Suetonius and the Death of Pliny the Elder

Suetonius and the Death of Pliny the Elder

Sellers, Ryan

Memphis University School (2012)

Abstract

Before Suetonius wrote about the Roman emperors, he wrote a series of biographies of Roman grammarians, rhetoricians, poets, and historians, a compilation known as De viris illustribus.1 Most of this collection is now lost, but some fragments are extant, including the Vita Plinii, a short biography of Pliny the Elder. It is less than one hundred words in length, with the first half recounting Pliny