were also well respected, and in the fif-
teenth century Platonism was revived in
the scholarly investigations of Marsilio Fi-
cino and other Renaissance students of the
classical world. Plato’s belief in the im-
mortality of the soul, and the ideal “Pla-
tonic” love that existed on a spiritual and
not physical plane, attracted Renaissance
philosophers and poets who were seeking
new ideas complementary to the accepted
doctrines of Christianity. Platonism also
took an important place in the writings of
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola, who at-
tempted a synthesis of many different
philosophical and religious traditions, in-
cluding Platonism, Christianity, and the
kabbalah system of Judaism.The Republic
inspired the writing ofUtopia, an account
of an ideal society written by Sir Thomas
More. Plato’s concept of the universe also
made a contribution to the works of Re-
naissance astronomers such as Johannes
Kepler.
SEEALSO: classical literature; Ficino, Mar-
silio; Neoplatonism; Pico della Mirandola,
Giovanni
Pliny the Elder ................................
(23A.D.–79A.D.)
Roman naval commander and naturalist
whose works were regarded as the author-
ity on the natural world during the Re-
naissance. Born Gaius Plinius Secundus in
the town of Como, in northern Italy, he
was schooled in Rome by the poet Publius
Secundus. He trained to become a lawyer
but remained devoted to the study of phi-
losophy and the natural sciences.
Pliny served in the Roman army as a
cavalry commander in western Germany,
along an important frontier between Ro-
man territory and the lands of the uncon-
quered German barbarians. He also trav-
eled in Gaul (modern France) and Spain.
After serving for about ten years, he re-
turned to the capital and the practice of
law. During the reign of the emperor Nero,
he wrote a history of Rome’s German wars
in twenty books, a work that Roman his-
torians considered the best authority on
the subject but which was eventually lost.
In the yearA.D. 70, under the emperor Ves-
pasian, he served in southern Gaul and
later in Spain as a procurator. He visited
northern Africa and made a close study of
human and natural environment in the
Roman domains. On his return to Rome
Pliny began work simultaneously on a his-
tory of Rome as well asNaturalis Historia,
orNatural History, a collection of books
covering the sum of human knowledge of
the natural world. He dedicated the work
to his patron and ally, the emperor Titus,
and completed it in 77. To return the
honor Titus appointed him commander of
a naval squadron at Misenum, on the Bay
of Naples. On August 24 of the year 79,
Pliny witnessed the eruption of Mount Ve-
suvius, which destroyed the cities of
Pompeii and Herculaneum. He set out to
rescue a company of people trapped on a
shore near the eruption, but on touching
land he was either asphyxiated by poison-
ous fumes or suffered a stroke or heart at-
tack (the true cause of Pliny’s death has
been the subject of speculation by histori-
ans for centuries).
Pliny was devoted to study and a pro-
lific author, who wrote dozens of books
on a great variety of subjects: military af-
fairs, education, grammar and rhetoric,
music, art, and Roman history.Natural
History, however, remains the only work
of his to have survived into modern times.
The book contains sections on the struc-
ture of the universe; on the societies of
Europe and Asia, and Africa; on animals;
on botany; and on medicine. The final
books of the work cover geology, the prop-Pliny the Elder