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Pliny the Elder
43
Pliny the Elder
23AD-79AD
Samantha Dovgin
Biography
Early life:
- Born in 23AD, Pliny was named Gaius Plinius Secundus
Biography
- Pliny was born in Novum Comum, Gaul which was a very small european city
- He studied rhetoric as a young boy, which also included learning manners and other general knoweledge
- he studied under Publius Pomponius Secundus, poet and tragedian
Family
Family
- Pliny's father was Gaius Plinius Celer, and his mom was Marcella
- Celer was a member of the equestrian class in Rome, which is part of the elite of the Roman republic. Equestrians were considered right below senators.
- Pliny also had a sister named Plinia, and later in life she had a son, Pliny the Younger, who documented a lot of Pliny the Elder's studies and research techniques.
- Pliny the Elder never got married or had any children, but later on in his life he did adopt Pliny the younger after the death of his sister's husband.
Military Career
- When Pliny was 21, he went to Gallia Belgica, where he served as a military tribune
- Pliny was able to move up the ranks due to his interest in Roman literature that he shared with officers of higher ranks
Military Career
- He was eventually promoted to a prefect, or chief offficer, in a cavalry unit in the Rhine Army.
- Pliny remained in the army until he was 36, and during this time he wrote three books, which was the beginning of his literary career
Pliny's Death
Pliny's Death
- Pliny died in August 79, During the eruption of Mount Vesuvius
- He saw the cloud of smoke from the volcano from a distance, and since he had been making observations about the world his whole life, he took a boat to see it in closer detail
- Once he saw the destruction the volcano caused, he called for warships to be sent to Pompeii to help evacuate people around the city
- Pliny ended up dying during the evacuation when he was 56, the exact cause is unknown, but some historians believe it was from inhaling the sulfer
Timeline of Pliny's Life
Timeline of Pliny's Life
- 23AD-Pliny is born in Novum Comum to Gaius Plinius Celer, and Marcella
- 37AD-He begins to study under Publius Pomponius Secundus, where he learns rhetoric and manners
- 45AD-Began his military career in Belgica as a juinor officer.
- 46AD-Becomes a prefect of a cavalry troop
- 51AD-Pliny writes his first book, a textbook about war strategy and the best way to throw a spear off of a horse
- 59AD-He goes back home and begins his most famous book, Historia Naturalis
- 77AD-Publication of Historia Naturalis, which he dedicated to Titus
- 79AD-Pliny dies during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in an attempt to save the people in the surrounding cities
Contributions to Literature
- Pliny's first work was a short text on the best way to throw a spear from horseback.
Contributions to Literature
- Pliny also wrote a book called "Life of Pomponius Secundus" which was about the life of his teacher and it was written before Romans even developed biographies.
- His style of writing was all informative, nonfiction texts and encyclopedias, his most famous work being Historia Naturalis, or the history or nature.
Historia Naturalis
Historia Naturalis
- Published in 77AD and dedicated to Titus, a soon to be emperor of the time that Pliny had served under in the military.
- Pliny's Historia Naturalis is the most important Roman work on natural science and is a major source for knowledge about the ancient Roman world.
- It is an encyclopedia of natural science that contains thirty-seven books.
- Historia Naturalis covers topics like human nature, astronomy, geography, zoology, agriculture, medicine, medicinal substances, minerals, and a lot more.
- It shaped scientific and medical theories until the Middle Ages
Historia Naturalis: Book II
“the form of a perfect globe we learn from the name which has been uniformly given to it, as well as from numerous natural arguments. For not only does a figure of this kind return everywhere into itself and sustain itself, also including itself, requiring no adjustments”
Historia Naturalis: Book II
“I consider it, therefore, an indication of human weakness to inquire into the figure and form of God.”
“seven stars, separated by determinate spaces, which, on account of their motion, we call wandering, although, in reality, none are less so. The sun is carried along in the midst of these, a body of great size and power, the ruler, not only of the seasons and of the different climates, but also of the stars themselves and of the heavens.“
Astronomy: Modern Day Enclyclopedia
Astronomy: Modern Day Enclyclopedia
Enclycopedia Britannica
- “The currently accepted cosmological model is the big bang. In this picture, the expansion of the universe started in an intense explosion 13.8 billion years ago”
- “two more have been discovered: Uranus by accident in 1781 and Neptune in 1846 after a deliberate search”
- Earth is a “ geoid” that is “everywhere perpendicular to the pull of gravity and approximates the shape of a regular oblate spheroid”
Comparative Analysis
Pliny included the sun and the moon in his count of the seven “stars” or planets that he believed to be in our solar system. This means he only knew of five actual planets in our solar system. We still accept these five planets that were already discovered as planets today, showing some of the influence Pliny’s text holds on modern day research, but the modern encyclopedia states that for the planets we know of today “two more have been discovered" and those are Neptune and Uranus.
Comparative Analysis
In this point in ancient history, which completely differs from moderns encyclopedias, it was widely accepted that God created the heavens and the Earth, which is why Pliny included him in the astronomy section of Historia Naturalis. This is a direct contradiction to the modern encyclopedia, which states “The currently accepted cosmological model is the big bang"
Continued
Pliny described the wold as "not only does a figure of this kind return everywhere into itself and sustain itself, also including itself, requiring no adjustments” These observations are perfectly in line with the modern encyclopedia, which says the Earth is a “ geoid” that is “everywhere perpendicular to the pull of gravity and approximates the shape of a regular oblate spheroid”. The fact that these two observations perfectly are aligned shows another influence and just how advanced ancient technology and observations used to be.
Works Cited
Works Cited
Bostock, John. "Pliny the Elder, The Natural History." Pliny the Elder, The Natural History. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 May 2017.
Friedlander, Michael Wulf, and James Evans. "Astronomy." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., n.d. Web. 06 May 2017.
"Pliny the Elder." Encyclopedia of the Renaissance, edited by Paul F. Grendler, Charles Scribner's Sons, 2000. World History in Context. Accessed 7 May 2017.
Stannard, Jerry. "Pliny the Elder." Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., n.d. Web. 06 May 2017.
"Pliny the Elder (2)." Pliny the Elder. Livius, 22 Dec. 2015. Web. 07 May 2017.
"Pliny the Elder." PBS. Public Broadcasting Service, n.d. Web. 07 May 2017.