 First page from theeditio princeps of theNaturalis historia, printed in 1469 inVenice byJohann of Speyer.Bibliothèque nationale de France. | |
| Author | Pliny the Elder |
|---|---|
| Original title | Naturalis historia |
| Language | Latin |
| Subject | Natural history,ethnography,art,sculpture,mining,mineralogy |
| Genre | Encyclopaedia,popular science[1] |
Publication date | AD 77–79 |
| Publication place | Ancient Rome |
| 508 | |
| LC Class | PA6611 .A2 |
Original text | Naturalis historia at LatinWikisource |
| Translation | Natural History at Wikisource |
TheNatural History (Latin:Naturalis historia) is a Latin work byPliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from theRoman Empire to the modern day, theNatural History compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work's title, its subject area is not limited to what is today understood bynatural history; Pliny himself defines his scope as "the natural world, or life".[2] It is encyclopaedic in scope, but its structure is not like that of a modernencyclopaedia. It is the only work by Pliny to have survived, and the last that he published. He published the first 10 books in AD 77, but had not made a final revision of the remainder at the time ofhis death during theAD 79 eruption of Vesuvius. The rest was published posthumously by Pliny's nephew,Pliny the Younger.
The work is divided into 37 books, organised into 10 volumes. These cover topics includingastronomy,mathematics,geography,ethnography,anthropology, humanphysiology,zoology,botany,agriculture,horticulture,pharmacology,mining,mineralogy,sculpture,art, andprecious stones.
Pliny'sNatural History became a model for later encyclopaedias and scholarly works as a result of its breadth of subject matter, itsreferencing of original authors, and itsindex.
Pliny'sNatural History was written alongside other substantial works (which have since beenlost). Pliny (AD 23–79) combined his scholarly activities with a busy career as an imperial administrator for the emperorVespasian. Much of his writing was done at night; daytime hours were spent working for the emperor, as he explains in the dedicatory preface addressed to Vespasian's elder son, the future emperorTitus, with whom he had served in the army (and to whom the work is dedicated). As for the nocturnal hours spent writing, these were seen not as a loss of sleep but as an addition to life, for as he states in the preface,Vita vigilia est, "to be alive is to be watchful", in a military metaphor of a sentry keeping watch in the night.[3] Pliny claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work, in his prayer for the blessing of the universal mother:[4][5]
Hail to thee, Nature, thou parent of all things! and do thou deign to show thy favour unto me, who, alone of all the citizens of Rome, have, in thy every department, thus made known thy praise.
TheNatural History is encyclopaedic in scope, but its format is unlike a modernencyclopaedia. However, it does have structure: Pliny usesAristotle's division of nature (animal, vegetable, mineral) to recreate the natural world in literary form.[6] Rather than presenting compartmentalised, stand-alone entries arranged alphabetically, Pliny's ordered natural landscape is a coherent whole, offering the reader a guided tour: "a brief excursion under our direction among the whole of the works of nature ..."[7] The work is unified but varied: "My subject is the world of nature ... or in other words, life," he tells Titus.[3]
Nature for Pliny was divine, apantheistic concept inspired by theStoicphilosophy, which underlies much of his thought, but the deity in question was a goddess whose main purpose was to serve the human race: "nature, that is life" is human life in a natural landscape. After an initial survey ofcosmology andgeography, Pliny starts his treatment of animals with the human race, "for whose sake great Nature appears to have created all other things".[8] Thisteleological view of nature was common in antiquity and is crucial to the understanding of theNatural History.[9] The components of nature are not just described in and for themselves, but also with a view to their role in human life. Pliny devotes a number of the books to plants, with a focus on their medicinal value; the books on minerals include descriptions of their uses inarchitecture,sculpture,art, andjewellery. Pliny's premise is distinct from modernecological theories, reflecting the prevailing sentiment of his time.[10]
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Pliny's work frequently reflects Rome's imperial expansion, which brought new and exciting things to the capital: exotic eastern spices, strange animals to be put on display or herded into the arena, even the allegedphoenix sent to the emperorClaudius in AD 47 – although, as Pliny admits, this was generally acknowledged to be a fake. Pliny repeated Aristotle's maxim thatAfrica was always producing something new. Nature's variety and versatility were claimed to be infinite: "When I have observed nature she has always induced me to deem no statement about her incredible."[11] This led Pliny to recount rumours of strange peoples on the edges of the world.[a] These monstrous races – theCynocephali or Dog-Heads, theSciapodae, whose single foot could act as a sunshade, the mouthlessAstomi, who lived on scents – were not strictly new. They had been mentioned in the fifth century BC by Greek historianHerodotus (whose history was a broad mixture ofmyths,legends, and facts), but Pliny made them better known.[12]
"As full of variety as nature itself",[13] stated Pliny's nephew,Pliny the Younger, and this verdict largely explains the appeal of theNatural History since Pliny's death in theEruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79. Pliny had gone to investigate the strange cloud – "shaped like an umbrella pine", according to his nephew – rising from the mountain.[14]
TheNatural History was one of the first ancient European texts to be printed, inVenice in 1469.[15]Philemon Holland's English translation of 1601 has influenced literature ever since.[15]
TheNatural History consists of 37 books. Pliny devised asummarium, or list of contents, at the beginning of the work that was later interpreted by modern printers as a table of contents.[16] The table below is a summary based on modern names for topics.
