A multifaceted personality, he was also an author, naturalist, and a naval and army commander of the early roman empire. Healy has produced an excellent selection of pliny s works in a very readable translation with helpful, but not cumbersome, notes. Mar 12, 2019 pliny the elder was an author, philosopher, and commander in the roman empire in the 1st century ce. He wrote the encyclopedic naturalis historia natural history, which became an editorial model for encyclopedias. It is no disparagement to hollands merits, as a diligent and generally faithful translator, to say that his work is unsuited to the requirements of the nineteenth century. Table of contents of the others and of authorities. While the monster is seldom described except for it being a large fish, there is still enough evidence to easily apply theses 5. However, one individual often unrecognized by presentday readers surpasses all others history simply remembers him as pliny the elder.
Volume 9 of pliny the elders natural history talks about a variety of sea monsters such as the giant bal. Pliny the elder, roman savant and author of the celebrated natural history, an encyclopedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters up to the middle ages. The following is an adaptation of pliny the elder, the natural history, trans. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Mingling acute observation with often wild speculation, it offers a fascinating view of the world as it was understood in the first century ad, whether describing the danger of diving for sponges, the first waterclock, or the use of asses milk to remove wrinkles.
The monster polices the borders of the possible from cohens monster theory. Natural history, encyclopaedic scientific work of dubious accuracy by pliny the elder, completed in 77 ce as naturae historiae and conventionally known as. Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet. Pliny the elder 2379 ce, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. Plinys natural history, either directly or indirectly through quotes by later authors, greatly influenced the development of the bestiary and other medieval beast literature. Unusually, the entire remarkable work it contains over a million words has survived intact it is one of the most substantial ancient works available to modern readers. In ad 77, pliny published his famous 37volume work naturalis historia or natural history. Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny the elder. Pliny the elder ad 2379 was a roman natural philosopher who was educated in rome and came into contact with celts during his military service in germany and gaul. Pliny, however, always identifies the former with bacchus, and other writers the latter with persephone, or proserpina, the daughter of demeter or ceres.
Pliny the elder, who died during the eruption of vesuvius in 79 a. The natural history there is no book so bad that some good cannot be got out of it, pliny the elder used to say, and he read everything that he could obtain. Featured texts all books all texts latest this just in smithsonian libraries fedlink us genealogy lincoln collection. Natural history by pliny the elder victoria and albert museumamazon latest episodes from the great books. Healy has produced an excellent selection of plinys works in a very readable translation with helpful, but not cumbersome, notes. I have seen agrippina, the wife of the emperor claudius, at a show where he was presenting a naval battle, seated by him, wearing a military cloak made entirely of gold cloth. Throughout his life, pliny the elder wrote an encyclopedic work, the natural history, that was often referred to even up to the modern periodindeed, it became the editorial model for encyclopedias. His nephew pliny the younger gives an indication how devoted his uncle was to reading and studying, which was like working to him. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny.
The world, and this whatever other name men have chosen to designate the sky whose vaulted roof encircles the universe is fitly believed to be a deity, eternal, immeasurable, a being that never began. The only translation of plinys natural history which has hitherto appeared in the english language is that by philemon holland, published in the latter part of the reign of elizabeth. The most important surviving encyclopaedia from the ancient world, pliny the elder s natural history is unparalleled as a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in 1stcentury rome. How to cite plinys natural history in pleiades references. Pliny, the beer has now become one of our flagship brews. Utf8 start of this project gutenberg ebook natural history of pliny, vol 1 produced by turgut dincer, brian wilcox. The division of human knowledge into different fieldsbiology, history, mathematics, medicine, and so onis a relatively new invention. Pliny the elder, tireless researcher and writer, is author of the encyclopedic natural history, in 37 books, an unrivaled compendium of roman knowledge. The natural history of pliny digital collections national. Pliny the elder, natural history loeb classical library. Seeing the elder plinys maniacal working habits, one starts to understand why he remained unmarried. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the. The natural history of pliny, volume 2 bohns classical library the natural history of pliny, henry thomas riley. He cultivated a friendship with the roman emperor vespasian, reached social.
Natural history encyclopedic scientific work by pliny. Natural history was a massive work completed by pliny the elder in the ancient roman empire. The same sentiment is expressed in the last line of the encyclopedia. How to cite pliny s natural history in pleiades references. He claimed to have recorded 20,000 pieces of information, although modern scholars say he underestimated his own output. Natural history pliny project gutenberg selfpublishing. From antiquity through the middle ages and into the renaissance, plinys massive compilation of knowledge remained a. There is no book so bad that some good cannot be got out of it, pliny the elder used to say, and he read everything that. For the original article on pliny see dsb, see vol. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover all ancient knowledge. The natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6 by pliny, the elder author. Natural history, encyclopaedic scientific work of dubious accuracy by pliny the elder, completed in 77 ce as naturae historiae and conventionally known as naturalis historia.
