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