| Volume | Books | Contents |
|---|---|---|
| I | 1 | Preface and list of contents, lists of authorities |
| 2 | Astronomy,meteorology | |
| II | 3–6 | Geography andethnography |
| 7 | Anthropology and humanphysiology | |
| III | 8–11 | Zoology, includingmammals,snakes,marine animals,birds,insects |
| IV–VII | 12–27 | Botany, includingagriculture,horticulture, especially of thevine andolive,medicine |
| VIII | 28–32 | Pharmacology,magic,water, aquatic life |
| IX–X | 33–37 | Mining andmineralogy, especially as applied to life and art, work in gold and silver,[17]statuary inbronze,[18]art,[19] modelling,[20]sculpture in marble,[21]precious stones and gems[22] |
Pliny's purpose in writing theNatural History was to cover all learning and art so far as they are connected with nature or draw their materials from nature.[4] He says:[3]
My subject is a barren one – the world of nature, or in other words life; and that subject in its least elevated department, and employing either rustic terms or foreign, nay barbarian words that actually have to be introduced with an apology. Moreover, the path is not a beaten highway of authorship, nor one in which the mind is eager to range: there is not one of us who has made the same venture, nor yet one among the Greeks who has tackled single-handed all departments of the subject.
Pliny studied the original authorities on each subject and took care to make excerpts from their pages. Hisindices auctorum sometimes list the authorities he actually consulted, though not exhaustively; in other cases, they cover the principal writers on the subject, whose names are borrowed second-hand from his immediate authorities.[4] He acknowledges his obligations to his predecessors: "To own up to those who were the means of one's own achievements."[23]
In the preface, the author claims to have stated 20,000 facts gathered from some 2,000 books and from 100 select authors.[24] The extant lists of his authorities cover more than 400, including 146 Roman and 327 Greek and other sources of information. The lists generally follow the order of the subject matter of each book. This has been shown inHeinrich Brunn'sDisputatio (Bonn, 1856).[25][26]
One of Pliny's authorities isMarcus Terentius Varro. In the geographical books, Varro is supplemented by the topographical commentaries ofAgrippa, which were completed by the emperorAugustus; for hiszoology, he relies largely on Aristotle and onJuba, the scholarlyMauretanian king,studiorum claritate memorabilior quam regno (v. 16). Juba is one of his principal guides in botany;Theophrastus is also named in his Indices,[4] and Pliny had translated Theophrastus's Greek into Latin. Another work by Theophrastus,On Stones was cited as a source onores andminerals. Pliny strove to use all the Greek histories available to him, such as Herodotus andThucydides, as well as theBibliotheca Historica ofDiodorus Siculus.[27]
His nephew, Pliny the Younger, described the method that Pliny used to write theNatural History:[28]
Does it surprise you that a busy man found time to finish so many volumes, many of which deal with such minute details?... He used to begin to study at night on theFestival of Vulcan, not for luck but from his love of study, long before dawn; in winter he would commence at the seventh hour... He could sleep at call, and it would come upon him and leave him in the middle of his work. Before daybreak he would go to Vespasian – for he too was a night-worker – and then set about his official duties. On his return home he would again give to study any time that he had free. Often in summer after taking a meal, which with him, as in the old days, was always a simple and light one, he would lie in the sun if he had any time to spare, and a book would be read aloud, from which he would take notes and extracts.
Pliny the Younger told the following anecdote illustrating his uncle's enthusiasm for study:[28]
After dinner a book would be read aloud, and he would take notes in a cursory way. I remember that one of his friends, when the reader pronounced a word wrongly, checked him and made him read it again, and my uncle said to him, "Did you not catch the meaning?" When his friend said "yes," he remarked, "Why then did you make him turn back? We have lost more than ten lines through your interruption." So jealous was he of every moment lost.
