Pliny the Elder Had An Office Next Door:
Pliny the Elder, or Gaius Plinius Secundus, was an ancient Roman scientist, essayist, and thinker, probably the greatest mind of the first century AD, and he had an office right next door to this building, the Porta Nigra in Trier. What was he doing there, hundreds of miles away from his home in Rome? Trier was the oldest Roman city in Germany. He had been appointed Governor of the Province of Germany probably by the Emperor Trajan. No doubt he studied the birds there as well as the flora and fauna since he was the first to write an encyclopedia called the Natural History. He was carrying business as usual here early in the summer of 79AD before packing his bags and returning home for a summer at the seaside south of Rome at one of his villas where he was to do battle with the mighty volcano, Vesuvius.The story is detailed in Cheops Books LLC’s upcoming historical thriller, the Vesuvius Plot.
