Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus, (23–79) better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author and Natural philosopher of some importance who wrote Naturalis Historia.

Vesuvius

Soon afterwards he received from Vespasian the appointment of praefect of the Roman fleet at Misenum. On August 24, 79 he was stationed at Misenum, at the time of the great eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which overwhelmed Pompeii and Herculaneum. A desire to observe the phenomenon directly, and also to rescue some of his friends from their perilous position on the shore of the Bay of Naples, led to his launching his galleys and crossing the bay to Stabiae (Castellammare di Stabia). Although he believed that Stabiae would be a safe distance from the eruption, he did not take into account the possibility of the volcano releasing toxic gases; consequently, he was asphyxiated.

Related Topics:
Praefect - Roman fleet - Misenum - August 24 - 79 - Eruption - Mount Vesuvius - Pompeii - Herculaneum - Bay of Naples - Castellammare di Stabia - Asphyxiated

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He is still remembered in vulcanology where the term plinian (or plinean) refers to a very violent eruption of a volcano after a long period of being dormant. The term ultra-plinian is reserved for the most violent type of plinian eruption such as the 1883 destruction of Krakatoa.

Related Topics:
Vulcanology - Very violent eruption of a volcano - 1883 - Krakatoa

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The story of his last hours is told in an interesting letter addressed twenty-seven years afterwards to Tacitus by the Elder Pliny's nephew and heir, Pliny the Younger (Epp. vi.16), who also sends to another correspondent an account of his uncle's writings and his manner of life (iii.5):

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"He began to work long before daybreak.…He read nothing without making extracts; he used even to say that there was no book so bad as not to contain something of value. In the country it was only the time when he was actually in his bath that was exempted from study. When travelling, as though freed from every other care, he devoted himself to study alone. In short, he deemed all time wasted that was not employed in study."

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His only writings to have survived to modern times is the Naturalis historia. It was used as an authority over the following centuries by countless scholars.

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