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Pliny the Elder, The Natural History

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« on: August 26, 2007, 07:17:58 am »

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History (eds. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A.)
Editions and translations: English (ed. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A.) | Latin (ed. Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff)
 

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Table of Contents
BOOK I.
BOOK II. AN ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD AND THE ELEMENTS.
BOOK III. AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED.
BOOK IV. AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED.
BOOK V. AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST OR FORMERLY EXISTED.
BOOK VI. AN ACCOUNT OF COUNTRIES, NATIONS, SEAS, TOWNS, HAVENS, MOUNTAINS, RIVERS, DISTANCES, AND PEOPLES WHO NOW EXIST, OR FORMERLY EXISTED.
BOOK VII. MAN, HIS BIRTH, HIS ORGANIZATION, AND THE INVENTION OF THE ARTS.
BOOK VIII. THE NATURE OF THE TERRESTRIAL ANIMALS.
BOOK IX. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF FISHES.
BOOK X. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF BIRDS.
BOOK XI. THE VARIOUS KINDS OF INSECTS.
BOOK XII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF TREES
BOOK XIII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF EXOTIC TREES, AND AN ACCOUNT OF UNGUENTS.
BOOK XIV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FRUIT TREES.
BOOK XV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FRUIT-TREES.
BOOK XVI. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE FOREST TREES.
BOOK XVII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF THE CULTIVATED TREES.
BOOK XVIII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF GRAIN.
BOOK XIX. THE NATURE AND CULTIVATION OF FLAX, AND AN ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS GARDEN PLANTS.
BOOK XX. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE GARDEN PLANTS.
BOOK XXI. AN ACCOUNT OF FLOWERS. AND THOSE USED FOR CHAPLETS MORE PARTICULARLY.
BOOK XXII. THE PROPERTIES OF PLANTS AND FRUITS.
BOOK XXIII. THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE CULTIVATED TREES.
BOOK XXIV. THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE FOREST TREES.
BOOK XXV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF WILD PLANT
BOOK XXVI. A CONTINUATION OF THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM PLANTS, CLASSIFIED ACCORDING TO PARTICULAR DISEASES.
BOOK XXVII. A DESCRIPTION OF PLANTS, AND OF THE REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THEM.
BOOK XXVIII. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
BOOK XXIX. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
BOOK XXX. REMEDIES DERIEVED FROM LIVING CREATURES.
BOOK XXXI. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM THE AQUATIC PRODUCTION
BOOK XXXII. REMEDIES DERIVED FROM AQUATIC ANIMALS.
BOOK XXXIII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF METALS.
BOOK XXXIV. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF METALS.
BOOK XXXV. AN ACCOUNT OF PAINTINGS AND COLOURS.
BOOK XXXVI. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF STONES.
BOOK XXXVII. THE NATURAL HISTORY OF PRECIOUS STONES.


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« Reply #1 on: August 26, 2007, 07:19:27 am »

Pliny the Elder, The Natural History (eds. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A.)
Editions and translations: English (ed. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S., H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A.) | Latin (ed. Karl Friedrich Theodor Mayhoff)



BOOK I.1
DEDICATION.
C. PLINIUS SECUNDUS TO HIS FRIEND TITUS VESPASIAN.

THIS treatise on Natural History, a novel work in Roman literature, which I have just completed, I have taken the liberty to dedicate to you, most gracious2 Emperor, an appellation peculiarly suitable to you, while, on account of his age, that of great is more appropriate to your Father;--
"For still thou ne'er wouldst quite despise
The trifles that I write3 ;"
if I may be allowed to shelter myself under the example of Catullus, my fellow-countryman4 , a military term, which you well understand. For he, as you know, when his napkins had been changed5 , expressed himself a little harshly, from [p. 1002] his anxiety to show his friendship for his dear little Veranius and Fabius6 . At the same time this my importunity may effect, what you complained of my not having done in another too forward epistle of mine; it will put upon record, and let all the world know, with what kindness you exercise the imperial dignity. You, who have had the honour of a triumph, and of the censorship, have been six times consul, and have shared in the tribunate; and, what is still more honourable, whilst you held them in conjunction with your Father, you have presided over the Equestrian order, and been the Prefect of the Prætorians7 : all this you have done for the service of the Republic, and, at the same time, have regarded me as a fellow-soldier and a messmate. Nor has the extent of your prosperity produced any change in you, except that it has given you the power of doing good to the utmost of your wishes. And whilst all these circumstances increase the veneration which other persons feel for you, with respect to myself, they have made me so bold, as to wish to become more familiar. You must, therefore, place this to your own account, and blame yourself for any fault of this kind that I may commit.

