Explanation: Pliny the Elder was an ancient Roman author who wrote one of the most fantastic and extensive resources of antiquity - the Natural History, which attempted to cover every conceivable topic in the form of summaries of everything from mining to herbalism to history to medicine to chemistry to zoology and, interestingly enough, often citing the sources used for his conclusions. It's a fantastic read, and if Pliny is not always correct in his musings, he still reflects an incredibly well-educated outlook and fascinating insight into the understanding of the Romans of the world around them. At the time of Pliny's death, it lacked a final revision, but was published anyway as one of the most extensive scholarly works ever made 'til that point.
He died while rescuing survivors from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius, which buried the city of Pompeii. When the ship's captain objected, seeing the destruction wrought by the volcano, Pliny reportedly ordered, "Fortune favors the brave (FORTES FORTVNA IVVAT); take us to where Pomponianus (one of his personal friends whom he hoped to save) is."
He succeeded, but at the cost of his own life - the toxic fumes suffocated him, and at his advanced age, he could not make it back to the ship with the rest of the rescue party.