Pliny the Younger (c. 60-112 C.E) - senator and consul in the Rome of Domitian and Trajan, eyewitness to the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 C.E., early "persecutor" of Christians on the Black Sea - remains the best documented Roman individual, other than emperors, between Cicero and Augustine. Roy Gibson's Man of High Empire is a biography about Pliny the Younger. Pliny's Letters are a useful source for topics such as Roman slavery, the roles of men and women in the Roman Empire, the emergence of Christianity, the political climate of the imperial senate, and of course the eruption of Vesuvius....This is a unique biography and a very accessible window into the life of Pliny. Most importantly, it demonstrates that Pliny was not self-conceited and was perceptive about himself and Rome's future.