But, although I have laid aside my blushes8 , I have not gained my object; for you still awe me, and keep me at a distance, by the majesty of your understanding. In no one does the force of eloquence and of tribunitian oratory blaze out more powerfully! With what glowing language do you thunder forth the praises of your Father! How dearly do you love your Brother! How admirable is your talent for poetry! What a fertility of genius do you possess, so as to [p. 1003] enable you to imitate your Brother9 ! But who is there that is bold enough to form an estimate on these points, if he is to be judged by you, and, more especially, if you are challenged to do so? For the case of those who merely publish their works is very different from that of those who expressly dedicate them to you. In the former case I might say, Emperor! why do you read these things? They are written only for the common people, for farmers or mechanics, or for those who have nothing else to do; why do you trouble yourself with them? Indeed, when I undertook this work, I did not expect that you would sit in judgement upon me10 ; I considered your situation much too elevated for you to descend to such an office. Besides, we possess the right of openly rejecting the opinion of men of learning. M. Tullius himself, whose genius is beyond all competition, uses this privilege; and, remarkable as it may appear, employs an advocate in his own defence:--"I do not write for very learned people; I do not wish my works to be read by Manius Persius, but by Junius Congus11 ." And if Lucilius, who first introduced the satirical style12 , applied such a remark to himself, and if Cicero thought proper to borrow it, and that more especially in his treatise "De Republica," how much reason have I to do so, who have such a judge to defend myself against! And by this dedication I have deprived myself of the benefit of challenge13 ; for it is a very different thing whether a person has a judge given him by lot, or whether he voluntarily selects one; and we always make more preparation for an invited guest, than for one that comes in unexpectedly. [p. 1004]

When the candidates for office, during the heat of the canvass, deposited the fine14 in the hands of Cato, that determined opposer of bribery, rejoicing as he did in his being rejected from what he considered to be foolish honours, they professed to do this out of respect to his integrity; the greatest glory which a man could attain. It was on this occasion that Cicero uttered the noble ejaculation, "How happy are you, Marcus Porcius, of whom no one dares to ask what is dishonourable15 !" When L. Scipio Asiaticus appealed to the tribunes, among whom was Gracchus, he expressed full confidence that he should obtain an acquittal, even from a judge who was his enemy. Hence it follows, that he who appoints his own judge must absolutely submit to the decision; this choice is therefore termed an appeal16 .

I am well aware, that, placed as you are in the highest station, and gifted with the most splendid eloquence and the most accomplished mind, even those who come to pay their respects to you, do it with a kind of veneration: on this account I ought to be careful that what is dedicated to you should be worthy of you. But the country people, and, indeed, some whole nations offer milk to the Gods17 , and those who cannot procure frankincense substitute in its place salted cakes; for the Gods are not dissatisfied when they are worshiped by every one to the best of his ability. But my temerity will appear the greater by the consideration, that these volumes, which I dedicate to you, are of such inferior importance. For they do not admit of the display of genius, nor, indeed, is mine one of the highest order; they admit of no excursions, nor orations, nor discussions, nor of any wonderful adventures, nor any variety of transactions, nor, from the barrenness of the matter, of anything particularly pleasant in the narration, or agreeable to the reader. The na- [p. 1005] ture of things, and life as it actually exists, are described in them; and often the lowest department of it; so that, in very many cases, I am obliged to use rude and foreign, or even barbarous terms, and these often require to be introduced by a kind of preface. And, besides this, my road is not a beaten track, nor one which the mind is much disposed to travel over. There is no one among us who has ever attempted it, nor is there any one individual among the Greeks who has treated of all the topics. Most of us seek for nothing but amusement in our studies, while others are fond of subjects that are of excessive subtilty, and completely involved in obscurity. My object is to treat of all those things which the Greeks include in the Encyclopædia18 , which, however, are either not generally known or are rendered dubious from our ingenious conceits. And there are other matters which many writers have given so much in detail that we quite loathe them. It is, indeed, no easy task to give novelty to what is old, and authority to what is new; brightness to what is become tarnished, and light to what is obscure; to render what is slighted acceptable, and what is doubtful worthy of our confidence; to give to all a natural manner, and to each its peculiar nature. It is sufficiently honourable and glorious to have been willing even to make the attempt, although it should prove unsuccessful. And, indeed, I am of opinion, that the studies of those are more especially worthy of our regard, who, after having overcome all difficulties, prefer the useful office of assisting others to the mere gratification of giving pleasure; and this is what I have already done in some of my former works. I confess it surprises me, that T. Livius, so celebrated an author as he is, in one of the books of his history of the city from its origin, should begin with this remark, "I have now obtained a sufficient reputation, so that I might put an end to my work, did not my restless mind require to be supported by employment19 ." Certainly he ought to have composed this work, not for his own glory, but for that of the Roman name, and [p. 1006] of the people who were the conquerors of all other nations. It would have been more meritorious to have persevered in his labours from his love of the work, than from the gratification which it afforded himself, and to have accomplished it, not for his own sake, but for that of the Roman people.

I have included in thirty-six20 books 20,000 topics, all worthy of attention, (for, as Domitius Piso21 says, we ought to make not merely books, but valuable collections,) gained by the perusal of about 2000 volumes, of which a few only are in the hands of the studious, on account of the obscurity of the subjects, procured by the careful perusal of 100 select authors22 ; and to these I have made considerable additions of things, which were either not known to my predecessors, or which have been lately discovered. Nor can I doubt but that there still remain many things which I have omitted; for I am a mere mortal, and one that has many occupations. I have, therefore, been obliged to compose this work at interrupted intervals, indeed during the night, so that you will find that I have not been idle even during this period. The day I devote to you, exactly portioning out my sleep to the necessity of my health, and contenting myself with this reward, that while we are musing23 on these subjects (according to the remark of Varro), we are adding to the length of our lives; for life properly consists in being awake.