Pliny's writing style emulates that ofSeneca.[29] It aims less at clarity and vividness than atepigrammatic point. It contains manyantitheses, questions, exclamations,tropes,metaphors, and othermannerisms of theSilver Age.[30] His sentence structure is often loose and straggling. There is heavy use of theablative absolute, andablative phrases are often appended in a kind of vague "apposition" to express the author's own opinion of an immediately previous statement, e.g.,[31]
| First half: description | Second half: Pliny's opinion | |
|---|---|---|
| Pliny[31] | dixit (Apelles) ... uno se praestare, quod manum de tabula sciret tollere, | memorabili praecepto nocere saepe nimiam diligentiam. |
| Grammar | Active sentence | Ablative absolute phrase |
| Translation[32] | In one thing Apelles stood out, namely, knowing when he had put enough work into a painting, | a salutary warning that too much effort can be counterproductive. |
Pliny wrote the first ten books in AD 77, and was engaged on revising the rest during the two remaining years of his life. The work was probably published with little revision by the author's nephew Pliny the Younger, who, when telling the story of a tame dolphin and describing thefloating islands of theVadimonian Lake thirty years later,[4][33] has apparently forgotten that both are to be found in his uncle's work.[34] He describes theNaturalis Historia as aNaturae historia and characterises it as a "work that is learned and full of matter, and as varied as nature herself."[35]
The absence of the author's final revision may explain many errors,[25] including why the text is as John Healy writes "disjointed, discontinuous and not in a logical order";[36] and as early as 1350,Petrarch complained about the corrupt state of the text, referring to copying errors made between the ninth and eleventh centuries.[37]
About the middle of the 3rd century, an abstract of the geographical portions of Pliny's work was produced bySolinus.[4] Early in the 8th century,Bede, who admired Pliny's work, had access to a partial manuscript[38] which he used in his "De natura rerum", especially the sections onmeteorology andgems. However, Bede updated and corrected Pliny on thetides.[39]
In total there are some 307 extant medieval manuscripts of the work,[40] however this was narrowed down to just 17 for work on the critical edition by Detlefsen (1858–1904).[41] Olsen (1985) published details of all of Pliny's manuscripts pre-1200, however did not attempt to reconstruct the stemma.[42]
In 1141Robert of Cricklade wrote theDefloratio Historiae Naturalis Plinii Secundi consisting of nine books of selections taken from an ancient manuscript.[4][43]
There are three independent classes of thestemma of the surviving Historia Naturalis manuscripts. These are divided into:[44][45]
Thetextual tradition/stemma was established by the German scholarsJ. Sillig, D. Detlefsen, L. von Jan, and K. Rück in the 19th century.[41] TwoTeubner Editions were published of 5 volumes; the first by L. von Jan (1856–78; seeexternal links) and the second by C. Mayhoff (1892-1906). The most recentcritical editions were published byLes Belle Letters (1950–) however Reeve (2007) identifies multiple imperfections with these editions.[41] There is currently no fully critical edition of the text and the stemma codicum is only partially understood.[38][41]
5th century: all laterpalimpsested in France. None of the later recensions seem to descend from these manuscripts. All bear witness to only very small portions of the Naturalis, with the Codex Moneus (M) containing the largest surviving fragments from books 11–15. ManuscriptsM,P andPal. Chat. were originally written in Italy but palimpsested in France within a century without being copied and forming a tradition of their own.[44]
| Siglum | Library | Shelfmark | Folios | Date (century) | Books | Fate[38] | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| M | Saint Paul's Abbey Library,Lavanttal | St Gall Cod. 3/1 | 5th:Uncial, Italy | 11–15 | Palimpsested 7th-8th atLuxeuil byJerome onEcclesiastes | [48] | |
| N | Biblioteca Nazionale Centrale di Roma | 55 (iv.421) | 5th:Uncial, Italy | 23 and 25 (parts) | Palimpsested c.550–700 withPatristic texts | ||
| O | Austrian National Library | x.1470 | 5th:Uncial, Southern Italy | 33 and 34 (parts) | Cut into strips, used to reinforce a papyrus codex. | ||
| P | BnF | Latin 9378 | 26 | 6th | 18 (fragment) | Recovered from a book binding. | |
| Pal. Chat | BnF | Latin 1629 | 17–20 | 5th | 8 and 9 (parts) | Palimpsested late 6th withCassianus,Institutiones | |
| Autun 24[49] |
