pliny

IPA/plˈaɪni/
KK[plˈɪni]IPA/plˈɪniː/

pliny — noun

1. a Roman military officer and scholar (23–79 AD) who put together an enormous enc

1.名詞
釋義

a Roman military officer and scholar (23–79 AD) who put together an enormous encyclopedia called Natural History, gathering everything Romans knew about animals, plants, geography, and medicine into a single work.

例句

Pliny the Elder died at Stabiae during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.

Professor Okonkwo assigned a chapter from Pliny the Elder's Natural History.

collocation: Pliny the Elder's Natural History

用法筆記

In classical scholarship, 'Pliny' without an epithet usually refers to Pliny the Elder by default. The epithet 'the Elder' is always used in general contexts to distinguish him from his nephew.

常見錯誤

Pliny the Younger wrote the Natural History.
Pliny the Elder wrote the Natural History.
💡The nephew was a letter-writer and administrator; the uncle compiled the encyclopedia.

2. a Roman senator and author (c. 61–c. 113 AD) whose surviving letters give a deta

2.名詞
釋義

a Roman senator and author (c. 61–c. 113 AD) whose surviving letters give a detailed, personal view of Roman daily life, politics, and the early Christian community. He was raised and later adopted by his uncle, Pliny the Elder.

例句

Pliny the Younger described the eruption of Vesuvius in a letter to Tacitus.

collocation: Pliny the Younger described... in a letter

Ramón compared a letter by Pliny the Younger with a modern travel essay.

用法筆記

Always referred to as 'Pliny the Younger' to distinguish him from his uncle. His letters are a key primary source for Roman social history and for the earliest non-Christian references to Jesus's followers.

常見錯誤

Pliny the Elder was governor of Bithynia.
Pliny the Younger was governor of Bithynia.
💡The nephew held this post and wrote to Trajan from it; the uncle died before Trajan's reign.