In consideration of these circumstances and these difficulties, I dare promise nothing; but you have done me the most essential service in permitting me to dedicate my work to you. Nor does this merely give a sanction to it, but it determines its value; for things are often conceived to be of great value, solely because they are consecrated in temples.

I have given a full account of all your family--your [p. 1007] Father, yourself, and your Brother, in a history of our own times, beginning where Aufidius Bassus concludes24 . You will ask, Where is it? It has been long completed and its accuracy confirmed25 ; but I have determined to commit the charge of it to my heirs, lest I should have been suspected, during my lifetime, of having been unduly influenced by ambition. By this means I confer an obligation on those who occupy the same ground with myself; and also on posterity, who, I am aware, will contend with me, as I have done with my predecessors.

You may judge of my taste from my having inserted, in the beginning of my book, the names of the authors that I have consulted. For I consider it to be courteous and to indicate an ingenuous modesty, to acknowledge the sources whence we have derived assistance, and not to act as most of those have done whom I have examined. For I must inform you, that in comparing various authors with each other, I have discovered, that some of the most grave and of the latest writers have transcribed, word for word, from former works, without making any acknowledgement; not avowedly rivalling them, in the manner of Virgil, or with the candour of Cicero, who, in his treatise "De Republica26 ," professes to coincide in opinion with Plato, and in his Essay on Consolation for his Daughter, says that he follows Crantor, and, in his Offices27 , Panæcius; volumes, which, as you well know, ought not merely to be always in our hands, but to be learned by heart. For it is indeed the mark of a perverted mind and a bad disposition, to prefer being caught in [p. 1008] a theft to returning what we have borrowed, especially when we have acquired capital, by usurious interest28 .

The Greeks were wonderfully happy in their titles. One work they called kêrion, which means that it was as sweet as a honeycomb; another keras amaltheias, or Cornu copiæ, so that you might expect to get even a draught of pigeon's milk from it29 . Then they have their Flowers, their Muses, Magazines, Manuals, Gardens, Pictures, and Sketches30 , all of them titles for which a man might be tempted even to forfeit his bail. But when you enter upon the works, O ye Gods and Goddesses! how full of emptiness! Our duller countrymen have merely their Antiquities, or their Examples, or their Arts. I think one of the most humorous of them has his Nocturnal Studies31 , a term employed by Bibaculus; a name which he richly deserved32 . Varro, indeed, is not much behind him, when he calls one of his satires A Trick and a Half, and another Turning the Tables33 . Diodorus was the first among the Greeks who laid aside this trifling manner and named his history The Library34 . Apion, the grammarian, indeed--he whom Tiberius Cæsar called the Trumpeter of the World, but would rather seem to be the Bell of the Town-crier35 ,--supposed that every one to whom he inscribed any work would thence acquire immortality. I do not regret not having given my work a more fanciful title.

That I may not, however, appear to inveigh so completely against the Greeks, I should wish to be considered under the same point of view with those inventors of the arts of [p. 1009] painting and sculpture, of whom you will find an account in these volumes, whose works, although they are so perfect that we are never satisfied with admiring them, are inscribed with a temporary title36 , such as "Apelles, or Polycletus, was doing this;" implying that the work was only commenced and still imperfect, and that the artist might benefit by the criticisms that were made on it and alter any part that required it, if he had not been prevented by death. It is also a great mark of their modesty, that they inscribed their works as if they were the last which they had executed, and as still in hand at the time of their death. I think there are but three works of art which are inscribed positively with the words "such a one executed this;" of these I shall give an account in the proper place. In these cases it appears, that the artist felt the most perfect satisfaction with his work, and hence these pieces have excited the envy of every one.

I, indeed, freely admit, that much may be added to my works; not only to this, but to all which I have published. By this admission I hope to escape from the carping critics37 , and I have the more reason to say this, because I hear that there are certain Stoics and Logicians38 , and also Epicureans (from the Grammarians39 I expected as much), who are big with something against the little work I published on Grammar40 ; and that they have been carrying these abortions for ten years together--a longer pregnancy this than the elephant's41 . But I well know, that even a woman once wrote against Theophrastus, a man so eminent for his eloquence that he obtained his name, which signifies the [p. 1010] Divine speaker42 , and that from this circumstance originated the proverb of choosing a tree to hang oneself43 .

I cannot refrain from quoting the words of Cato the censor, which are so pertinent to this point. It appears from them, that even Cato, who wrote commentaries on military discipline44 , and who had learned the military art under Africanus, or rather under Hannibal (for he could not endure Africanus45 , who, when he was his general, had borne away the triumph from him), that Cato, I say, was open to the attacks of such as caught at reputation for themselves by detracting from the merits of others. And what does he say in his book? "I know, that when I shall publish what I have written, there will be many who will do all they can to depreciate it, and, especially, such as are themselves void of all merit; but I let their harangues glide by me." Nor was the remark of Plancus46 a bad one, when Asinius Pollio47 was said to be preparing an oration against him, which was to be published either by himself or his children, after the death of Plancus, in order that he might not be able to answer it: "It is only ghosts that fight with the dead." This gave such a blow to the oration, that in the opinion of [p. 1011] the learned generally, nothing was ever thought more scandalous. Feeling myself, therefore, secure against these vile slanderers48 , a name elegantly composed by Cato, to express their slanderous and vile disposition (for what other object have they, but to wrangle and breed quarrels?), I will proceed with my projected work.