The oldest surviving manuscripts of the Naturalis are known asvetustiores ("older ones"), all dating from the early 8th to 9th centuries. Even when combined, they do not come close to representing Pliny's full work of 37 books: the received text is dependent on the more recentrecentiores[44] and the relationship between the vetustiores and recentiores within the stemma codicum is not fully understood.[41]
The manuscripts correspond with theNorthumbrian Golden Age andCarolingian Renaissance. VLF 4 (known as "the Leiden Pliny")[50] was produced duringBede's lifetime at theSchool of York, the earliest surviving manuscript written north of theAlps. At 41 cm by 29 cm it is among the largest medieval manuscripts written onparchment, each leaf requiring a wholehide (a total of at least 30 animals would have been required). However despite this there are no holes (insect bites), demonstrating its exceptional quality. Besideszoomorphiccapitals, it is however plain and unilluminated for its size.[38]
It was probably copied directly from an exemplar written initalic uncil script, requiring theNorthumbrian scribe to devise new spacing and punctuation. The Naturalis Historia was possibly known toAldhelm and certainly toBede, in contrast to the palimseted fates of the earlier continental manuscripts. ThroughAlcuin's role in theCarolingian Renaissance, VLF 4 is thought to have been brought to the Frankish court atAachen around 796 AD, perhaps as a learning aid. However it ultimately did not spawn any surviving copies.[44]
| Siglum | Library | Shelfmark | Folios | Date (century) | Books | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q | BnF | Latin 10318 | c.800: central Italy | 18–19 | [51] | |
| A | Leiden | Voss. Lat. F.4 | 4r-33v | 8th (first half):Insular hybrid miniscule,Northumbria | 2.196 – 6.51 with 5lacunae[38] | [50] |
| B | Bamberg | MS Msc. Class. 42 | 9th (first third):Frankia, court ofLouis the Pious | 32–37 | [52] |
Even when combined, the vetustiores do not come close to representing Pliny's full work of 37 books: instead theprototype manuscripts (recentiores) all descend from a parallel branch of thestemma.[44] Manuscripts DGV are the now separated sections of what was once a complete edition of books 1–37. The recentiores were used for the critical editions byLes Belles Lettres.
| Siglum | Library | Shelfmark | Folios | Date (century) | Books | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D | Vatican | Lat. 3861 | c.800 AD:Corbie, France | 2.187 – 36.97 | [53] | |
| G | Leiden | Voss. Lat. F. 61 | 14–22 + 30 | |||
| V | BnF | Lat. 6796 | 52–53 | 2.187 – 36.97 | [54][55] | |
| Ch | Pierpont Morgan Library | M.871 | 9th (first half) | 1–17 | [56][57][58] | |
| F | Leiden | Lipsius 7 | 9th (first half) | 1–37 | ||
| R | Biblioteca Riccardiana | 488 | 9th (second half) | 1–34 | [59][60] | |
| E | BnF | Lat. 6795 | 9–10th | 1–32 | [61][62] |
Manuscript E appears to have been widely copied in the 11th and 12th centuries.BnF Lat. 6797[63] (late 12th) is considered to preserve elements of a parallel tradition by Reynolds (1983)[44] but Reeve (2007)[41] places it as a descendant of F.
| Siglum | Library | Shelfmark | Date (century | Relationship |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| h | Berlin State Library | Hamilton 517 | 11th | Definite descendant |
| X | Luxembourg | 138 | 12th | |
| Leiden | Voss. Lat. Q.43 | 12th | ||
| n | Montpellier | 473 | 12th | |
| Co | Copenhagen | Gl.Kgl.S.212 2° | c.1200 AD | |
| Bodleian | Auct. T.1.27 | 12th | Possible descendant | |
| BnF | Lat. 6798 | |||
| C | Le Mans | 263 | 12th | |
| e | BnF | Lat. 6796A | 12th | "Faithful copy" |
| a | Austrian National Library | Cod. 9 and Cod. 10 | 12th |
The work was one of the first classical manuscripts to beprinted, at Venice in 1469 byJohann and Wendelin of Speyer, butJohn F. Healy described the translation as "distinctly imperfect".[15] A copy printed in 1472 byNicolas Jenson of Venice is held in the library atWells Cathedral.[64]
Philemon Holland made an influential translation of much of the work into English in 1601.[15][65]John Bostock andH. T. Riley made a complete translation in 1855.[66] ThePenguin edition was published in 1991 (reprinted byPenguin Classics in 2004), an abridged translation with an Introduction and notes by Healy.[67]
TheNatural History is generally divided into the organic plants and animals and the inorganic matter, although there are frequent digressions in each section.[b] The encyclopaedia also notes the uses made of all of these by the Romans. Its description of metals and minerals is valued for its detail in thehistory of science, being the most extensive compilation still available from the ancient world.
Book I serves as Pliny's preface, explaining his approach and providing a table of contents.
