Pliny the Elder

Pliny the Elder or Gaius Plinius Secundus
Pliny the Elder: an imaginative 19th century portrait. No contemporary depiction of Pliny has survived.
Born	23 AD Como, Italy
Died	August 25, 79 (aged 55–56) Stabiae, near Pompei, Italy
Cause of death	Died in the eruption that destroyed Pompeii
Body discovered	By friends, under the pumice
Citizenship	Roman
Education	Rhetoric, grammar
Occupation(s)	Lawyer, author, natural philosopher, military commander, provincial governor
Notable work	Natural History
Spouse	None
Children	None
Parent(s)	Celer and Marcella
Relatives	Sister (Plinia), nephew (Pliny the Younger)

Gaius Plinius Secundus (23 AD – 25 August 79 AD), better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian.

Spending most of his spare time studying, writing or investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, he wrote an encyclopedic work, Natural History ("Naturalis Historia"), which became a model for many subsequent encyclopedic texts.

Pliny the Elder died on 25 August 79 AD. He was attempting the rescue by ship of a friend and his family from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The eruption had just destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.