And because the public good requires that you should be spared as much as possible from all trouble, I have subjoined to this epistle the contents of each of the following books49 , and have used my best endeavours to prevent your being obliged to read them all through. And this, which was done for your benefit, will also serve the same purpose for others, so that any one may search for what he wishes, and may know where to find it. This has been already done among us by Valerius Soranus, in his work which he entitled "On Mysteries50 ."

The 1st book is the Preface of the Work, dedicated to Titus Vespasian Cæsar.

The 2nd is on the World, the Elements, and the Heavenly Bodies51 .

The 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th books are on Geography, in which is contained an account of the situation of the different countries, the inhabitants, the seas, towns, harbours, mountains, rivers, and dimensions, and the various tribes, some of which still exist and others have disappeared.

The 7th is on Man, and the Inventions of Man.

The 8th on the various kinds of Land Animals.

The 9th on Aquatic Animals.

The 10th on the various kinds of Birds. [p. 1012]

The 11th on Insects.

The 12th on Odoriferous Plants.

The 13th on Exotic Trees.

The 14th on Vines.

The 15th on Fruit Trees.

The 16th on Forest Trees.

The 17th on Plants raised in nurseries or gardens.

The 18th on the nature of Fruits and the Cerealia, and the pursuits of the Husbandman.

The 19th on Flax, Broom52 , and Gardening.

The 20th on the Cultivated Plants that are proper for food and for medicine.

The 21st on Flowers and Plants that are used for making Garlands.

The 22nd on Garlands, and Medicines made from Plants.

The 23rd on Medicines made from Wine and from cultivated Trees.

The 24th on Medicines made from Forest Trees.

The 25th on Medicines made from Wild Plants.

The 26th on New Diseases, and Medicines made, for certain Diseases, from Plants.

The 27th on some other Plants and Medicines.

The 28th on Medicines procured from Man and from large Animals.

The 29th on Medical Authors, and on Medicines from other Animals.

The 30th on Magic, and Medicines for certain parts of the Body.

The 31st on Medicines from Aquatic Animals.

The 32nd on the other properties of Aquatic Animals.

The 33rd on Gold and Silver.

The 34th on Copper and Lead, and the workers of Copper.

The 35th on Painting, Colours, and Painters.

The 36th on Marbles and Stones.

The 37th on Gems. [p. 1013]


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1 Lemaire informs us, in his title-page, that the two first books of the Natural History are edited by M. Alexandre, in his edition.

2 "Jucundissime;" it is not easy to find an epithet in our language which will correctly express the meaning of the original, affectionate and familiar, at the same time that it is sufficiently dignified and respectful.

3 Lamb's trans.; Carm. i. 4. of the original.

4 "Conterraneus;" we have no word in English which expresses the idea intended by the original, and which is, at the same time, a military term. There is indeed some reason to doubt, whether the word now inserted in the text was the one employed by the author: see the remarks of M. Alexandre, in Lem. i. 3; also an observation in Cigalino's dissertation on the native country of Pliny; Valpy, 8.

5 "Permutatis prioribus sætabis;" Carm. xii. 14; xxv. 7; see the notes in Lamb's trans. pp. 135 & 149.

6 These names in the original are Varaniolus and Fabullus, which are supposed to have been changed from Veranius and Fabius, as terms of familiarity and endearment; see Poinsinet, i. 24, and Lemaire, i. 4.

7 The narrative of Suetonius may serve to illustrate the observation of Pliny: "Triumphavit (Titus) cum patre, censuramque gessit una. Eidem collega et in tribunicia potestate, et in septem consulatibus fuit. Receptaque ad se prope omnium officiorum cura, cum patris nomine et epistolas ipse dictaret, et edicta conscriberet, orationesque in Senatu recitaret etiam quæstoris vice, præfecturam quoque prætorii suscepit, nunquam ad id tempus, nisi ab Equite Romano, administratum." (viii. 5.)

8 "Perfricui faciem." This appears to have been a proverbial expression among the Romans; Cicero, Tusc. Quæes. iii. 41, employs "os perfricuisti" and Martial, xi. 27. 7, "perfricuit frontem," in the same sense.

9 Suetonius speaks of Domitian's taste for poetry, as a part of his habitual dissimulation, viii. 2; see also the notes of Poinsinet, i. 26, and of Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 351.

10 "Non eras in hoc albo;" see the note of Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 8. A passage in Quintilian, xii. 4, may serve to illustrate this use of the term 'album'; "...quorum alii se ad album ac rubricas transtulerunt..."

11 It appears that the passage in which Cicero makes this quotation from Lucilius, is not in the part of his treatise De Republica which was lately discovered by Angelus Maius; Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 9. Cicero refers to this remark of Lucilius in two of his other works, although with a variation in the expression and in the individuals specified; De Orat. ii. 6, and De Fin. i. 3.

12 "Qui primus condidit styli nasum."