The first topic covered is Astronomy, in Book II. Pliny starts with the known universe, roundly criticising attempts at cosmology as madness, including the view that there are countless other worlds than the Earth. He concurs with the four (Aristotelian) elements, fire, earth, air and water,[68] and records the seven"planets" including the Sun and Moon.[69] The Earth is a sphere, suspended in the middle of space.[70] He considers it a weakness to try to find the shape and form of God,[71] or to suppose that such a being would care about human affairs.[72] He mentions eclipses, but considersHipparchus's almanac grandiose for seeming to know how Nature works.[73] He citesPosidonius's estimate that the Moon is 230,000 miles away.[c] He describescomets, noting that only Aristotle has recorded seeing more than one at once.[74]
Book II continues with natural meteorological events lower in the sky, including the winds, weather, whirlwinds, lightning, and rainbows.[75] He returns to astronomical facts such as the effect of longitude on time of sunrise and sunset,[76] the variation of the Sun's elevation with latitude (affecting time-telling by sundials),[77] and the variation of day length with latitude.[78]
In Books III to VI, Pliny moves to the Earth itself. In Book III he covers the geography of the Iberian peninsula and Italy; Book IV covers Europe; Book V looks at Africa and Asia, while Book VI looks eastwards to the Black Sea, India and the Far East.
Book VII discusses the human race, coveringanthropology andethnography, aspects of humanphysiology and assorted matters such as the greatness ofJulius Caesar, outstanding people such asHippocrates andAsclepiades, happiness and fortune.
Zoology is discussed in Books VIII to XI. The entries begin with a discussion of terrestrial animals, taken to include mammals, reptiles, amphibians, and an assortment of mythological creatures recognised as real animals (e.g. dragons).[79] Theelephant, and thelion are described in detail, with accounts of behaviors, taming, and battles with bestiarii referenced. Other species are listed in relation to their geographic ranges, for example India[80] and the far north.[81] Domestic dogs, horses, and livestock feature prominently, with elaboration on their uses to humans, for example the types of wool produced bysheep and the cloth created from them.[82]
From there, "the natural history of fishes" is outlined.[83] Pliny identified all aquatic animals as "fishes", making distinctions between those "with red blood" (cetaceans and traditionalfishes) and those "without blood", the latter classified between "soft fishes" (cephalopods), those with "thin crusts" (e.g.crustaceans &sea urchins), and those enclosed with hard shells (e.g.bivalves &gastropods).[84] As well, jellies are described with "bodies of a third nature" as a mix of animal and plant.[85] The encyclopaedia mentions different sources of purple dye, particularly themurex snail, the highly prized source ofTyrian purple, as well as the value and origin of thepearl and the invention offish farming andoyster farming. The keeping ofaquariums was a popular pastime of the rich, and Pliny provides anecdotes of the problems of owners becoming too closely attached to their fish.
Birds are described next, starting with theostrich and the mythicalphoenix.[86] Much detail is spent with eagles, which are "looked upon as the most noble",[87] followed by the other birds of prey. Pliny classifies birds based on the structure of their feet, noting the connection between their shape and the diet/habitat associated with their owners. He praises the song of thenightingale, and considers the connection between birdsong and omens.[88]Bats are listed among the other "winged animals" but are recognised as viviparous and nurse their young with milk.[89] This is followed by an extensive overview of animal reproduction, senses, and feeding & resting behaviour.
Finally, insects and other arthropods are listed. Pliny devotes considerable space tobees,[90] which he admires for their industry, organisation, andhoney, discussing the significance of thequeen bee and the use of smoke bybeekeepers at the hive to collecthoneycomb. As well, thesilkworm and silk production are described, the discovery of which is attributed to a woman named Pamphile (no reference is made to China).[91] The coverage of zoology ends with an account of animal anatomy.
Pliny correctly identifies the origin ofamber as the fossilisedresin of pine trees. Evidence cited includes the fact that some samples exhibit encapsulated insects, a feature readily explained by the presence of a viscous resin. He mentions how it exerts a charge when rubbed.
Botany is handled in Books XII to XVIII, with Theophrastus as one of Pliny's sources. The manufacture ofpapyrus and the various grades of papyrus available to Romans are described. Different types of trees and the properties of their wood are explained in Books XII to XIII. The vine, viticulture and varieties of grape are discussed in Book XIV, while Book XV covers theolive tree in detail,[92] followed by other trees including the apple and pear,[93] fig,[94] cherry,[95]myrtle andlaurel,[96] among others.
Pliny gives special attention to spices, such aspepper,ginger, andcane sugar. He mentions different varieties of pepper, whose values are comparable with that of gold and silver, while sugar is noted only for its medicinal value.
He is critical ofperfumes: "Perfumes are the most pointless of luxuries, for pearls and jewels are at least passed on to one's heirs, and clothes last for a time, but perfumes lose their fragrance and perish as soon as they are used." He gives a summary of their ingredients, such asattar of roses, which he says is the most widely used base. Other substances added includemyrrh,cinnamon, andbalsam gum.
A major section of theNatural History, Books XX to XXIX, discusses matters related to medicine, especially plants that yield useful drugs. Pliny lists over 900 drugs, compared to 600 inDioscorides'sDe Materia Medica, 550 in Theophrastus, and 650 inGalen.[97]The poppy andopium are mentioned; Pliny notes that opium induces sleep and can be fatal.[98] Diseases and their treatment are covered in book XXVI.
