An unparalleled supplement of ancient Roman knowledge. Pliny the Elder, Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23–79), was a Roman equestrian from the region of Transpadane Gaul (Northern Italy) and the uncle of Pliny the Younger, the letter writer. He pursued a career partly military in Germany and partly administrative in Gaul and Spain under Emperor Vespasian, and became responsible for the fleet at Misenum. He died from the eruption of Vesuvius when he went to observe it up close and to rescue friends. An untiring worker, reader, and writer, he authored works that have been lost; but his great 'Natural History' in thirty-seven books with a vast collection of facts (and supposed facts) survives—a mine of information despite its non-critical character. The contents of the books are as follows: Book 1: table of contents of the others and the principles; 2: mathematical and metrological investigation of the universe; 3–6: geography and ethnography of the known world; 7: anthropology and physiology of man; 8–11: zoology; 12–19: botany, agriculture, and horticulture; 20–27: plant products used in medicine; 28–32: medical zoology; 33–37: minerals (and medicine), fine arts, and gemstones. The Loeb Classical Library edition of 'Natural History' is in ten volumes.