Pliny THE Elder natura, hoc est vita, narratur (“Nature, which is to say Life, is my subject”), pref. 13
Who was he? Born: Gaius Plinius Secundus, 23/24 AD at Como, Italy. Pliny came from a family of moderate wealth, and was a prominent Roman of the equestrian order.
Career: Ø Pliny had a prominent military career during the Early Roman Empire, serving in Germany alongside the future emperor, Titus. Ø Pliny was active in legal practice in the reign of Nero, but soon attracted the favour of new Flavian rulers. Ø Pliny held a series of high procurator-ships under Vespasian, and was a prominent member of the Council of the emperors, Vespasian and Titus. Ø He was also the commander of the Misenum fleet in 79 AD, the year of his death. Ø Pliny’s career was full of productive literary https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/pliny-the- works, and was notable for his stringent elder-31965.php devotion to work.
Death: Historia Naturalis (77-79AD) Pliny the Elder died during the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius, on the 24 August, 79 AD, which This literary work can be used to gain some destroyed Pompeii and Herculaneum. He landed insight into Pliny’s character, motivations and the at Stabiae during a mission of inquiry-turned- state of the Roman cultural world during the 1st rescue, and died on the shore from inhaling century BC. fumes. This work was dedicated to emperor and friend Titus, and discussed many aspects of the Latin Notable Works: natural world, such as agriculture, medicine,
botany, zoology, mineralogy, astronomy and Pliny the Elder is most famous for his work as an geology, for example, home remedies, insects, author and naturalist, writing Historia Naturalis Cicero’s eloquence, fishponds, sewers, gardens (Natural History), which became a model for the and Caesar. Modern historians are dependent on modern-day encyclopaedia. It consists of a 37-volume this work for evidence on many of these ancient account of all contemporary knowledge. This work technical fields. serves as insight into many technical and trivial aspects of ancient Roman society, for modern A theme of the work is notably the sufficient excellence of the natural endowment of Italy and scholars. the moral threat posed by the differential value of In his early days, Pliny wrote a treatise on throwing the exotic. The work was crafted with the purpose the javelin from horseback, as well as a dutifully pious of impressing his contemporaries, and the biography of his patron; Pomponious Secundus greatness of his work was speedily recognised. (significant as the biographical genre had not yet been developed in the Latin world. He also began a 20- This work became a model for writers such as volume history of Rome’s Germanic Wars, the Bella Iluius Solinus and Isidoras, and had enormous Germaniae. cultural and intellectual influence on the medieval west.
THE SOURCES
Pliny the Elder was written about, most notably, by his adoptive nephew, Pliny the Younger (Letters, Ep 3.5, 6.16); also briefly by Suetonius (De Viris Illustribus, frag. 80). Both these sources share a similar tone of praise and admiration, and are historically valuable as they were published within 20 years of Pliny the Elder’s death.
Pliny the Younger 61-112AD (Letters, 3.5, Suetonius 69-122AD (Illustr. frag. 80) 6.16) Ø Employed as a biographer under Pliny the Ø In a letters to Baebius Macer and Tacitus, Pliny Younger, so we expect him to similar motivations, the Younger describes his Uncle’s work habits, and this fragment is in a similar tone. lifestyle and achievements, as his own eye- Ø Suetonius describes the life and achievements of witness. Pliny the Elder, in admiration of his ability to Ø He describes how studious his uncle was, how he have crafted such extensive and detailed works achieved so much during his short life span, and during his busy life. was prudent in detailed studied whilst holding Ø He confirms that Pliny held several important important offices and maintaining important stewardships with the utmost justice. He friendship of the emperors. describes him as having much attention to liberal Ø He gives a detailed account of his uncle’s death studies, and that hardly anyone who had during Vesuvius’ eruption, as scientific curiosity- complete leisure wrote as much as he. turned-rescue mission. Ø He confirms the events of his death, but also Ø Pliny importantly notes that his historical method is to only relay events that he witnessed himself, presents another account of not mentioned by or heard about immediately after the event, as Pliny the Younger, that some think a slave may those reports are most accurate. have killed Pliny the Elder, he begged to end his Ø These two letters have great historical value due life when overcome by intense heat. to their accurate descriptions of the volcanic
eruption. Why was Pliny the Elder Important in the Roman World?
"…one of the most precious monuments that has come down to us from ancient times.” - Georges Cuvier
The Naturalis historia has throughout the centuries been the Western world’s central source of scientific information and theory. His work was the first of its kind in compiling disparate aspects of the entire Roman cultural world into one body – alleviating restrictive aristocratic bias and presenting Roman culture, including the banal, commercial, technical and the trivial. His work is important in many ways: Ø His text provided Renaissance artists, scholars and architects with details of long-lost architectural marvels and ancient architectural practices. Ø Pliny the Elder is regarded as one of the first authors to provide citations at the conclusion of each chapter, and use table of contents to organize his work. Ø This work is considered as by far the most comprehensive ancient source on Roman metallurgy available today. Ø The text is an unparalleled guide towards the cultural denotations of commonplace things in first-century Rome. Ø It includes many descriptions of fantasy, science, prejudices and traditions, and so provides many perspectives on day-to-day cultural and scientific practices and activites, giving the work high scholarly value.
Natural History as a useful historical source?
Ø Although Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis historia is highly-esteemed, the misgivings that emanated from the reliability of its content has left a divided opinion as to whether or not Greco-Roman culture understood science like we do today. Ø For instance, he states that the weight of the human body increases after death or during sleep and how the blood of a male goat is capable of shattering diamonds. Ø Also, the work can be uneven and inconsistent in places, for example Pliny will at one point accept a story as true, then sceptically dismiss it later on. Unfortunately, it is full of self-contradictions and so scholars have to be sceptical on which accounts to take as fact.
Research by Mackenzie Peperkoorn-Horan, Kiano Uy, Katherine Matoto, Jessica Thomas and Milly Sheed.