Gaius Plinius Secundus (23 CE – August 25, 79 CE), better known as Pliny the Elder, is a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian.

Spending most of his spare time studying, writing or investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, he writes an encyclopedic work, Naturalis Historia, which beomes a model for all such works written subsequently.

Pliny the Elder dies on August 25, 79 CE, while attempting the rescue by ship of a friend and his family from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that had just destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum.

The prevailing wind would not allow his ship to leave the shore.

His companions attributed his collapse and death to toxic fumes; but they are unaffected by the fumes, suggesting natural causes.