Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus

9.9

A Roman writer and official called Pliny the Younger, famous for letters about life in ancient Rome

proper noun

: Cayo Plinio Cecilio Segundo

The letters of Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus provide valuable insights into daily life in ancient Rome.

Examples

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus is better known in English as Pliny the Younger.
Scholars often consult the works of Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus when studying the eruption of Vesuvius.
The letters of Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus are invaluable for historians.
Did Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus write about the eruption of Vesuvius?
Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus is often referred to as Pliny the Younger, a key figure in Roman literature.
Many historians reference the letters of Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus for their detailed accounts of Roman society.
The correspondence of Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus offers rich narratives about life in the Roman Empire.

Surface Forms

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus main

Morphology

Gaius + Plinius + Caecilius + Secundus

This is a full Latin personal name (Pliny the Younger) whose meaning is referential rather than compositional; knowing the individual name elements does not allow a learner to infer the biographical information (Roman writer and official). Proper names are language-specific labels and are not built from predictable semantic combinations, so their referent is not derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus is the full Roman name of the writer we call 'Pliny the Younger'. The parts Gaius, Plinius, Caecilius, Secundus show his personal and family names, and because Romans sometimes kept the name of a family who adopted them, the long name helps explain why he is known as 'Pliny the Younger' and remembered for his letters about Roman life.