Feb 05, 2004 pliny s natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Natural history 5 volumes hardcover january 1, 2012 by pliny the elder author 5. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny, volume 1 of 6, by pliny the elder this ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the united. Although pliny did not distinguish between fact, opinion, and speculation in his 37volume treatise, he can be credited with.
His voluminous set contains not only intriguing and useful notes on roman culture and belief of the time, but also studies of the different cultures and places around the world that rome was. More than just an author, he was a successful administrator. As part of a new direction in classical scholarship, this book reads the work not just for the information it contains, but to understand how and why pliny collects and presents information as he does. Plinys natural history is an extraordinarily important document in the history of western science. Pliny s natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Cheers to the scholar, historian, officer, writer, and roman naturalist pliny the elder. Pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such subjects as botany, zoology, and astronomy. Pliny the elder was a roman natural philosopher who lived during the 1st century. Direct observation, informed speculation and common knowledge are combined to present a key snapshot of ancient thought and the romans perspective on the world around them. Covid19 is an emerging, rapidly evolving situation. Pliny the elder was an author, philosopher, and commander in the roman empire in the 1st century ce. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of pliny, vol i. Pliny the elder born gaius plinius secundus, ad 2379 was a roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early roman empire, and friend of emperor vespasian.
Pliny was present when the emperor claudius organized a very special spectacle. Mingling acute observation with often wild speculation, it offers a fascinating view of the world as it was understood in the first century ad, whether describing the danger of diving for sponges, the first waterclock, or the use of asses milk. Pliny the elder 2379 ce was the roman author of the thirtyeight volume natural history published around 77 ce which makes him author of one of the best preserved historic records of ancient times. On pliny the elder and the monstrous natural history of the. Pliny the elder has 277 books on goodreads with 3804 ratings. You can test what you know about his life and work. Pliny s last work, according to his nephew, was the naturalis historia literally natural history, an encyclopedia into which he collected much of the knowledge of his time. Pliny was a compiler, a gatherer and recorder of information. The eruption had just destroyed the cities of pompeii and herculaneum. On pliny the elder and the monstrous natural history of. The project gutenberg ebook of the natural history of.
Pliny the elders most popular book is natural history. Pliny the elder, the natural history john bostock, m. Pliny the elder s natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. Pliny the elder s natural history provides the reader with an excellent overview of what life was seen as during his time. His sources were personal experience, his own prior works such as the work on germania, and extracts from other works. Plinys natural history is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology.
Pliny the elder biography famous people in history. Links to translation of pliny the elder, natural history. As part of a new direction in classical scholarship, this book reads the work not just for the information it contains, but to understand how and why. The work, which was largely complete by 77 ce, is divided into 37 books and covers such. Naturalis historia is a book about the whole of the natural world in latin by pliny the elder, a roman author and naval commander who died in 79 ad. Jun 12, 2014 the long history of the roman empire is no different, for it can boast of the celebrated works of such men as ovid, virgil, suetonius, and tacitus.
He was attempting the rescue by ship of a friend and his family from the eruption of mount vesuvius. The natural history, which was dedicated to titus in 77, was, according to the authors nephew, a learned and comprehensive work as full of variety as nature itself. His natural history contained over a million words in 37 volumes pliny attempted to document all known facts about the natural world. Publication date 184749 topics natural history publisher london printed for the club by g. The natural history book vii with book viii 4 pliny the elders natural history is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. Pliny the elder simple english wikipedia, the free. Pliny the elder born gaius plinius secundus, ad 2379 was a roman author, naturalist and natural philosopher, a naval and army commander of the early roman empire, and friend of emperor vespasian spending most of his spare time studying, writing, and investigating natural and geographic phenomena in the field, pliny wrote the encyclopedic naturalis historia natural history, which. Hide browse bar your current position in the text is marked in blue.
See all formats and editions hide other formats and editions. The zoology chapters books 8 to 11 are frequently quoted, though pliny is not always acknowledged as the. The most important surviving encyclopaedia from the ancient world, pliny the elders natural history is unparalleled as a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in 1stcentury rome. Pliny the elder was immortalized by his nephew, pliny the younger, who wrote about his uncle succumbing to ash and smoke during the eruption of mt. Gaius plinius secundus ad 232479, called pliny the elder. We would like to show you a description here but the site wont allow us.
Pliny the elder, roman savant and author of the celebrated natural history, an encyclopedic work of uneven accuracy that was an authority on scientific matters. Pliny the elder wrote the worlds first encyclopedia. Book vii of the natural history provides a detailed examination of the human animal and is. Naturalis historia is an early encyclopedia published circa ad 7779 by pliny the elder it is one of the largest single works to have survived from the roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover all ancient knowledge.
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