13 "Sed hæc ego mihi nunc patrocinia ademi nuncupatione."

14 "Pecunias deponerent." Ajasson, i. 11, remarks on these words, "Qui videri volebant ambitu alienissimi, pecuniam apud sanctum aliquem virum deponebant, qua scilicet multarentur, si unquam hujus criminis manifesti fierent."

15 This expression is not found in any of the works of Cicero which are now extant, nor, indeed, is it certain that it was anything more than a remark made in conversation.

16 "Provocatio," calling forth.

17 Horace, Epist. ii. 1. 143; Ovid, Fast. iv. 746 and v. 121, and Tibullus, i. 1. 26 and ii. 5. 37, refer to the offerings of milk made by the country people to their rural deities.

18 "...id est, artium et doctrinarum omnium circulus;" Alexandre in Lem. i. 14.

19 These words are not found in any of the books of Livy now extant; we may conclude that they were introduced into the latter part of his work.

20 "Quem nunc primum historiæ Plinianæ librum vocamus, hic non unmeratur, quod sit operis index." Hardouin in Lem. i. 16.

21 Nothing is known of Domitius Piso, either as an author or an individual.

22 The names of these authors will be found, arranged by Hardouin alphabetically, with a brief account of them and their works, in Lem. i. 157 et seq.; we have nearly the same list in Valpy, p. 4903.

23 "Musinamur." We learn from Hardouin, Lem. i. 17, that there is some doubt as to the word employed by our author, whether it was mu- sinamur or muginamur; I should be disposed to adopt the former, as being, according to the remark of Turnebus, "verbum a Musis deductum."

24 "A fine Aufidii Bassi;" as Alexandre remarks, "Finis autem Aufidii Bassi intelligendus est non mors ejus, sed tempus ad quod suas ipse perduxerat historias. Quodnam illud ignoramus." Lem. i. 18. For an account of Aufidius Bassus we are referred to the catalogue of Hardouin, but his name does not appear there. Quintilian (x. 1) informs us, that he wrote an account of the Germanic war.

25 "Jam pridem peracta sancitur."

26 This sentiment is not found in that portion of the treatise which has been lately published by Angelus Maius. Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 19.

27 The following is probably the passage in the Offices to which Pliny refers: "Panæcius igitur, qui sine controversia de officiis accuratissime disputavit, quemque nos, correctione quadam exhibita, potissimum secuti sums..." (iii. 2.)

28 "Cum præsertim sors fiat ex usura." The commentators and translators have differed respecting the interpretation of this passage; I have given what appears to me the obvious meaning of the words.

29 "Lac gallinaceum;" "Proverbium de re singulari et admodum rara," according to Hardouin, who quotes a parallel passage from Petronius; Lemaire, i. 21.

30 The titles in the original are given in Greek; I have inserted in the text the words which most nearly resemble them, and which have been employed by modern authors.

31 "Lucubratio."

32 The pun in the original cannot be preserved in the translation; the English reader may conceive the name Bibaculus to correspond to our surname Jolly.

33 "Sesculvsses" and "Flextabula;" literally, Ulysses and a Half and Bend-table.

34 bibliothêkê.

35 "Cymbalum mundi" and "publicæ famæ tympanum."

36 "Pendenti titulo;" as Hardouin explains it, "qui nondum absolutum opus significaret, verum adhuc pendere, velut imperfectum." Lemaire, i. 26.

37 "Homeromastigæ."

38 "Dialectici." By this term our author probably meant to designate those critics who were disposed to dwell upon minute verbal distinctions; "dialecticarum captionum amantes," according to Hardouin; Lem. i. 28.

39 "Quod argutiarum amantissimi, et quod æmulatio inter illos acerbissima." Alexandre in Lemaire, i. 28.

40 Pliny the younger, in one of his letters (iii. 5), where he enumerates all his uncle's publications, informs us, that he wrote "a piece of criticism in eight books, concerning ambiguity of expression." Melmoth's Pliny, i. 136.

41 The ancients had very exaggerated notions respecting the period of the elephant's pregnancy; our author, in a subsequent part of his work (viii. 10), says, "Decem annis gestarevulgus existimat; Aristoteles biennio."

42 His real name was Tyrtamus, but in consequence of the beauty of his style, he acquired the appellation by which he is generally known from the words theios phrasis. Cicero on various occasions refers to him; Brutus, 121; Orator, 17, et alibi.

43 "Suspendio jam quærere mortem oportere homines vitæque renunciare, cum tantum licentiæ, vel feminæ, vel imperiti homines sumant, ut in doctissimos scribant;" Hardouin in Lemaire, i. 29. We learn from Cicero, De Nat. Deor. i. 33, that the name of this female was Leontium; "...sed meretricula etiam Leontium contra Theophrastun scribere ausa sit."

44 A. Gellius (vii. 4) refers to this work and gives an extract from it.

45 The hostility which Cato bore to Scipio Africanus is mentioned by Livy, xxxviii. 54, and by Corn. Nepos, Cato, i.

46 Lucius Munatius Plancus took a conspicuous part in the political intrigues of the times and was especially noted for his follies and extravagance.

