# Fame.am profile — machine-readable export
# Canonical URL: https://fame.am/person/pliny-the-elder
# Generated: 2026-09-01T12:43:22.364Z

schema: https://schema.org/Person
url: "https://fame.am/person/pliny-the-elder"
name: "Pliny the Elder"
slug: "pliny-the-elder"
description: "He died trying to sail toward an erupting volcano. The Roman admiral-turned-encyclopedist spent his life cataloging everything — plants, stones, animals, the mechanics of the known world — and when Vesuvius blew in 79 AD, curiosity pulled him straight into the ash."
tagline: "Roman military commander and writer (AD23/24–79)"
image: "https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:FilePath/Grande_Illustrazione_del_Lombardo_Veneto_Vol_3_Plinio_Secondo_300dpi.jpg"
gender: "male"
category:
  name: "Writers"
  slug: "writers"
profileType:
  name: "Writer / Author"
  slug: "writer"
birthDate: "20"
deathDate: "79"
livingStatus: "DECEASED"
scores:
  popularity:           72.04
  momentum:             0
  historical:           26.355156
  currentAttention:     14.85714285714286
  sourceConfidence:     60
  profileCompleteness:  60
  trendDirection:       "STABLE"
ranks:
  global:   null
  country:  null
  category: null
tags:
  - name: "Academics"
    slug: "academics"
  - name: "Writer / Author"
    slug: "writer-author"
  - name: "Literature"
    slug: "literature"
  - name: "History"
    slug: "history"
  - name: "Poetry"
    slug: "poetry"
  - name: "Philosophy"
    slug: "philosophy"
  - name: "Ancient History"
    slug: "ancient-history"
sources:
  - url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliny_the_Elder"
    title: "Wikipedia"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q82778"
    title: "Wikidata"
    type:  "WIKIDATA"
  - url: "https://pantheon.world/profile/person/Pliny%20the%20Elder"
    title: "Pantheon 2.0"
    type:  "DATABASE"
  - url: "https://an.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinio_o_Viello"
    title: "Plinio o Viello"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%B1"
    title: "بلينيوس الأكبر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ary.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D9%BE%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B3_%D9%84%D9%82%D8%AF%D9%8A%D9%85"
    title: "پلينيوس لقديم"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://arz.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%8A%D9%86%D9%8A%D9%88%D8%B3_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%83%D8%A8%D8%B1"
    title: "بلينيوس الاكبر"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ast.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pliniu_%22El_Vieyu%22"
    title: "Pliniu \"El Vieyu\""
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://as.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF_%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF_%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A1%E0%A6%BE%E0%A7%B0"
    title: "প্লিনি দ্য এল্ডাৰ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/B%C3%B6y%C3%BCk_Plini"
    title: "Böyük Plini"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ba.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D3%A8%D0%BB%D0%BA%D3%99%D0%BD_%D0%9F%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9"
    title: "Өлкән Плиний"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://be.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BB%D1%96%D0%BD%D1%96%D0%B9_%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D1%8D%D0%B9%D1%88%D1%8B"
    title: "Пліній Старэйшы"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8"
    title: "Плиний Стари"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%AA%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%BF%E0%A6%A8%E0%A6%BF_%E0%A6%A6%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%AF_%E0%A6%8F%E0%A6%B2%E0%A7%8D%E0%A6%A1%E0%A6%BE%E0%A6%B0"
    title: "প্লিনি দ্য এল্ডার"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinius_an_Hena%C3%B1"
    title: "Plinius an Henañ"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinije_Stariji"
    title: "Plinije Stariji"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plini_el_Vell"
    title: "Plini el Vell"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinius_star%C5%A1%C3%AD"
    title: "Plinius starší"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinius_yr_Hynaf"
    title: "Plinius yr Hynaf"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinius_den_%C3%A6ldre"
    title: "Plinius den ældre"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinius_der_%C3%84ltere"
    title: "Plinius der Ältere"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%A0%CE%BB%CE%AF%CE%BD%CE%B9%CE%BF%CF%82_%CE%BF_%CE%A0%CF%81%CE%B5%CF%83%CE%B2%CF%8D%CF%84%CE%B5%CF%81%CE%BF%CF%82"
    title: "Πλίνιος ο Πρεσβύτερος"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinio_la_Maljuna"
    title: "Plinio la Maljuna"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinio_el_Viejo"
    title: "Plinio el Viejo"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plinius_Vanem"
    title: "Plinius Vanem"
    type:  "WIKIPEDIA"
  - url: "https://az.wikiquote.org/wiki/B%C3%B6y%C3%BCk_Plini"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://bg.wikiquote.org/wiki/%D0%9F%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B9_%D0%A1%D1%82%D0%B0%D1%80%D0%B8"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://ca.wikiquote.org/wiki/Plini_el_Vell"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://cs.wikiquote.org/wiki/Plinius_star%C5%A1%C3%AD"
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"
  - url: "https://de.wikiquote.org/wiki/Plinius_d.%C3%84."
    title: "Wikiquote"
    type:  "WEBSITE"

# bio (long form, separated for readability)
bio: |
  Gaius Plinius Secundus was a Roman naval commander, procurator, and friend of the emperor Vespasian who turned every spare hour into research. He wrote seven works spanning 102 volumes, most now lost: a twenty-volume account of the Germanic wars that Tacitus and Plutarch both mined, and a thirty-one-volume history extending earlier chronicles to his own time. What survived was Naturalis Historia, thirty-seven volumes covering the breadth of human knowledge and the natural world, an editorial template for every encyclopedia that followed. On 25 August 79, Vesuvius erupted across the bay from Naples. Pliny sailed toward Stabiae — some say to help evacuate people, some say because he wanted to see it closer. He didn't make it back.