A distinguished military veteran and dedicated historian, Pliny the Elder’s work provides us with aspects of everyday life in Ancient Rome, and is a valuable source for knowledge on the state of science in that time. Gaius Plinius Secundus, better known as Pliny the Elder to distinguish himself from his nephew, Gaius Plinius Caecilius Secundus, wrote as a naturalist, biographer, and historian. Around 79 A.D, Pliny died during the eruption of Vesuvius which decimated Pompeii and Herculaneum, his nephew wrote of these events in his letters to Tacitus . Throughout his lifetime, Pliny obtained many military positions in the government, including administrator of Equestrian Rank and Procurator of Africa. Nero, whom Pliny did not support and thoroughly …show more content…
Natural History was spanned over 102 volumes, 37 of which the modern world had. In detail much is described of the physical nature of the world at that time. It illustrates on zoology, geography, anthropology, botany, and the medical uses of certain plants. It is regarded as one of the most influential books ever written in Latin . His work was largely successful and was kept for centuries, for many it formed the basis of their education. It shaped scientific and medical theories until the middle ages, 1,000 years later . The Natural History was one of the first ancient European texts to be printed. His lost works include “The Life of Pomponius Secundus,” “The History of the Wars in Germany,” and “On the Use of Dart by Cavalry.” His nephew, Pliny the Younger, offers a wide description of his works in his letters …show more content…
The first printed edition appeared in 1469. Since then, editions vary widely in what is omitted and how the Latin is translated . Most of his spare time was spent personally investigating the information on geography and natural phenomena that would be recorded in his encyclopaedia. Pliny had a set reader audience for Natural History; evidence is found in his preface of the book, where he states that it is not intended for the general reader and was designed for utility, not entertainment . Pliny's purpose in writing the Natural History was to cover all learning and art so far as they are connected with nature or draw their materials from nature. Pliny’s Natural History is still agreed on today to be a valuable anthropological source, though most critics still focus on where Pliny obtained his sources than anything
This book has been molded to be a breakdown of how various fields in science have progressed over centuries as mankind has advanced. The book starts off introducing the idea that the telling of natural history has changed numerous times as humans have evolved. We also learn to agree that our knowledge has been shaped by the tools available and the perceptions of its users. In the earliest stages of life, Muehlbauer states “…observers of the natural world had only their senses to work with, and were limited to visual, auditory, tactile, and olfactory descriptions perceived by the unaided
He wrote the first true history in his book of "inquiries" discussing the conflicts between the Greeks and Persians.
Celtis, a German Renaissance humanist scholar and Neo-Latin poet lived in the sixteenth century (1 February 1459 – 4 February 1508) when Art in 16th-century Germany emerged as a fictional construct and went on to become an important contribution to the conceptual revision of current theories. He was a free-thinking humanist and placed a higher value on the ancient pagan, rather than the Christian ideal. He delivered humanist lectures during his travels throughout the Empire and was named ‘Poet Laureate’ by Emperor Frederick III. He went on to study mathematics, astronomy and the natural sciences. Conrad Celtes' teachings had lasting effects, particularly in the field of history. He was the first to teach the history of the world as a whole.
According to George Grant the author of Why Read Plutarch?, he states “Plutarch's interest in history
Plutarch was a son of the philosopher named Aristobulus. He was born in 46 AD in Chaeronea, Boeotia; and he died in 120 AD. Plutarch was also known as a historian, essayist and biographer who had left a huge literary heritage for humanity. By traveling abroad to other countries such as Egypt, Greece…, Plutarch assembled lots of information about the heroes of the Roman and Greece mythology. After that, he used that information to write about lives of heroes. He gathered all fascinating biographies in his massive books: “Plutarch’ Greek Lives”, “Plutarch’ Roman Lives” and “The Parallel Lives of Plutarch”. Those books bring a reputation to Plutarch and he became a famous biographer at that time. In his books, he wrote the lives of the heroes in order of time to show his respects to those people of both countries. The short biographies in his books are about childhood, achievements and deaths of the heroes. Besides that, he also added some interesting stories and lessons in those biographies to educate his readers. His books were translated into many different languages and they have great influences to modern historians and modern biographers.
