Nevada

Nevada (Spanish for "snow covered") is a state in the Western, Mountain West, and Southwestern regions of the United States of America. Nevada is the 7th most extensive, the 35th most populous, and the 9th least densely populated of the 50 United States. Nearly three-quarters of Nevada's people live in Clark County, which contains the Las Vegas–Paradise metropolitan area where three of the state's four largest incorporated cities are located. Nevada's capital is Carson City. Nevada is officially known as the "Silver State" due to the importance of silver to its history and economy. It is also known as the "Battle Born State", because it achieved statehood during the Civil War (the words "Battle Born" also appear on the state flag); as the "Sagebrush State", for the native plant of the same name; and as "Sage hen State". Nevada borders Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast and Utah to the east.

Nevada is largely desert and semiarid, much of it located within the Great Basin. Areas south of the Great Basin are located within the Mojave Desert, while Lake Tahoe and the Sierra Nevada lie on the western edge. About 86% of the state's land is managed by various jurisdictions of the U.S. federal government, both civilian and military.

Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus (c. AD 23 – August 25, AD 79), commonly known by his Anglicized name, Pliny the Elder (/ˈplɪni/), was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher. He was also a naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire and personal friend of the emperor Vespasian.

Spending most of his spare time studying, writing or investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, he wrote an encyclopedic work, Naturalis Historia, which became a model for all other encyclopedias. Pliny the Younger, his nephew, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus:

Pliny is referring to the fact that Tacitus relied on his uncle's now missing work on the History of the German Wars. Pliny the Elder died on August 25, AD 79, while trying to rescue his friend Pomponianus and his family from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that had just destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. When Pliny arrived, Pomponianus had packed his bags ready for a swift getaway, but having arrived, Pliny ordered for a bath to be drawn in order to calm Pomponianus' fears. A swift getaway was not possible due to the wind directly facing Stabiae, and so it appears that Pliny used his initiative in this instance. It is subtly implied in Pliny the Younger's letter to Tacitus (The death of my Uncle), that Pliny drew this bath to allow time for him to decide what to do next. However, it is also implied that he felt the necessity to bathe because he thought it would help his asthma. For in his letter, Pliny the Younger describes how anybody walking past the room in which Pliny was bathing (the door was closed) could hear his wheezing. Therefore, it is thought that Pliny commanded a bath not only to gather a revised plan, but furthermore to recuperate himself somewhat. From this we know that the toxic gas was already beginning to take effect on Pliny.