Gaius Plinius Secundus, known as Pliny the Elder, was born in either AD 23 or 24. He was born into equestrian rank, in Novum Comum in Gallia Cisalpina. He served under Pomponius in the German legions for twelve years, before working as a legal advocate during the reign of Nero. Because of his connections to Mucianus, he gained great favor with the Flavian dynasty. He served as procurator in Gaul, Africa, and Spain, and was on both Vespasians and Titus imperial council. Pliny authored at least 75 books, and left behind over 150 unpublished notebooks. Unfortunately, only one of his works, the Natural History, has come down to us.
Pliny envisioned the Natural History as the final repository for all the knowledge in the world. Unfortunately, Pliny seems to either have not been as industrious in checking his facts as he could have been, or more interested in the Historys literary interest than veracity, as the facts that Pliny presents are wildly inaccurate, and frankly unbelievable. The dogfaced people, the headless people, the basilisk serpent, and the jumping snake; all seem to point to Pliny being less than tortured by accuracy. The Natural History itself cites more than four thousand authors and contains approximately thirty-five thousand facts.
Pliny wrote on a multitude of topics, including grammar, rhetoric, contemporary history, biographies, cavalry tactics, and a twenty-volume history of the German wars. Pliny died in 79, at Pompeii, which he visited in curiosity immediately following the eruption of Vesuvius. He inhaled volcanic fumes and died there. As the ancient texts were lost, the Natural History began to be taught as the whole of an education, especially in the Middle Ages. His work was wildly plagiarized by encyclopedists, including the more suspect versions of the truth that he offered.
