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Naturalis Historia...
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923. This book may have occasional imperfections
such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact,
or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections,
have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works
worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
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The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition
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Naturalis Historia; Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum Et Romanorum Teubneriana; Volume 2 Of C. Plini Secundi Naturalis Historiae Libri XXXVII; Ludwig Von Jan
Pliny (the Elder.)
Ludwig von Jan
Teubner, 1856
Natural history
such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact,
or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections,
have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works
worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book.
++++
The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to ensure edition
++++
Naturalis Historia; Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum Et Romanorum Teubneriana; Volume 2 Of C. Plini Secundi Naturalis Historiae Libri XXXVII; Ludwig Von Jan
Pliny (the Elder.)
Ludwig von Jan
Teubner, 1856
Natural history
348 pages, Paperback
Published January 19, 2012
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About the author
Pliny the Elder
1,157 books115 followersGaius Plinius Secundus (23 AD – August 25, 79 AD), better known as Pliny the Elder, was a Roman author, naturalist, and natural philosopher, as well as 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 such works written subsequently. Pliny the Younger, his nephew, wrote of him in a letter to the historian Tacitus:
"For my part I deem those blessed to whom, by favour of the gods, it has been granted either to do what is worth writing of, or to write what is worth reading; above measure blessed those on whom both gifts have been conferred. In the latter number will be my uncle, by virtue of his own and of your compositions."
Pliny the Younger 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, 79 AD, while attempting the rescue by ship of a friend and his family from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that had just destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The prevailing wind would not allow his ship to leave the shore. His companions attributed his collapse and death to toxic fumes; but they were unaffected by the fumes, suggesting natural causes.
"For my part I deem those blessed to whom, by favour of the gods, it has been granted either to do what is worth writing of, or to write what is worth reading; above measure blessed those on whom both gifts have been conferred. In the latter number will be my uncle, by virtue of his own and of your compositions."
Pliny the Younger 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, 79 AD, while attempting the rescue by ship of a friend and his family from the eruption of Mount Vesuvius that had just destroyed the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum. The prevailing wind would not allow his ship to leave the shore. His companions attributed his collapse and death to toxic fumes; but they were unaffected by the fumes, suggesting natural causes.
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December 7, 2021
When Pliny the Elder perished at Stabiae during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, he left behind a mammoth compendium of knowledge, his 37 volume Natural History, and a teenaged nephew who revered him as a father.
Grieving his loss, Pliny the Younger inherited the Elder's notebooks-filled with pearls of wisdom-and his legacy…..
Pliny the Elder's Natural History, from 1st century Rome, is the most significant surviving encyclopedia of the ancient world. As a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in ancient Rome it is without equal.
Pliny the Elder, a Roman official and academic, is yet our primary source on the figural arts in Classical antiquity. Since the Middle Ages, Pliny's encyclopaedia has beguiled the imaginations of its readers with tales and accounts about the lives and achievements of the great artists of the Greek past.
Pliny the Elder (c. AD 23–79) is so called to differentiate him from his nephew Pliny the Younger, also a noted author, on whom we rely for many aspects of his uncle’s life.
In a letter from the younger Pliny to the Roman historian Tacitus, he wrote, ‘Blessed are those who either do what is worth writing of, or write what is worth reading; above measure blessed those on whom both gifts have been conferred. Amongst the latter is my uncle.’
Pliny the Elder led a chock-full life.
At 23 he began a 12 year career as a cavalry officer in the Roman army’s campaigns in Germany.
During his military service he wrote his first book, on the art of throwing a javelin on horseback.
On his return to Rome he practised law while writing a biography, several plays, a history of the German campaign in 20 volumes, and a book on the art of public speaking.
Coming to the attention of the emperor Vespasian, he was appointed governor of a succession of Roman provinces from Africa to Belgium.
Returning to Rome again he was made an admiral of the Roman fleet, completed and expanded another author’s history of the city, and began compiling his last work, Naturalis Historia (Natural History) in AD 77.
Of Pliny’s extraordinary output, only the 37 books of Natural History survive. All the others are lost, and we know of them only because later authors refer to them or quote them in their own writings.
Tacitus, for example, relies a great deal on Pliny’s German history, and Pliny’s nephew reveals several of his uncle’s works in his letters. Natural History is such a lofty accomplishment that it makes the absence of any other of Pliny’s works all the more heartbreaking.
Pliny covered astronomy, geography, zoology, botany, medicine, geology, arts and much more in his survey of the natural world.
He did not, it must be said, discriminate between actual facts, mere public opinion, and his own conjecture about some things.
But as an all-inclusive congregation of what the Roman world believed to be true, it was unrivalled. Two inventive features further discriminate it – an index of its contents and a list of sources.
Pliny was painstaking in noting them, and the bibliography of Natural History records some 4000 different authors.
All encyclopaedias are modelled on this one. Over the centuries that followed, many of Pliny’s original sources were, like his own works, lost or destroyed. Only the Natural History survived, to be quoted or plagiarised by future writers who believed it to be the fount of all knowledge.
For example, his observations about exotic wild animals form the basis for many medieval bestiaries.