47 Asinius Pollio is a name which stands high in Roman literature; according to the remark of Alexandre, "Vir magnus fuit, prono tamen ad obtrectandum ingenio, quod arguunt ejus cum Cicerone simultates," Lemaire, i. 30. This hostile feeling towards Cicero is supposed to have proceeded from envy and mortification, because he was unable to attain the same eminence in the art of oratory with his illustrious rival. See Hardouin's Index Auctorum, in Lemaire, i. 168.

48 "Vitiligatores."

49 The table of contents, which occupies no less than 124 pages in Lemaire's edition, I have omitted, in consequence of its length; the object which the author proposed to effect by the table of contents will be gained more completely by an alphabetical index.

50 "epoptiôn." For an account of Valerius Soranus see Hardouin's Index Auctorum, in Lemaire, i. 217.

51 To the end of each book of the Natural History is appended, in the original, a copious list of references to the sources from which the author derived his information. These are very numerous; in the second book they amount to 45, in the third to 35, in the 4th to 53, in the fifth to 60, in the sixth to 54, and they are in the same proportion in the remaining books.

52 "Spartum;" this plant was used to make bands for the vines and cables for ships.



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This text is based on the following book(s):
The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.


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« Reply #2 on: August 26, 2007, 07:20:33 am »

BOOK II. AN ACCOUNT OF THE WORLD AND THE ELEMENTS.
[I have adopted the division of the chapters from Hardouin, as given in the editions of Valpy, Lemaire, Ajasson, and Sillig.; the Roman figures, enclosed between brackets, are the numbers of the chapters in Dalechamps, De Laët, Gronovius, Holland, and Poinsinet. The titles of the chapters are nearly the same with those in Valpy, Lemaire, and Ajasson.]

CHAP. 1. (1.)--WHETHER THE WORLD BE FINITE, AND WHETHER THERE BE MORE THAN ONE WORLD.
The world1 , and whatever that be which we otherwise [p. 1014] call the heavens2 , by the vault of which all things are enclosed, [p. 1015] we must conceive to be a Deity3 , to be eternal, without bounds, neither created, nor subject, at any time, to destruction4 . To inquire what is beyond it is no concern of man, nor can the human mind form any conjecture respecting it. It is sacred, eternal, and without bounds, all in all; indeed including everything in itself; finite, yet like what is infinite; the most certain of all things, yet like what is uncertain, externally and internally embracing all things in itself; it is the work of nature, and itself constitutes nature5 .

It is madness to harass the mind, as some have done, with attempts to measure the world, and to publish these attempts; or, like others, to argue from what they have made out, that there are innumerable other worlds, and that we must believe there to be so many other natures, or that, if only one nature produced the whole, there will be so many suns and so many moons, and that each of them will have immense trains of other heavenly bodies. As if the same question would not recur at every step of our inquiry, anxious as we must be to arrive at some termination; or, as if this infinity, which we ascribe to nature, the former of all things, cannot be more easily comprehended by one single formation, [p. 1016] especially when that is so extensive. It is madness, perfect madness, to go out of this world and to search for what is beyond it, as if one who is ignorant of his own dimensions could ascertain the measure of any thing else, or as if the human mind could see what the world itself cannot contain.


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1 "Mundus." In translating from one language into another, it is proper, as a general principle, always to render the same word in the original by the same word in the translation. But to this rule there are two exceptions; where the languages do not possess words which precisely correspond, and where the original author does not always use the same word in the same sense. Both these circumstances, I apprehend, apply to the case in question. The term Mundus is used by Pliny, sometimes to mean the earth and its immediate appendages, the visible solar system; and at other times the universe; while I think we may venture to assert, that in some instances it is used in rather a vague manner, without any distinct reference to either one or other of the above designations. I have, in almost all cases, translated it by the term world, as approaching nearest to the sense of the original. The word mundus is frequently employed by Lucretius, especially in his fifth book, and seems to be almost always used in the more extended sense of universe. There are, indeed, a few passages where either meaning would be equally appropriate, and in one line it would appear to be equivalent to firmament or heavens; "et mundi speciem violare serenam," iv. 138. Cicero, in his treatise De Natura Deorum, generally uses the term mundus in the sense of universe, as in ii. 22, 37, 58 and 154; while in one passage, ii. 132, it would appear to be employed in the more limited sense of the earth. It occasionally occurs in the Fasti of Ovid, but it is not easy to ascertain its precise import; as in the line "Post chaos, ut primum data sunt tria corpora mundo," v. 41, where from the connexion it may be taken either in the more confined or in the more general sense. Manilius employs the word very frequently, and his commentators remark, that he uses it in two distinct senses, the visible firmament and the universe; and I am induced to think that he attaches still more meaning to the term. It occurs three times in the first eleven lines of his poem. In the third line, "deducere mundo aggredior," mundus may be considered as equivalent to the celestial regions as opposed to the earth. In the ninth line, "concessumque patri mundo," we may consider it as signifying the celestial regions generally; and in the eleventh, "Jamque favet mundus," the whole of the earth, or rather its inhabitants. We meet with it again in the sixty-eighth line, "lumina mundi," where it seems more properly to signify the visible firmament; again in the 139th, "Et mundi struxere globum," it seems to refer especially to the earth, synonymous with the general sense of the English term world; while in the 153rd line, "per inania mundi," it must be supposed to mean the universe. Hyginus, in his Poeticon Astronomicon, lib. i. p. 55, defines the term as follows: "Mundus appellatur is qui constat in sole et luna et terra et omnibus stellis;" and again, p. 57, "Terra mundi media regione collocata." We may observe the different designations of the term mundus in Seneca; among other passages I may refer to his Nat. Quæst. vii. 27 & iii. 30; to his treatise De Consol. § 18 and De Benef. iv. 23, where I conceive the precise meanings are, respectively, the universe, the terrestrial globe, the firmament, and the heavenly bodies. The Greek term kosmos, which corresponds to the Latin word mundus, was likewise employed to signify, either the visible firmament or the universe. In illustration of this, it will be sufficient to refer to the treatise of Aristotle peri kosmou, cap. 2. p. 601. See also Stephens's Thesaurus, in loco. In Apuleius's treatise De Mundo, which is a free translation of Aristotle's peri kosmou, the term may be considered as synonymous with universe. It is used in the same sense in various parts of Apuleius's writings: see Metam. ii. 23; De Deo Socratis, 665, 667; De Dogmate Platonis, 574, 575, et alibi.

