|
A.D. c.23-A.D. 79, Roman naturalist; b. Cisalpine Gaul. His one surviving work, Historia naturalis, (Natural History) consists of 37 books that deal with the nature of the physical universe, geography, anthropology, zoology, botany, and mineralogy. Although impressive in scope, this encyclopedic work, mostly secondhand information, is useless as science. Pliny died during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. Tons of lava, mud, and ashes buried the cities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, killing thousands. Pliny witnessed the eruption from a ship in the bay, took refuge with a friend at Stabiae, and died of suffocation from poisonous fumes.
His nephew, Pliny the Younger, 62?-c.113, was an orator and statesman who is remembered for his letters which mirror Roman life. |