephew. When composition began is unknown. Since he was preoccupied with his other works under Nero and then had to finish the history of his times, it is unlikely he began before 70. The procuratorships offered the ideal opportunity for an encyclopedic frame of mind. The date of an overall composition cannot be assigned to any one year. The dates of different parts must be determined, if they can, by
philologicalPhilology considers both form and meaning in linguistic expression, combining linguistics and literary studies.Classical philology is the philology of the Greek, Latin and Sanskrit languages...
analysis (the "post-mortem" of the scholars).
The closest known event to a single publication date; that is, when the manuscript was probably released to the public for borrowing and copying, and was probably sent to the Flavians, is the date of the Dedication in the first of the 37 books. It is to the "emperor"
TitusTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Titus , was a Roman Emperor who briefly reigned from 79 until his death in 81...
. As Titus and
VespasianTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 AD until his death in 79 AD...
had the same name,
Titus Flavius Vespasianus, earlier writers hypothesized a dedication to Vespasian. Pliny's mention of a brother (
DomitianTitus Flavius Domitianus , known as Domitian, was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 14 September 81 until his death...
) and joint offices with a father, calling that father "great", points certainly to Titus. Since Titus is addressed as emperor ostensibly Vespasian had died, in which case the date would be 79.
However, Pliny says that Titus had been
consul-Ancient Rome:During the time of ancient Rome as a Republic, the consuls were the highest civil and military magistrates, serving as the heads of government for the Republic. New consuls were elected every year. There were two consuls, and they ruled together...
six times. The first six consulships of Titus are in 70, 72, 74, 75, 76 and 77, all conjointly with Vespasian, which brings the date of the Dedication to 77. In that year Vespasian was 68. He had been ruling conjointly with Titus for some years, which may be why he allowed Pliny to call Titus "emperor" and dedicate the work to him.
Aside from minor finishing touches, the work in 37 books was completed in AD 77. It would be unsubstantiated to presume that it was written entirely in 77 or that Pliny was finished with it then. Moreover, the dedication could have been written before publication, and it could have been published either privately or publicly earlier without dedication. The only certain fact is that Pliny did no further work on it after August, 79.
Demise
Pliny had received from the now deceased
VespasianTitus Flavius Vespasianus, commonly known as Vespasian , was a Roman Emperor who reigned from 69 AD until his death in 79 AD...
the appointment of
praefect of the
Roman NavyThe Roman Navy comprised the naval forces of the Roman state. Although the navy was instrumental in the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean Sea basin, it never enjoyed the prestige of the Roman legions...
. On August 24, 79 A.D., he was stationed at
MisenumMisenum is the site of an ancient port in Campania, in southern Italy. It is located on a cape on the northwest end of the Bay of Naples, at modern Miseno.- History :...
, at the time of the great eruption of
Mount VesuviusMount Vesuvius is a stratovolcano east of Naples, Italy. It is the only volcano on the European mainland to have erupted within the last hundred years, although it is not currently erupting...
, which overwhelmed
PompeiiPompeii is a ruined and partially buried Roman town-city near modern Naples in the Italian region of Campania, in the territory of the comune of Pompei...
and
Herculaneumthumb|240px|The towns and villages under the likely pyroclastic cloud of the [[Mt Vesuvius]] 79 AD eruption. Herculaneum is visible along the northwestern edge of the shadowed area...
. A desire to observe the phenomenon directly, and also to rescue some of his friends from their perilous position on the shore of the Bay of Naples, led to the launching of his galleys and crossing the bay to
StabiaeStabiae was an ancient Roman town, located close to the modern town of Castellammare di Stabia approximately 4.5 km southeast of Pompeii. It was positioned on a 50 m high headland overlooking the Bay of Naples...
(near the modern town of
Castellammare di StabiaCastellammare di Stabia is a comune in the province of Naples, Campania region, southern Italy. It is situated on the Bay of Naples about 30 kilometers southeast of Naples, on the route to Sorrento.-History:...
). He himself took "a fast-sailing cutter", a decision that may have cost him his life. His nephew,
Pliny the YoungerGaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome...