2 Cicero, in his Timæus, uses the same phraseology; "Omne igitur cœlum, sive mundus, sive quovis alio vocabulo gaudet, hoc a nobis nuncupatum est," § 2. Pomponius Mela's work commences with a similar expression; "Omne igitur hoc, quidquid est, cui mundi cœlique nomen indideris, unum id est." They were probably taken from a passage in Plato's Timæus, "Universum igitur hoc, Cœlum, sive Mundum, sive quo alio vocabulo gaudet, cognominemus," according to the translation of Ficinus; Platonis Op. ix. p. 302. The word cœlum, which is employed in the original, in its ordinary acceptation, signifies the heavens, the visible firmament; as in Ovid, Met. i. 5, "quod tegit omnia, cœlum." It is, in most cases, employed in this sense by Lucretius and by Manilius, as in i. 2. of the former and in i. 14. of the latter. Occasionally, however, it is employed by both of these writers in the more general sense of celestial regions, in opposition to the earth, as by Lucretius, i. 65, and by Manilius, i. 352. In the line quoted by Cicero from Pacuvius, it would seem to mean the place in which the planets are situated; De Nat. Deor. ii. 91. The Greek word ouranos may be regarded as exactly corresponding to the Latin word cœlum, and employed with the same modifications; see Aristotle, De Mundo and De Cœlo, and Ptolemy, Mag. Const. lib. i. passim; see also Stephens's Thesaurus, in loco. Aratus generally uses it to designate the visible firmament, as in 1. 10, while in 1. 32 it means the heavenly regions. Gesner defines cœlum, "Mundus exclusa terra," and mundus, "Cœlum et quidquid cceli ambitu continetur." In the passage from Plato, referred to above, the words which are translated by Ficinus cœlum and mundus, are in the original ouranos and kosmos; Ficinus, however, in various parts of the Timæus, translates ouranbos by the word mundus: see t. ix. p. 306, 311, et alibi.

3 The following passage from Cicero may serve to illustrate the doctrine of Pliny: "Novem tibi orbibus, vel potius globis, connexa sunt omnia: quorum unus est ccelestis, extimus, qui reliquos omnes complectitur, summus ipse Deus, arcens et continens cœlum;" Som. Scip. § 4. I may remark, however, that the term here employed by our author is not Deus but Numen.

4 We have an interesting account of the opinions of Aristotle on this subject, in a note in M. Ajasson's translation, ii. 234 et seq., which, as well as the greater part of the notes attached to the second book of the Natural History, were written by himself in conjunction with M. Marcus.

5 The philosophers of antiquity were divided in their opinions respecting the great question, whether the active properties of material bodies, which produce the phenomena of nature, are inherent in them, and necessarily attached to them, or whether they are bestowed upon them by some superior power or being. The Academics and Peripatetics generally adopted the latter opinion, the Stoics the former: Pliny adopts the doctrine of the Stoics; see Enfield's Hist. of Phil. i. 229, 283, 331.



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There are a total of 6 comments on and cross references to this page.

Cross references from Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898):
fig.01358.2 [Radulum. (Rich.)]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]




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« Reply #3 on: August 26, 2007, 07:21:26 am »

CHAP. 2. (2.)--OF THE FORM OF THE WORLD1 .
That it has the form of a perfect globe we learn from the name which has been uniformly given to it, as well as from numerous natural arguments. For not only does a figure of this kind return everywhere into itself2 and sustain itself, also including itself, requiring no adjustments, not sensible of either end or beginning in any of its parts, and is best fitted for that motion, with which, as will appear hereafter, it is continually turning round; but still more, because we perceive it, by the evidence of the sight, to be, in every part, convex and central, which could not be the case were it of any other figure.


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1 I may remark, that the astronomy of our author is, for the most part, derived from Aristotle; the few points in which they differ will be stated in the appropriate places.