Pliny addressesmagic in Book XXX. He is critical of the Magi, attackingastrology, and suggesting that magic originated in medicine, creeping in by pretending to offer health. He namesZoroaster ofAncient Persia as the source of magical ideas. He states thatPythagoras,Empedocles,Democritus andPlato all travelled abroad to learn magic, remarking that it was surprising anyone accepted the doctrines they brought back, and that medicine (of Hippocrates) and magic (of Democritus) should have flourished simultaneously at the time of thePeloponnesian War.
The methods used to cultivate crops are described in Book XVIII. He praisesCato the Elder and his workDe Agri Cultura, which he uses as a primary source. Pliny's work includes discussion of all known cultivated crops and vegetables, as well as herbs and remedies derived from them. He describes machines used in cultivation and processing the crops. For example, he describes a simple mechanicalreaper that cut the ears of wheat andbarley without the straw and was pushed by oxen (Book XVIII, chapter 72). It is depicted on abas-relief found atTrier from the later Roman period. He also describes how grain is ground using a pestle, a hand-mill, or a mill driven bywater wheels, as found inRoman water mills across the Empire.[d]
Pliny extensively discusses metals starting with gold and silver (Book XXXIII), and then the base metals copper,mercury, lead,tin and iron, as well as their many alloys such aselectrum,bronze,pewter, and steel (Book XXXIV).
He is critical of greed for gold, such as the absurdity of using the metal for coins in the early Republic. He gives examples of the way rulers proclaimed their prowess by exhibiting gold looted from their campaigns, such as that by Claudius after conquering Britain, and tells the stories ofMidas andCroesus. He discusses why gold is unique in itsmalleability andductility, far greater than any other metal. The examples given are its ability to be beaten into finefoil with just one ounce producing 750 leaves four inches square. Fine goldwire can be woven into cloth, although imperial clothes usually combined it with natural fibres like wool. He once sawAgrippina the Younger, wife of Claudius, at a public show on theFucine Lake involving a naval battle, wearing a military cloak made of gold. He rejects Herodotus's claims ofIndian gold obtained by ants or dug up bygriffins inScythia.
Silver, he writes, does not occur in native form and has to be mined, usually occurring with lead ores. Spain produced the most silver in his time, many of the mines having been started byHannibal. One of the largest had galleries running up to two miles into the mountain, while men worked day and night draining the mine in shifts. Pliny is probably referring to thereverse overshot water-wheels operated by treadmill and found in Roman mines. Britain, he says, is very rich in lead, which is found on the surface at many places, and thus very easy to extract; production was so high that a law was passed attempting to restrict mining.
Fraud and forgery are described in detail; in particularcoin counterfeiting by mixing copper with silver, or even admixture with iron. Tests had been developed for counterfeit coins and proved very popular with the victims, mostly ordinary people. He deals with the liquid metal mercury, also found insilver mines. He records that it is toxic, andamalgamates with gold, so is used for refining and extracting that metal. He says mercury is used forgilding copper, whileantimony is found in silver mines and is used as aneyebrowcosmetic.
The main ore of mercury iscinnabar, long used as a pigment by painters. He says that the colour is similar toscolecium, probably thekermes insect.[e] The dust is very toxic, so workers handling the material wear face masks of bladder skin. Copper and bronze are, says Pliny, most famous for their use in statues including colossi, gigantic statues as tall as towers, the most famous being theColossus of Rhodes. He personally saw the massive statue ofNero in Rome, which was removed after the emperor's death. The face of the statue was modified shortly after Nero's death during Vespasian's reign, to make it a statue ofSol.Hadrian moved it, with the help of the architect Decrianus and 24 elephants, to a position next to theFlavian Amphitheatre (now called theColosseum).
Pliny gives a special place to iron, distinguishing the hardness of steel from what is now calledwrought iron, a softer grade. He is scathing about the use of iron in warfare.
In the last two books of the work (Books XXXVI and XXXVII), Pliny describes many differentminerals andgemstones, building on works by Theophrastus and other authors. The topic concentrates on the most valuable gemstones, and he criticises the obsession with luxury products such asengraved gems andhardstone carvings. He provides a thorough discussion of the properties offluorspar, noting that it is carved into vases and other decorative objects.[100] The account of magnetism includes the myth ofMagnes the shepherd.
