Pliny the Elder is a very fascinating person. Thanks to his nephew, Pliny the Younger, we are able to know all about him and what he did in life. In Pliny the Younger's letter to Tacitus it describes his uncle in many different ways. The three adjectives that represent Pliny the Elder would be brave, knowledgeable, and passionate.
The first adjective that bests describes Pliny the Elder is brave. Once Pliny saw Mt. Vesuvius erupt he immediately wanted to learn more about it. He then realized that many people were stuck in the city and had no way of getting out. This is when " Vertit ille consilium et quod studioso animo incohaverat obit maximo". This shows that he is extremely brave because he changed his course and sailed right up to the erupting volcano just to save peoples lives. Even though the conditions started to get worse Pliny didn't hesitate on whether to go back or not he just said "Fortes fortuna iuvat". He thought that he and his crew would be fine because you will be fortunate if you do something great. Another way Pliny shows how brave he is during this time of disaster is showing his crew members how confident he is on getting out of the harbor. It takes allot of bravery to keep yourself calm and everyone else on the ship calm "deferri in balneum iubet; lotus accubat, cenat aut hilaris aut, quod est aeque magnum, similis hilari".
The next adjective that describes Pliny the Elder is knowledgeable. He is the type of person who is fascinated in anything and everything. Pliny the Elder always wants to learn more. In the passage it says that "Gustaverat iacens studebatque.." From the letter Pliny the Younger wrote to Tacitus you can tell that Pliny the Elder was always learning more even if he was relaxing. Since Pliny loves to learn he thought that it would be a good idea to investigate what was going on with Mt. Vesuvius. Pliny the Elder, " Adeo solutus metu ut omnes illius mali motus, omnes figuras, ut deprehenderat oculis, dictaret enotaretque". This shows that he is so eager to learn more about the eruption he wasn't even worried about the outcome of the disaster formed from the mountain.
The last adjective that describes Pliny the Elder would be passionate. Pliny the Elder was very passionate about learning more about the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius. The first thing he did was got his crew to get a ship ready and started to sail straight into the bay where the mountain was. Once he changed his "animo" into saving the people of Pompei he "Dictaret enotaretque". Once conditions started to get allot worse and " Iam navibus cinis incidebat, quo propius accederent, calidior et densior;" . This shows that even when things were disastrous he still did everything he could to help the people and at the same time learn about the volcano. When the ash fell on the ship and the shore became more distant because of the volcano he was so devoted he kept pushing for his crew to keep going.
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