Pliny the Elder

  • Gaius Plinius Secundus (23-79 CE) was a Roman Author, Lawyer, Governor and Prefect of the Roman Naval Fleet at Misenum.
  • He is noted for his Encyclopedia Natural History.

Career

  • Born into an Equestrian family in Como, Pliny followed the Equestrian career path, the Equo Publico.
  • He was Procurator (Provincial Governor) with two appointments confirmed and two appointments assumed:
  • He was Prefect of the Roman Naval Fleet at Misenum:
    • 77-79 CE Prefectus (Admiral) of the Classis Misenensis, the Praetorian Roman Fleet based at Misenum, Bay of Naples, Italia.
    • ‘Praefecti Classis’, the Admirals of the two Italian Imperial Fleets, were Procuratores Ducenarii and paid 200,000 Sesterces per annum, some of the highest salaries in the Roman Empire.

Eruption of Vesuvius in 79 CE

  • August 79 CE Vesuvius erupted and Pompeii and Herculaneum were buried.
  • The source is from a letter by Pliny the Younger addressed to Tacitus.
  • According to Pliny the Younger, who was Pliny the Elder’s nephew, Pliny led a rescue fleet in a Quadrireme to the scene of the devastation. He was unable to land close to Pompeii due to the falling embers that threatened the vessel, and instead landed downwind at Stabiae.
  • Although some survivors were evacuated, Pliny stayed on land and found his friend Pomponianus. To reassure his friend he went to the Baths for a meal, and spent the night on shore. However, further eruptions during the night obliged them to find their way to the shore where Pliny died apparently overcome by the fumes, although his companions survived.

Works

Lost Works

  • ‘History of the German Wars’
  • ‘The Life of Pomponius Secundus’
    • A biography of his commander in Germany in two volumes.
  • ‘Studiosus’
    • A manual on rhetoric in three books and six volumes.
  • ‘Dubii Sermonis’
    • A manual on grammar, meaning ‘of doubtful phraseology’ in eight books.

 

Vesuvius

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79 CE
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