Pliny moves intocrystallography andmineralogy, describing theoctahedral shape of the diamond and recording that diamond dust is used by gem engravers to cut and polish other gems, owing to its greathardness.[101] He states thatrock crystal is valuable for its transparency and hardness, and can be carved into vessels and implements. He relates the story of a woman who owned a ladle made of the mineral, paying the sum of 150,000sesterces for the item. Nero deliberately broke two crystal cups when he realised that he was about to be deposed, so denying their use to anyone else.[102]
Pliny returns to the problem of fraud and the detection of false gems using several tests, including the scratch test, where counterfeit gems can be marked by a steel file, and genuine ones not. He refers to using one hard mineral to scratch another, presaging theMohs hardness scale. Diamond sits at the top of the series because, Pliny says, it will scratch all other minerals.[103]
Pliny's chapters onRoman andGreek art are especially valuable because his work is virtually the only available classical source of information on the subject.[104]
In thehistory of art, the original Greek authorities areDuris of Samos,Xenocrates of Sicyon, andAntigonus of Carystus. The anecdotic element has been ascribed to Duris (XXXIV:61); the notices of the successive developments of art and the list of workers in bronze and painters to Xenocrates; and a large amount of miscellaneous information to Antigonus. Both Xenocrates and Antigonus are named in connection withParrhasius (XXXV:68), while Antigonus is named in the indexes of XXXIII–XXXIV as a writer on the art of embossing metal, or working it in ornamentalrelief orintaglio.[25]
Greekepigrams contribute their share in Pliny's descriptions of pictures and statues. One of the minor authorities for books XXXIV–XXXV isHeliodorus of Athens, the author of a work on the monuments ofAthens. In the indices to XXXIII–XXXVI, an important place is assigned toPasiteles of Naples, the author of a work in five volumes on famous works of art (XXXVI:40), probably incorporating the substance of the earlier Greek treatises; but Pliny's indebtedness to Pasiteles is denied byKalkmann, who holds that Pliny used the chronological work ofApollodorus of Athens, as well as a current catalogue of artists. Pliny's knowledge of the Greek authorities was probably mainly due to Varro, whom he often quotes (e.g. XXXIV:56, XXXV:113, 156, XXXVI:17, 39, 41).[25]
For a number of items relating to works of art near the coast ofAsia Minor and in the adjacent islands, Pliny was indebted to the general, statesman, orator and historianGaius Licinius Mucianus, who died before 77. Pliny mentions the works of art collected by Vespasian in theTemple of Peace and in his other galleries (XXXIV:84), but much of his information about the position of such works in Rome is from books, not personal observation. The main merit of his account of ancient art, the only classical work of its kind, is that it is a compilation ultimately founded on the lost textbooks ofXenocrates and on the biographies ofDuris and Antigonus.[105]
In several passages, he gives proof of independent observation (XXXIV:38, 46, 63, XXXV:17, 20, 116 seq.). He prefers the marbleLaocoön and His Sons in the palace of Titus (widely believed to be the statue that is now in theVatican) to all the pictures and bronzes in the world (XXXVI:37).[4] The statue is attributed by Pliny to three sculptors from the island of Rhodes:Agesander, Athenodoros (possibly son of Agesander) and Polydorus.
In the temple near theFlaminian Circus, Pliny admires theAres and theAphrodite ofScopas, "which would suffice to give renown to any other spot".[4] He adds:
At Rome indeed the works of art are legion; besides, one effaces another from the memory and, however beautiful they may be, we are distracted by the overpowering claims of duty and business; for to admire art we need leisure and profound stillness (XXXVI:27).
Pliny provides lucid descriptions ofRoman mining. He describesgold mining in detail,[106] with large-scale use of water to scour alluvial gold deposits. The description probably refers to mining in Northern Spain, especially at the largeLas Médulas site.[f][g] Pliny describes methods of underground mining, including the use offire-setting to attack the gold-bearing rock and so extract the ore. In another part of his work, Pliny describes the use ofundermining[h] to gain access to the veins.[i] Pliny was scathing about the search for precious metals and gemstones: "Gangadia orquartzite is considered the hardest of all things – except for the greed for gold, which is even more stubborn."[j][k]
Book XXXIV covers the base metals, their uses and their extraction. Copper mining is mentioned, using a variety of ores includingcopper pyrites andmarcasite, some of the mining being underground, some on the surface.[109] Iron mining is covered,[110] followed by lead and tin.[111]
The anonymous fourth-century compilationMedicina Plinii contains more than 1,100pharmacological recipes, the vast majority of them from theHistoria naturalis; perhaps because Pliny's name was attached to it, it enjoyed huge popularity in the Middle Ages.[112]
Isidore of Seville'sEtymologiae (The Etymologies,c. 600–625) quotes from Pliny 45 times in Book XII alone;[113] Books XII, XIII and XIV are all based largely on theNatural History.[114][115] Through Isidore,Vincent of Beauvais'sSpeculum Maius (The Great Mirror, c. 1235–1264) also used Pliny as a source for his own work.[116][117] In this regard, Pliny's influence over the medieval period has been argued to be quite extensive. For example, one twentieth-century historian has argued that Pliny's reliance on book-based knowledge, and not direct observation, shaped intellectual life to the degree that it "stymie[d] the progress of western science".[118] This sentiment can be observed in the early modern period whenNiccolò Leoniceno's 1509De Erroribus Plinii ("On Pliny's Errors") attacked Pliny for lacking a proper scientific method, unlike Theophrastus or Dioscorides, and for lacking knowledge of philosophy or medicine.[15]
SirThomas Browne expressed scepticism about Pliny's dependability in his 1646Pseudodoxia Epidemica:[119]
Now what is very strange, there is scarce a popular error passant in our days, which is not either directly expressed, or diductively contained in this Work; which being in the hands of most men, hath proved a powerful occasion of their propagation. Wherein notwithstanding the credulity of the Reader is more condemnable then the curiosity of the Author: for commonly he nameth the Authors from whom he received those accounts, and writes but as he reads, as in his Preface to Vespasian he acknowledgeth.
