Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder
20 — 79
Rome antique
Pliny the Elder was a Roman scholar and officer of the 1st century AD, author of the encyclopedic Natural History. A naturalist curious about everything, he died in 79 AD while attempting to observe the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that destroyed Pompeii.
Famous Quotes
« There is no book so bad that some good cannot be got out of it. »
« The sun is the soul of the world. »
Key Facts
- Born in 23 AD in Comum (northern Italy).
- Wrote Natural History, an encyclopedia in 37 volumes covering cosmology, geography, zoology, botany, and mineralogy.
- Served as a cavalry officer and later commanded the Roman fleet at Misenum.
- Died on August 25, 79 AD during the eruption of Vesuvius, at Stabiae, while attempting to rescue survivors.
- His nephew Pliny the Younger recounts his death in two letters addressed to Tacitus.
Works & Achievements
A monumental encyclopedia in 37 books dedicated to Titus, covering astronomy, geography, zoology, botany, and mineralogy. The first comprehensive encyclopedic work of Antiquity and a major source for medieval science.
A military treatise written during his campaigns in Germania, covering the equestrian and ballistic techniques of the Roman cavalry. Lost, known only through mentions by his nephew.
A history of the Roman wars against the Germanic peoples, begun during his military service on the Rhine. Lost, but extensively cited by Tacitus in his own Annals.
A handbook on rhetoric and the training of the orator, from childhood through mastery of the art of public speaking. Lost, it reflects Pliny's deep interest in education.
A contemporary Roman history continuing the work of the historian Aufidius Bassus, covering the reigns of Claudius and Nero. Lost, but recognized as an important source by ancient historians.
Anecdotes
Pliny the Elder slept so little that he worked even at night by the light of an oil lamp. His nephew Pliny the Younger recounts that he had texts read to him during meals, while traveling by litter, and even in the bath, constantly dictating notes to a secretary.
During the eruption of Vesuvius in August 79 AD, Pliny commanded the Roman fleet at Misenum. Rather than flee, he sailed toward the flames to rescue friends and observe the phenomenon at closer range. He died asphyxiated by volcanic gases on the beach at Stabiae, a victim of his own scientific curiosity.
His masterwork, the Natural History, assembled the knowledge of nearly 2,000 Greek and Latin works into 37 books. In it, Pliny describes the stars, animals, plants, and minerals with an encyclopedic appetite unmatched in Antiquity, citing some 500 different authors.
Pliny served as a cavalry officer in Germania under Emperor Claudius. It was during these military campaigns that he began writing a treatise on throwing javelins on horseback, demonstrating that the soldier and the scholar were one and the same man.
A close friend of Emperor Vespasian, Pliny would join him each morning before dawn to work. He enjoyed such a reputation that it was said of him that he had never wasted an hour: every free minute was devoted to reading or dictating.
Primary Sources
Tu solebas putare esse aliquid in his Vespasiane Auguste... opus hoc natura, hoc est vita describitur.
Erat Miseni classemque imperio praesens regebat. Nonum kal. Septembres hora fere septima mater mea indicat ei apparere nubem inusitata et magnitudine et specie.
Interim e Vesuvio monte pluribus locis latissimae flammae altaque incendia relucebant, quorum fulgor et claritas tenebris noctis excitabatur.
Omnium rerum incertissima nativitas: soli homini dubium vivere incipiat, soli datum quod paeniteat vixisse.
Mundus et hoc quod nomine alio caelum appellare libuit, cuius circumflexu degunt cuncta, numen esse credi par est, aeternum, inmensum, neque genitum neque interiturum umquam.
Key Places
Pliny the Elder's hometown, today known as Como in northern Italy. This prosperous city in the Po Valley provided him with a thorough education before his departure for Rome.
Pliny built his career here, frequented the imperial libraries, and maintained close ties with the court of the Flavian emperors. He wrote the greater part of the Historia Naturalis in the city.
The naval base where Pliny commanded the imperial Tyrrhenian fleet. It was from here that he set sail on August 24, 79 AD to observe the eruption of Vesuvius.
A town buried by the eruption of Vesuvius, on whose beach Pliny died, asphyxiated by sulfurous gases. Today known as Castellammare di Stabia, south of Naples.
The iconic volcano of the Bay of Naples whose eruption in 79 AD both fascinated and killed Pliny. His observation of this catastrophe stands as the final great naturalist inquiry of his life.
Pliny served here as a military officer and conducted his earliest naturalist observations on the fauna, flora, and Germanic peoples, recording his findings in his military writings.
Gallery
"Portrait présumé de Marie-Anne de Bourbon, représentée en Cléopâtre"
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Workshop of François de Troy
Le Banquet de Cléopâtre, J 104
Wikimedia Commons, CC0 — Tiepolo, Giambattista (Venise, en 1696 - Madrid, en 1770), peintre
Le Banquet de Cléopâtre, J 104(2)
Wikimedia Commons, CC0 — Tiepolo, Giambattista (Venise, en 1696 - Madrid, en 1770), peintre
Le Banquet de Cléopâtre, J 104(7)
Wikimedia Commons, CC0 — Tiepolo, Giambattista (Venise, en 1696 - Madrid, en 1770), peintre
Le Banquet de Cléopâtre, J 104(9)
Wikimedia Commons, CC0 — Tiepolo, Giambattista (Venise, en 1696 - Madrid, en 1770), peintre
Como - Dome - Facade - Plinius the Elder
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0 — Wolfgang Sauber
La sculpture en bronze : conference faite a l'Union Centrale des beaux-arts appliques a l'industrie le 29 avril 1868
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Guillaume, Eugene, 1822-1905
Explication des ouvrages de peinture et dessins, sculpture, architecture et gravure, des artistes vivans
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Société des artistes français. Salon Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (France) Salon (Exhibition : Paris
Explication des ouvrages de peinture et dessins, sculpture, architecture et gravure, des artistes vivans
Wikimedia Commons, Public domain — Société des artistes français. Salon Académie royale de peinture et de sculpture (France) Salon (Exhibition : Paris
The Nile, inv. 2300 - Braccio Nuovo, Museo Chiaramonti - Vatican Museums - DSC009132
Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 — Ismoon (talk) 20:26, 13 April 2024 (UTC)