Pliny the Elder

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Pliny the Elder summary

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Pre-historic cave painting in the Lascaux cave in Montignac, France

Quiz: Ancient Illustrations Showing Us the Way

Related Questions

Did Pliny the Elder marry or have children?
How did Pliny the Elder begin his military career?
How did Pliny the Elder contribute original observations to Roman botany?
How did Pliny the Elder help scholars identify plants mentioned in Greek writings?
How did Pliny the Elder identify the sources used in Natural History?
How does Natural History provide evidence about Roman artists and architecture?
How many books are included in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History?
To whom did Pliny the Elder dedicate the preface of Natural History?
What agricultural techniques are described in Book XVIII of Natural History?
What information does Book I of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History provide?
What rank did Pliny the Elder reach while serving in Germany?
When was Niccolò Leoniceno’s critique of Pliny the Elder published?
When was Pliny the Elder’s Natural History completed?
Where did Pliny the Elder complete his studies?
Which English writers were likely influenced by Pliny the Elder’s Natural History?
Which Greek writer supplied much of Pliny the Elder’s biological information?
Which animals are discussed in Books VII through XI of Natural History?
Which books of Natural History discuss medicine and drugs?
Which books of Natural History focus on plants and botany?
Which materials are examined in Books XXXIII through XXXVII of Natural History?
Which position did Pliny the Elder hold in Spain near the end of Nero’s reign?
Which subjects does Book II of Natural History cover?
Which surviving work made Pliny the Elder famous?
Who first published a major criticism of errors in Pliny the Elder’s Natural History?
Why did Pliny the Elder choose the title Natural History?
Why did Pliny the Elder criticize luxury in his discussions of medicine and diet?
Why did monastic libraries preserve copies of Pliny the Elder’s Natural History?
Why did scientists reject Natural History as a scientific authority by the end of the 17th century?
Why do historians still value Pliny the Elder’s Natural History despite its scientific inaccuracies?
Why is Pliny the Elder’s Natural History important for learning about Roman gardens?
Why is Pliny the Elder important?
What was Pliny the Elder’s occupation?
What did Pliny the Elder write?
How did Pliny the Elder die?
Who was St. Hilary of Poitiers?
Who was St. Ambrose?
Where did Virgil grow up?
How did Virgil die?
How did Virgil influence the world?
How was Marcus Tullius Cicero influential?

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External Websites

UCL Discovery - An aspect of the object habit: Pliny the Elder, audience and politics (PDF)
Cornell University - Pliny the Elder: Art and Nature in Ancient Rome
Famous Scientists - Biography of Pliny the Elder
UNRV - Pliny the Elder
Wolfram Research - Eric Weisstein's World of Scientific Biography - Pliny the Elder
Ancient History Encyclopedia - Biography of Pliny the Elder
Livius - Biography of Pliny the Elder

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Pliny the Elder - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)

Pliny the Elder

Roman scholar

Also known as: Gaius Plinius Secundus

Written by

Jerry Stannard

Professor of History, University of Kansas, Lawrence, 1967–88.

Jerry Stannard

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....

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Last updated

Oct. 1, 2026 •History

Pliny the Elder (born 23 ce, Novum Comum, Transpadane Gaul [now in Italy]—died August 24, 79, Stabiae, near Mount Vesuvius) was a Roman savant and author of the celebrated Natural History, an encyclopaedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the Middle Ages. Pliny was descended from a prosperous family, and he was enabled to complete his studies in Rome. At the age of 23, he began a military...

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