Grundy Steiner ofNorthwestern University, in a 1955 judgement considered by Thomas R. Laehn to represent the collective opinion of Pliny's critics,[120] wrote of Pliny that "He was not an original, creative thinker, nor a pioneer of research to be compared either with Aristotle and Theophrastus or with any of the great moderns. He was, rather, the compiler of a secondary sourcebook."[121]
The Italian authorItalo Calvino, in his 1991 bookWhy Read the Classics?, wrote that while people often consult Pliny'sNatural History for facts and curiosities, he is an author who "deserves an extended read, for the measured movement of his prose, which is enlivened by his admiration for everything that exists and his respect for the infinite diversity of all phenomena".[122] Calvino notes that while Pliny is eclectic, he was not uncritical, though his evaluations of sources are inconsistent and unpredictable. Further, Calvino compares Pliny toImmanuel Kant, in that God is prevented by logic from conflicting with reason, even though (in Calvino's view) Pliny makes a pantheistic identification of God as being immanent in nature. As for destiny, Calvino writes:
it is impossible to force that variable which is destiny into the natural history of man: this is the sense of the pages that Pliny devotes to the vicissitudes of fortune, to the unpredictability of the length of any life, to the pointlessness of astrology, to disease and death.[122]
The art historian Jacob Isager writes in the introduction to his analysis of Pliny's chapters on art in theNatural History that his intention is:
to show how Pliny in his encyclopedic work – which is the result of adaptations from many earlier writers and according to Pliny himself was intended as a reference work – nevertheless throughout expresses a basic attitude to Man and his relationship with Nature; how he understands Man's role as an inventor ("scientist and artist"); and finally his attitude to the use and abuse of Nature's and Man's creations, to progress and decay.[104]
More specifically, Isager writes that "the guiding principle in Pliny's treatment of Greek and Roman art is the function of art in society",[104] while Pliny "uses his art history to express opinions about the ideology of the state".[104]
Paula Findlen, writing in theCambridge History of Science, asserts that
Natural history was an ancient form of scientific knowledge, most closely associated with the writings of the Roman encyclopedist Pliny the Elder ... His loquacious and wittyHistoria naturalis offered an expansive definition of this subject. [It] broadly described all entities found in nature, or derived from nature, that could be seen in the Roman world and read about in its books: art, artifacts, and peoples as well as animals, plants, and minerals were included in his project.[123]
Findlen contrasts Pliny's approach with that of his intellectual predecessors Aristotle and Theophrastus, who sought general causes of natural phenomena, while Pliny was more interested in cataloguing natural wonders, and his contemporary Dioscorides explored nature for its uses inRoman medicine in his great workDe Materia Medica.[123]
In the view of Mary Beagon, writing inThe Classical Tradition in 2010:
theHistoria naturalis has regained its status to a greater extent than at any time since the advent of Humanism. Work by those with scientific as well as philological expertise has resulted in improvements both to Pliny's text and to his reputation as a scientist. The essential coherence of his enterprise has also been rediscovered, and his ambitious portrayal, in all its manifestations, of 'nature, that is, life'.. is recognised as a unique cultural record of its time.[124]
TheTeubner,Loeb andBudéeditorial collections all cover the work in its entirety. The Teubner was the first to be completed (1870–78), with the Loeb published 1938–62 and finally the Budé between 1947 and 2015.
Teubner Latin Editions:
Loeb Classical Library Editions (Latin & English):
Collection Budé (Latin & French):
{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)(This was the first published volume, beginning the series.)English Translations:
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Sandys, John Edwin (1911). "Pliny the Elder". InChisholm, Hugh (ed.).Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 21 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 841–844.
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English
The Natural History public domain audiobook atLibriVoxItalian
