INTRODUCTION

GAIUS PLINIUS SECUNDUS—usually called Pliny the Elder to distinguish him from his nephew and ward, Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, whose collected correspondence has preserved such a vivid picture of Roman life in the time of Trajan—belonged to a family of wealth and status in Northern Italy. He was born at Como in A.D. 23. After studying at Rome, he began an official career at the age of twenty-three, serving in Germany under L. Pomponius Secundus and rising to the command of a cavalry squadron. Seven or eight years later, he returned to Rome and took up the study of law. During most of Nero's reign original: "principate", he lived in retirement, but toward the end of it he re-entered public life and became a Procurator A high-ranking financial or administrative official in the Roman Empire. in Spain. He held this post until Vespasian won the principate, at which time he returned to Rome and was admitted to the Emperor's intimate circle; they had been acquainted years earlier while serving at the front in Germany. He also embarked on another field of activity, receiving a naval commission.

Throughout his busy career as a man of action, he maintained a constant practice of study and writing. His interest in science finally cost him his life at the age of 56. He was in command of the fleet at Misenum on the Bay of Naples in A.D. 79.