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Pliny (ELDER Caius Plinius Secundus)

THE ELDER (Caius Plinius Secundus), one of the most celebrated writers of ancient Rome; born in Verona or Como A. D. 23, served in the army of Germany, afterward became an advocate , and was ultimately procurater in Spain.

As an inquirer into the works of nature PLINY THE ELDER he was indefatigable. Being at Misenum with a fleet, which he commanded, on the 24th of August, A. D., 79, his sister desired him to observe a remarkable cloud that had just appeared. Pliny discovering that it proceeded from Mount Vesuvius, ordered his galleys to sea, to assist the inhabitants on the coast , while he himself steered as near as possible to the foot of the mountain, which now sent forth vast quantities of burning rock and lava. Pliny and his companions landed at Stabiæ, but were soon obliged to leave the town for the fields. Pliny, who was very corpulent, fell down dead , suffocated probably by the noxious vapors. The eruption which caused his death was that in which the cities of