Pliny The Elder's Life

Gaius Plinius Secundus known to future generations as Pliny the Elder was born in 23 or 24 CE in Comum. Comum is part of the Roman Empire, which we know today as Lombardy, Italy. What Pliny contributed most out of his life is his book Naturalis Historia, which covers almost every field of nature during the Roman era. There is not much history about Pliny the Elder’s family, we do know that he had a sister Plinia and his father was a member of the equestrian class. In the Roman Empire there were tiers to their society, the equestrian class sometimes called “knights” in modern times was the second tier, after the senators (Lendering). As a result of his family’s stature, Pliny was able to study well while in Italy and in his early 20’s in Rome.

In 45 CE Pliny began to serve for the Roman Empire military where he rose up the rankings quickly. While serving in the military, Pliny also could be regarded as a historian and a naturalist (McCarthy). This aspect of his life is what makes Pliny important to modern-day science. He wrote many books, but the one that lasted through the ages is called Naturalis Historia, which is the first encyclopedia type book covering the physical universe, geography, anthropology, biology, mineralogy,

Unfortunately, Plinia’s husband died soon after the birth. Pliny adopted the boy and renamed the boy after himself, known as Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus; we regard him as Pliny the Younger (Lendering). Pliny the Younger would be raised and educated in Pliny’s Roman home. Much of what we know of Pliny the Elder comes from the writing of Pliny the Younger. Soon after the birth of Pliny the Younger a civil war broke-out and the Romans had to fight for their empire and side civil wars were still happening. Some believed at this time Pliny met back up with Titus. In 69, Titus became the new Roman Emperor and Pliny was able to become a procutator, which would take him too many