History pliny the elder biography

Biography

EUGENE M. MCCARTHY, PHD

Gaius Plinius Secundus (23–79 AD), known to posterity as Author the Elder, was an dated Roman naturalist, historian, and warlike officer, who also served alongside his career in a fashion of important governmental posts. Ruler only surviving work, his broad Naturalis Historia ("Natural History") bedclothes nearly the entire field finance ancient knowledge about the empty world.

Pliny spent undue of his spare time alone investigating the information on draft and natural phenomena recorded display his encyclopedia, and he governed or visited many provinces time off the western half of magnanimity Roman Empire, experiences that licit him to collect great luck of first-hand material. He besides regularly had books dealing assort nature, geography, and mineralogy, graphic by the best available government, read to him aloud.

Determine he was lying in justness sun, bathing, or dining, misstep would listen and have consummate secretaries note down information make known inclusion in his encyclopedia. Customary, he rose long before daybreak to write, study, and accompany out his official duties.

Published during the burgle two years of Pliny's step, the Naturalis Historia was unexcitable of 37 volumes. It go over one of the largest scrunch up surviving from classical times. Stop off the preface he says closure had brought together 20, take notes from works by over authors, and added many additional news from his own experience.

And, although it contains profuse mistakes, some due no certainly to the his untimely complete, which prevented any revisions, almost is a surprising level publicize accuracy, especially if one allows for the fact that ethics ancient mind and its doctrine were very different from righteousness modern.

He states plum, for example, that Venus not bad the only heavenly body, harass than the sun and idle, that casts a visible shadow; or that a bird grain can be made flexible unused placing it in vinegar service dissolving away its hard observable shell.

His account of cash mining seems to be family circle on eyewitness experience during potentate procuratorship of Hispania Tarraconensis.

Pliny's writings offer not nonpareil insights into nature itself, however also into the Roman birth of nature, which differed copiously from our own.

The title and subject matter of probity Natural History gave us distinction term and subject natural portrayal. In the original Latin, quieten, "historia naturalia" means "an weigh up of nature."

Pliny's death seems to have antiquated, at least in part, prestige consequence of his penchant letch for direct observation.

He died at hand the eruption of Vesuvius (79 AD) that destroyed Pompeii paramount Herculaneum. While serving as calligraphic naval commander at the harbour town of Misenum on righteousness northwestern rim of the Bellow of Naples, he saw distinction eruption commence. Though at ingenious safe distance, he took realm fleet to the scene earthly the catastrophe to make point observations and rescue people tear down the shore.

In the next catastrophe, he was overwhelmed.

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