Pliny the Elder
23-79
Roman Scholar
Although only one of his works, Natural History, has survived, Pliny the Elder became famous for that work. Natural History was a 37-volume encyclopedia that covered topics ranging from anthropology, astronomy, and mineralogy to geography, botany, and zoology. Although the encyclopedia mixes fact and fiction, it nonetheless provides a view of the state of science in antiquity.
Pliny the Elder (full name: Gaius Plinius Secundus) was born at Novum Comum, which is now known as Como, Italy, but spent most of his early life in Rome where he received his education. In his early 20s, he served in Germany in the Roman cavalry, a typical choice for a young man who was born to a prosperous family. After a decade in the military, Pliny briefly shifted his focus to law before settling into his career as a scholar.
His roles as writer and scholar suited his personality well. Apparently a perpetually curious man, Pliny spent years collecting information from many sources and on many subjects, and wrote more than 100 volumes describing this wealth of material. Some of these works included such diverse subjects as grammar usage, the fine arts, oration, military and Roman history, and even the use of javelins as weapons.
Although Pliny bequeathed all his manuscripts to his nephew Pliny the Younger, only one remains—Natural History (Historia Naturalis). A monumental effort, Natural History summarized much of the material Pliny collected over his lifetime. In the dedication, he claimed that it contained 20,000 pieces of information that he gathered from reviews of 2,000 works by more than 100 different authors. Of the 37 volumes, Pliny devoted five books to astronomy and geology, five to zoology, eight to botany, 13 to medicine and drugs, and five to mineralogy. The first volume was basically a table of contents and list of references.
Although Natural History contained a great deal of information, critics have found that it also holds many errors of translation, as well as false statements caused by inadequate fact-checking. For example, the zoology books rely heavily on the scientific work of Aristotle (384-322 B.C.), but also include Pliny's descriptions of legendary animals and folklore. In the astronomical and geological books, the mathematical and technical portions are often incorrectly translated or lack critical details. In spite of these mistakes and the merging of fact with fiction, Natural History represented the first truly comprehensive reference work, and its influence continued well into the fifteenth century.
Pliny finished writing Natural History around 77 and published 10 of the 37 volumes before he accepted an official position as commander of a fleet in the Bay of Naples in 79. Although his charge was to employ the fleet in the suppression of piracy, Pliny became sidetracked by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. According to his nephew, Pliny led his fleet ashore to aid in a rescue, but he was soon overcome by the fumes from the erupting volcano. Pliny the Younger supervised the publication of the remaining 27 volumes of Natural History.
This is the complete article, containing 497 words
(approx. 2 pages at 300 words per page).