2 This doctrine was maintained by Plato in his Timæus, p. 310, and adopted by Aristotle, De Cœlo, lib. ii. cap. 14, and by Cicero, De Nat. Deor. ii 47. The spherical form of the world, ouranos, and its circular motion are insisted upon by Ptolemy, in the commencement of his astronomical treatise megalê suntaxis, Magna Constructio, frequently referred to by its Arabic title Almagestum, cap. 2. He is supposed to have made his observations at Alexandria, between the years 125 and 140 A.D. His great astronomical work was translated into Arabic in the year 827; the original Greek text was first printed in 1538 by Grynæus, with a commentary by Theon. George of Trebisond published a Latin version of it in 1541, and a second was published by Camerarius in 1551, along with Ptolemy's other works. John Muller, usually called Regiomontanus, and Purback published an abridgement of the Almagest in 1541. For an account of Ptolemy I may refer to the article in the Biog. Univ. xxxv. 263 et seq., by Delambre, also to Hutton's Math. Diet., in loco, and to the high character of him by Whewell, Hist. of the Inductive Sciences, p. 214.



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There are a total of 6 comments on and cross references to this page.

Cross references from Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898):
fig.01358.2 [Radulum. (Rich.)]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]




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Preferred URL for linking to this page: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+2.2



This text is based on the following book(s):
The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.

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« Reply #4 on: August 26, 2007, 07:22:14 am »

CHAP. 3. (3.)--OF ITS NATURE; WHENCE THE NAME IS DERIVED.
The rising and the setting of the sun clearly prove, that this globe is carried round in the space of twenty-four hours, in an eternal and never-ceasing circuit, and with in- [p. 1017] credible swiftness1 . I am not able to say, whether the sound caused by the whirling about of so great a mass be excessive, and, therefore, far beyond what our ears can perceive, nor, indeed, whether the resounding of so many stars, all carried along at the same time and revolving in their orbits, may not produce a kind of delightful harmony of incredible sweetness2 . To us, who are in the interior, the world appears to glide silently along, both by day and by night.

Various circumstances in nature prove to us, that there are impressed on the heavens innumerable figures of animals and of all kinds of objects, and that its surface is not perfectly polished like the eggs of birds, as some celebrated authors assert3 . For we find that the seeds of all bodies fall down from it, principally into the ocean, and, being mixed together, that a variety of monstrous forms are in this way frequently produced. And, indeed, this is evident to the eye; for, in one part, we have the figure of a wain, in another of a bear, of a bull, and of a letter4 ; while, in the middle of them, over our heads, there is a white circle5 .

(4.) With respect to the name, I am influenced by the unanimous opinions of all nations. For what the Greeks, from its being ornamented, have termed kosmos, we, from its perfect and complete elegance, have termed mundus. The name cœlum, no doubt, refers to its being engraven, as it [p. 1018] were, with the stars, as Varro suggests6 . In confirmation of this idea we may adduce the Zodiac7 , in which are twelve figures of animals; through them it is that the sun has continued its course for so many ages.


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1 See Ptolemy, ubi supra.

2 This opinion, which was maintained by Pythagoras, is noticed and derided by Aristotle, De Cœlo, lib. ii. cap. 9. p. 462-3. A brief account of Pythagoras's doctrine on this subject is contained in Enfield's Philosophy, i. 386.

3 Pliny probably here refers to the opinion which Cicero puts into the mouth of one of the interlocutors in his treatise De Nat. Deor. ii. 47, "Quid enim pulchrius ea figura, quæ sola omnes alias figuras complexa continet, quæque nihil asperitatis habere, nihil offensionis potest, nihil incisum angulis, nihil anfractibus, nihil eminens, nihil lacunosum?"

4 The letter d, in the constellation of the triangle; it is named deltôton by Aratus, 1. 235; also by Manilius, i. 360. We may remark, that, except in this one case, the constellations have no visible resemblance to the objects of which they bear the name.

5 "Locum hunc Plinii de Galaxia, sive Lactea via, interpretantur omnes docti." Alexandre, in Lemaire, i. 227. It may be remarked, that the word vertex is here used in the sense of the astronomical term zenith, not to signify the pole.

6 De Ling. Lat. lib. iv. p. 7, 8. See also the remarks on the derivation of the word in Gesner, Thes., in loco.

7 "Signifer." The English term is taken from the Greek word zôdiakos, derived from zôon; see Aristotle, De Mundo, cap. 2. p. 602. The word Zodiacus does not occur in Pliny, nor is it employed by Ptolemy; he names it loxhos kuklos, obliquus circulus; Magn. Const. i. 7, 13, et alibi. It is used by Cicero, but professedly as a Greek term; Divin. ii. 89, and Arati Phænom. 1. 317. It occurs in Hyginus, p. 57 et alibi, and in A. Gellius, 13. 9. Neither signifer taken substantively, nor zodiacus occur in Lucretius or in Manilius.



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There are a total of 6 comments on and cross references to this page.

Cross references from Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898):
fig.01358.2 [Radulum. (Rich.)]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]
zoroaster [Zoroaster]




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Preferred URL for linking to this page: http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?lookup=Plin.+Nat.+2.3



This text is based on the following book(s):
The Natural History. Pliny the Elder. John Bostock, M.D., F.R.S. H.T. Riley, Esq., B.A. London. Taylor and Francis, Red Lion Court, Fleet Street. 1855.


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