Pliny the Elder (23-79) was an ancient author and philosopher who lived from the reign of Nero to that of Vespasian. His encyclopedia, Natural History, was a collection of much of the known knowledge of his time. In it, he describes the Laocoon as “a work
It has been approximately 2,400 years since the death of Aristotle. In that time civilizations have been made and destroyed, technology has evolved, dark ages have come and gone and moments in history have been made and recorded. How, then, is it possible for us to know anything about Aristotle, Plato or even have Homer’s epics, let alone still have fragments of some of their famous works and complete copies of some? How is it possible that we know so much about these authors—so much that we can put an actual date to when they were written or the plays performed? There are many possible answers to those questions, including cross-referencing allusions to him in other ancient works, but the one I am most interested in is what the texts were recorded on at the time and the tradition of scholars, monks, and so forth, who spent years copying and
First among the authors discussed arrives M.L Laistner, writing in the 1920’s, argued that Smaragdus wrote the first Speculum Principum in 813, however, this theory was disproved in 1955 with the arrival of Luitpold Wallach, who argued that Alcuin’s Rhetorica or Via Regia as the first of the genre. However, in 1999, Joanna Story brought a new argument to the field. Story argued that Cathwulf’s work predated Alcuin’s by almost twenty years, thus making it the oldest Speculum Principum. The reason this argument needs noting is because many of the future Speculum Principum copy from the earlier writings, either adding portions, detracting portions, or mostly staying true to the older writings. Although Speculum Principum predate the Carolingian time period, this chapter only deals with the Carolingian
They acquired and debated the essence of the gods and the ethical responsibilities of men. Before Greek influence, there was little Roman literature, and what was present, was of undeveloped and unrefined poetic forms. The Greeks taught them to write and in doing so, influenced many writers to create great works. A few literati of the time include: Andronicus, the first writer, who wrote a Latin poem; Ennius, who taught Greek to Romans, and wrote on Roman history; Plautus and Terence, who composed Roman comedy; and Fabius Pictor, who produced a book on the history of Rome, in the language of the
Many historians, such as Tacitus in The Annals, Seneca in his Letters from A Stoic, Plutarch in his Moralia, and David Potter in his Constantine the Emperor, wrote about Nero that his full name was the Imperator Nero Cladius Divi Claudius filius Caesar Augustus Germanicus. All three historians interpreted on this imperator with mostly same feelings and understanding that they showed the reality, evidences, and the results of his acts during his reign. The interpretations of the historians and scholars are directly related to historiography, which is a serious study, examining scholars’ interpretations and their methodologies. The primary sources for Nero are Tacitus’ Annals and Seneca’s Letters from A Stoic that these two scholars’ interpretations would be useful to understand what Nero did. Because of this, the primary sources’ texts were translated into
Pliny died as he tried to help save people during Pompeii’s fall. It was a disastrous
After reading the passage of, The Natural History I was a fan that Pliny describes how we do not choose to live, and that the first days are difficult. I would agree with Pliny because since we are born the first thing we did was cry. Confusing, terrified, out of our comfort zone; we did not know where we were. Not only was it a rude awakening, but we where not able to communicate with others instead, we used out instincts. Lets take into consideration that we wanted to live, and we had to pay the price somehow. The firsts day I completely agree are the worse, Pliny made it easy for us to understand that within his reading.
Gaius Caecilius or Gaius Caesilius Cilo best known as Pliny the younger was a lawyer, author and magistrate ( a civil officer or lay judge who administers the law, especially one who conducts a court that deals with minor offenses and holds preliminary hearings for more serious ones.) for Ancient Rome. Pliny has written hundreds of letters and many of them can be found or what we would call "surviving," a lot of these letters provide insight to how things were in the time they were written. Some of Pliny the Younger 's letters were addressed to the reigning emperors at that time one of particular interest is the one written to Trajan(reigned 98-117). This letter was a big deal because of its contents as well as the fact that there is now record of a relationship between the imperial and the provinces. The letter was written about 112 and it is one of the earliest documents alive that refer to the early Christians.
“The “Emperor’s Astronomy” Astronomicum Caesareum from the private press of Petrus Apianus is one of the great masterpieces of sixteenth-century printing.” (Gingerich, n.d.). This is an example from the Reneissance period. A a cultural movement that spanned the period roughly from the 14th to the 17th century. Though availability of paper and the invention of metal movable type sped the
I had to also study other important individuals such as Sulla, Caesar and Crassus, all who is just as difficult to study as Pompey. I found that more information about the political ambition of Pompey was given through texts about Caesar than texts about Pompey himself. This was probably because Pompey was a military minded individual, while Caesar relied on politics and the people for his power.