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25
Birth
Gaius Plinius Secundus was born in the year AD 25 to Celer and Marcela Secundus. He lived his young life as the son of his aristocratic parents of the equestrian (knightly) class of the time. Little is known of Pliny's young life except that his father took him to Rome to study lawmaking.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUMVf8bkUQE -
50
Conquest
It was expected for someone of Pliny's class to serve time in the military. Pliny traveled all over Germania and took part in the Roman conquest of Chauci. Here he saw the native Germanic tribes as "wretched natives" and noted the abundance of horses across the land. It was around this time Pliny wrote his first book about spear throwing technique on horseback. Unfortunately this book did not survive the ages but some of its contents can be found within Pliny's later work Naturalis Historia. -
61
Back To Rome
After serving his time in the military and writing a very notable twenty volume book called "Wars In Germany" Pliny returned to Rome to practice Law in AD 61. Pliny had learned to hate the new emperor of his home Nero. Nero's mother Agrippina controlled Rome while Nero indulged in arts and sports. Rome fell into turmoil causing Pliny to keep his head down and write very little during this time. Nero committed suicide in AD 68 leaving a space for Pliny's good friend Vespasian to rise to emperor. -
77
The Roman World
Emperor Vespasian started life as an equestrian class man just like Pliny. Pliny respected and advised Vespasian until his death in AD 79. Under Vespasian's rule, Pliny finally felt it was safe to begin his most important work yet; "Naturalis Historia," in the year AD 77. This book of thirty seven volumes was a gathering of knowledge the likes of which no man had ever seen. He gathered knowledge from all schools of study into one place, creating the first known encyclopedia as we know it. -
79
Death
Just two months after the death of emperor Vespasian, Pliny died leading the Roman Navy. There is much misinformation about the exact circumstances of Pliny's death. However, it is widely accepted that Pliny inhaled fumes from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius and died from heath complications. He was not able to revise his work "Naturalis Historia." Much of Pliny's work has been disputed by scientists but it must be noted that he opened the doors for humanity to discover well informed ignorance.
