Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder (Caius Plinius Secundus) (plĭ`nē), c.A.D. 23–A.D. 79, Roman naturalist, b. Cisalpine Gaul. He was a friend and fellow soldier of Vespasian, and he dedicated his great work to Titus. He died of asphyxiation in the neighborhood of Vesuvius, having gone to investigate the eruption. His one surviving work is an encyclopedia of natural science (Historia naturalis). It is divided into 37 books and, after a preface, deals with the nature of the physical universe; geography; anthropology; zoology; botany, including the medicinal uses of plants; curatives derived from the animal world; and mineralogy, including an account of the uses of pigments and a history of the fine arts. Pliny's industry was immense and his knowledge of sources extensive, but his information is mostly secondhand and quite useless as science.

Bibliography

See Selections from the History of the World, ed. by P. Turner (1962).

His nephew and ward,

Pliny the Younger (Caius Plinius Caecilius Secundus), A.D. 62?–c.A.D. 113, was an orator and a statesman. He was quaestor (A.D. 89), tribune (A.D. 91), and praetor (A.D. 93) and subsequently held treasury posts. He was consul (A.D. 100) and died in his proconsular province of Pontus-Bithynia. His fame rests on his letters, written probably for publication, which are an excellent mirror of Roman life.

Bibliography

See his Letters and Panegyricus, tr. by B. Radice (2 vol., 1969); studies by S. E. Stout (1954) and A. N. Sherwin-White (1966).

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Pliny the Elder

 Latin Gaius Plinius Secundus

(born AD 23, Novum Comum, Transpadane Gaul—died Aug. 24, 79, Stabiae, near Mt. Vesuvius) Roman scholar. Descended from a prosperous family, Pliny pursued a military career, held official positions (including procurator of Spain), and later spent years in semiretirement, studying and writing. His fame rests on his Natural History (AD 77), an encyclopaedic work of uneven accuracy that was the European authority on scientific matters up to the Middle Ages. Six other works ascribed to him were probably lost in antiquity. He died while observing the great eruption of Vesuvius.

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Pliny the Elder 

(Gaius Plinius Secundus; also Gaius Plinius Major). Born A.D. 23 or 24 in Novum Comum (now Como); died A.D. 79. Roman writer, scholar, and public figure. Uncle and adoptive father of Pliny the Younger.

Pliny the Elder served in the Roman provinces of Germany, Gaul, Spain, and Africa. At the time of his death during the eruption of Vesuvius, he was commanding the fleet at Misenum. Pliny’s Natural History (37 books), an encyclopedia of antiquity’s knowledge in the natural sciences, combines information on astronomy, physical geography, meteorology, ethnology, anthropology, zoology, botany, agriculture, forestry, medicine, mineralogy, and metallurgy with fantastic stories, fables, superstitions, and anecdotes. Until the end of the 17th century the Natural History was considered an important source of information about nature. Pliny’s historical works have not survived, but they were used by Tacitus. In the German Wars (20 books), Pliny recounted the history of the Roman conquests along the Rhine and Danube. The Continuation of the History of Aufidius Bassus (31 books) was an account of the events of A.D. 41–71 (the reigns of Claudius and Nero and the civil war after Nero’s death). The Life of Pomponius Secundus (two books) was a biography of Pliny’s patron and military commander.

WORKS

Naturalis historiae, libri 37, vols. 1–6. Leipzig, 1870–98.
In Russian translation:
Katon, Varron, Kolumella, Plinii: O sel’skom khoziaistve. Moscow, 1957.

REFERENCES

Lunkevich, V. V. Ot Geraklita do Darvina, 2nd ed., vol. 1. Moscow, 1960.
Dannemann, F. Plinius und seine Naturgeschichte in Hirer Bedeutung für die Gegenwart. Jena, 1921.