, provided an account of his death, obtained from the survivors. The nephew and his mother had decided not to go on the voyage across the bay.
As the light vessel approached the shore, cinders and pumice began to fall on it. Pliny's helmsman advised turning back, to which Pliny replied "Fortune favors the brave, steer to where Pomponianus is (Stabiae)." They landed and found Pliny's friend Pomponianus "in the greatest consternation", and Pliny hugged and reassured him. They loaded the cutter but the same winds that brought it to Stabiae prevented it from leaving. Pliny reassured his party by feasting and sleeping while waiting for the wind to abate but finally they had to leave the buildings for fear of collapse and try their luck in the pumice fall. Pliny sat down and could not get up even with assistance and was left behind. His companions theorized that he collapsed and died through inhaling poisonous gases emitted from the volcano. On their return three days later his body was found under the pumice with no apparent external injuries on 26 August, after the plume had dispersed. The problem with the toxicity theory is that his companions were unaffected by the supposedly toxic fumes, and they had no mobility problem where Pliny had to sit and could not rise. As he is described as a corpulent man, a fatal cardiovascular event typically is hypothesized; that is, his friends left him because he was already dead.
The story of his last hours is told in an interesting letter addressed twenty-seven years afterwards to Tacitus by the Elder Pliny's nephew and heir,
Pliny the YoungerGaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome...
, who also sent to another correspondent an account of his uncle's writings and his manner of life. The fragment from Suetonius (see under
External links below) states a somewhat less flattering view, that Pliny approached the shore only from scientific interest and then asked a slave to kill him to avoid heat from the volcano. It is not as credible a source, as it is clear from the nephew's letter that the persons Pliny came to rescue escaped to tell the tale in detail; moreover, Suetonius hypothesizes a party witnessing events so agonizing as to destroy Pliny or cause him to order his own death and yet apparently were subject to none of these fatal events themselves.
Mementos
Pliny is still remembered in
volcanologyVolcanology is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma, and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena...
where the term
PlinianPlinian eruptions, also known as 'Vesuvian eruptions', are volcanic eruptions marked by their similarity to the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in AD 79 , which killed Pliny the Elder....
(or
Plinean) refers to a
very violent eruption of a volcanoThe Volcanic Explosivity Index was devised by Chris Newhall of the U.S. Geological Survey and Steve Self at the University of Hawaii in 1982 to provide a relative measure of the explosiveness of volcanic eruptions....
marked by columns of smoke and ash extending high into the stratosphere. The term
ultra-Plinian is reserved for the most violent type of Plinian eruption such as the 1883 destruction of
KrakatoaKrakatoa , also spelled Krakatau or Kracatoa, is a volcanic island made of a'a lava in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in Indonesia...
.
A
carnelianCarnelian is a reddish-brown mineral which is commonly used as a semi-precious gemstone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker...
inscribed with the letters C. PLIN. has been reproduced by Cades (v.211) from the original in the Vannutelli collection. It represents an ancient Roman with an almost completely bald forehead and a double chin; and is almost certainly a portrait, not of Pliny the Elder, but of Pompey the Great. Seated statues of both the Plinies, clad in the garb of scholars of the year 1500, may be seen in the niches on either side of the main entrance to the
cathedralA cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
church of Como.
The elder Pliny's anecdotes of Greek artists supplied Vasari with the subjects of the
frescoFresco is any of several related painting types, done on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Italian word affresco which derives from the adjective fresco , which has Latin origins...
es which still adorn the interior of his former home at
ArezzoArezzo or Arretium is a city in central Italy, capital of the province of the same name, located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about south-east of Florence, at an elevation of 296 meters above sea level. In 2009 the population was about 99,000 people....
.
The Natural History
The only extant work of Pliny is the
Natural History.
See also
- Pliny the Younger
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, born Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caecilius Cilo , better known as Pliny the Younger, was a lawyer, author, and magistrate of Ancient Rome...
- Vesuvius
- Volcanology
Volcanology is the study of volcanoes, lava, magma, and related geological, geophysical and geochemical phenomena...
Secondary material