What Did the Romans Know? An Inquiry into Science and Worldmaking

by Daryn Lehoux

What did the Romans know about their world? Quite a lot, as Daryn Lehoux makes clear in this fascinating and much-needed contribution to the history and philosophy of ancient science. Lehoux contends that even though many of the Romans’ views about the natural world have no place in modern science—the umbrella-footed monsters and dog-headed people that roamed the earth and the stars that foretold human destinies—their claims turn out not to be so radically different from our own.

 

Lehoux draws upon a wide range of sources from what is unquestionably the most prolific period of ancient science, from the first century BC to the second century AD. He begins with Cicero’s theologico-philosophical trilogy On the Nature of the Gods, On Divination, and On Fate, illustrating how Cicero’s engagement with nature is closely related to his concerns in politics, religion, and law. Lehoux then guides readers through highly technical works by Galen and Ptolemy, as well as the more philosophically oriented physics and cosmologies of Lucretius, Plutarch, and Seneca, all the while exploring the complex interrelationships between the objects of scientific inquiry and the norms, processes, and structures of that inquiry. This includes not only the tools and methods the Romans used to investigate nature, but also the Romans’ cultural, intellectual, political, and religious perspectives. Lehoux concludes by sketching a methodology that uses the historical material he has carefully explained to directly engage the philosophical questions of incommensurability, realism, and relativism.

 

By situating Roman arguments about the natural world in their larger philosophical, political, and rhetorical contexts, What Did the Romans Know? demonstrates that the Romans had sophisticated and novel approaches to nature, approaches that were empirically rigorous, philosophically rich, and epistemologically complex.     

Genres: History, Nonfiction, History Of Science, Science, Philosophy

288 pages, Hardcover

First published February 2, 2012

Reviews

[Bonnie_blu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is not so much an analysis of Roman science as it is an analysis of how ancient Romans apprehended the world in which they lived. In this regard, the author succeeds brilliantly. He shows that ancient Romans had a significantly and dramatically different view of "reality" than modern humans, and that one can only understand them by understanding this worldview. Lehoux deconstructs primary Roman sources in order to reconstruct the Roman worldview. In my opinion, the book is more suited for academics than for non-academics since it tackles complicated concepts and uses the terminology of philosophy to elucidate them. However, for those who have a firm understanding of philosophy and ancient Rome, this book is an invaluable resource.

[Usfromdk · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very close to giving it one star. I briefly questioned during one of the last chapters whether I was experiencing a dumbpiphany, and I basically called the author a moron in the margin because I got angry at him for wasting my time with crap.

The first half of the book was reasonably interesting, and there are a few interesting observations in the latter half as well. I was at a 2,5 rating or so after the first half, but then it went downhill fast.

The book could have been great, but the choices of topics covered by the author in the last half (and perhaps also the choices of topics not covered) basically ruined it for me. You shouldn't read this book as it's most likely not worth your time.