The Natural History also provides a significant volume of proof about Pliny’s nature, personality and attitude to life.
The worsening of the political situation in the second half of the 1st century AD, especially under Nero (54–68), had far-reaching effects on the general substance and disposition of the literature of the period. Nero’s envious fear of all distinction of birth or success in the military field drove him to a policy of persecution.
Moreover, his philhellenic outlook was resented by Romans generally.
In traditional Greek education, astronomy, arithmetic, geometry and the theory of music were classed as part of the liberal arts. The structure, however, and content of the Natural History reveal that Pliny consciously rejected the liberal arts as an adequate framework for human knowledge.
These subjects had become specialized and carried an elevated amount of abstraction.
Although accessible to scholars, they were difficult to grasp for ordinary people with practical rather than theoretical needs. Furthermore they contained only a minute fraction of all available knowledge, ignoring, as they did, most of the manifold phenomena of the natural world. For that reason, Pliny decided to concentrate on topics of more immediate importance for human life in general.
Not until the end of the 15th century did some authors begin to question its accuracy. Science may at last have overtaken Pliny in many respects, but his record of the world as his fellow Romans understood it is a priceless picture of another era.
Grieving his loss, Pliny the Younger inherited the Elder's notebooks-filled with pearls of wisdom-and his legacy…..
Pliny the Elder's Natural History, from 1st century Rome, is the most significant surviving encyclopedia of the ancient world. As a guide to the cultural meanings of everyday things in ancient Rome it is without equal.
Pliny the Elder, a Roman official and academic, is yet our primary source on the figural arts in Classical antiquity. Since the Middle Ages, Pliny's encyclopaedia has beguiled the imaginations of its readers with tales and accounts about the lives and achievements of the great artists of the Greek past.
Pliny the Elder (c. AD 23–79) is so called to differentiate him from his nephew Pliny the Younger, also a noted author, on whom we rely for many aspects of his uncle’s life.
In a letter from the younger Pliny to the Roman historian Tacitus, he wrote, ‘Blessed are those who either do what is worth writing of, or write what is worth reading; above measure blessed those on whom both gifts have been conferred. Amongst the latter is my uncle.’
Pliny the Elder led a chock-full life.
At 23 he began a 12 year career as a cavalry officer in the Roman army’s campaigns in Germany.
During his military service he wrote his first book, on the art of throwing a javelin on horseback.
On his return to Rome he practised law while writing a biography, several plays, a history of the German campaign in 20 volumes, and a book on the art of public speaking.
Coming to the attention of the emperor Vespasian, he was appointed governor of a succession of Roman provinces from Africa to Belgium.
Returning to Rome again he was made an admiral of the Roman fleet, completed and expanded another author’s history of the city, and began compiling his last work, Naturalis Historia (Natural History) in AD 77.
Of Pliny’s extraordinary output, only the 37 books of Natural History survive. All the others are lost, and we know of them only because later authors refer to them or quote them in their own writings.
Tacitus, for example, relies a great deal on Pliny’s German history, and Pliny’s nephew reveals several of his uncle’s works in his letters. Natural History is such a lofty accomplishment that it makes the absence of any other of Pliny’s works all the more heartbreaking.
Pliny covered astronomy, geography, zoology, botany, medicine, geology, arts and much more in his survey of the natural world.
He did not, it must be said, discriminate between actual facts, mere public opinion, and his own conjecture about some things.
But as an all-inclusive congregation of what the Roman world believed to be true, it was unrivalled. Two inventive features further discriminate it – an index of its contents and a list of sources.
Pliny was painstaking in noting them, and the bibliography of Natural History records some 4000 different authors.
All encyclopaedias are modelled on this one. Over the centuries that followed, many of Pliny’s original sources were, like his own works, lost or destroyed. Only the Natural History survived, to be quoted or plagiarised by future writers who believed it to be the fount of all knowledge.
For example, his observations about exotic wild animals form the basis for many medieval bestiaries.
The Natural History also provides a significant volume of proof about Pliny’s nature, personality and attitude to life.
The worsening of the political situation in the second half of the 1st century AD, especially under Nero (54–68), had far-reaching effects on the general substance and disposition of the literature of the period. Nero’s envious fear of all distinction of birth or success in the military field drove him to a policy of persecution.
Moreover, his philhellenic outlook was resented by Romans generally.
In traditional Greek education, astronomy, arithmetic, geometry and the theory of music were classed as part of the liberal arts. The structure, however, and content of the Natural History reveal that Pliny consciously rejected the liberal arts as an adequate framework for human knowledge.
These subjects had become specialized and carried an elevated amount of abstraction.
Although accessible to scholars, they were difficult to grasp for ordinary people with practical rather than theoretical needs. Furthermore they contained only a minute fraction of all available knowledge, ignoring, as they did, most of the manifold phenomena of the natural world. For that reason, Pliny decided to concentrate on topics of more immediate importance for human life in general.
Not until the end of the 15th century did some authors begin to question its accuracy. Science may at last have overtaken Pliny in many respects, but his record of the world as his fellow Romans understood it is a priceless picture of another era.
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