This article is an extract from the Figaro Hors-Série “Pompéi”, available here in paper or digital format.
Le Figaro
Sometimes, as he watches the mountain of Vesuvius from his terrace, memories flow and Caius Plinius Secundus reviews the forests of Germania where he fought so long in his youth. The admiral of the imperial fleet is fifty-six years old. Almost Homer's age, if we are to believe the Ancients. Pliny knows the verses of the Iliad by heart . He still tastes them as much. Often he recites them while his sister and nephew believe he is watching the sky or a butterfly. Julia and the young Caius are used to Pliny always being on the lookout for a phenomenon or the simple flight of insects. Although he has completed his voluminous Natural History, Pliny continues to dictate notes to his secretary, day and night.
Read also: The history of Pompeii: carpe diem
Nature! For the admiral, who is rubbed with stoicism, she is sovereign. Nothing can be done against it, and wisdom consists in knowing it as well as possible.
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