Caius Plinius Secundus was born either at Verona or Novum Comum1, now Como, in Cisalpine Gaul, in the yearA.U.C. 776, and A.D. 23. It is supposed that his earlier years were spent in his native province; and that he was still a youth when he removed to Rome, and attended the lectures of the grammarian Apion. It was in about his sixteenth year that he there saw Lollia Paulina, as in the following she was divorced by Caligula, and it was probably in his twentieth that he witnessed the captur...

In "The Natural History of Pliny (Vol. 1-6)", Pliny the Elder offers an unparalleled compendium that encapsulates the breadth of ancient knowledge and inquiry. Written in the 1st century CE, this monumental work spans various disciplines, including astronomy, geography, botany, and zoology, employing a meticulous yet narrative-driven style that reflects the Roman quest for understanding the natural world. Pliny's organizational structure of books—ranging from cosmology to the properties of...

Old Greek Folk Stories Told Anew by Josephine Preston Peabody is a collection of retold Greek myths and folk stories written during the late 19th century. This work seeks to revive and present ancient tales that capture the joys, sorrows, and moral lessons inherent in human experience, drawing upon characters and narratives from Greek mythology that remain influential in literature and culture. At the start of this collection, Peabody sets the stage for the enchanting tales ahead, emphasiz...

Pliny's Natural History is an astonishingly ambitious work that ranges from astronomy to art and from geography to zoology. Mingling acute observation with often wild speculation, it offers a fascinating view of the world as it was understood in the first century AD, whether describing the danger of diving for sponges, the first water-clock, or the use of asses' milk to remove wrinkles. Pliny himself died while investigating the volcanic eruption that destroyed Pompeii in AD 79, and the na...

The Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder’s encyclopaedic ‘Natural History’, composed in 37 books, remains an unrivalled compendium of Roman knowledge. Delphi’s Ancient Classics series provides eReaders with the wisdom of the Classical world, with both English translations and the original Latin texts. This comprehensive eBook presents Pliny’s complete extant works, with beautiful illustrations, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1)* Beaut...

Herodotus, also known as the Father of History, lived in the 5th century B.C. (c.484 BC c.425 BC) and was the first historian known to collect his materials systematically, test their accuracy to a certain extent and arrange them in a well-constructed and vivid narrative. The Histories his masterpiece and the only work he is known to have produced is a record of his investigation of the origins of the Greco-Persian Wars and includes a wealth of geographical and ethnographical information. ...

In 'The Natural History of Pliny' (Vol. 1-6), Pliny the Elder presents an expansive and systematic exploration of the natural world, melding empirical observation with a philosophical perspective. This monumental work, composed in the first century AD, serves as one of the earliest encyclopedias, encompassing a vast array of topics from astronomy to botany, geography to zoology. Pliny's literary style is characterized by its encyclopedic ambition and meticulous detail, offering insights en...

The Natural History of Pliny (Vol. 1-6) is an ambitious encyclopedic survey of the Roman world's knowledge, ranging across cosmology, geography, anthropology, zoology, botany, medicine, mineralogy, and the arts. Written in a dense, accumulative Latin prose, it is less a modern scientific treatise than a vast literary monument to inquiry, compilation, and wonder. Situated within the intellectual culture of the early Roman Empire, the work gathers Greek learning, Roman observation, travelers...

The Classics of Ancient Rome: 30+ Masterpieces of Latin Literature surveys the intellectual and imaginative range of Roman antiquity through epic, lyric, elegy, satire, drama, philosophy, oratory, biography, military writing, and historiography. Canonical poetic experiments stand alongside political speeches, imperial annals, and reflections on ethics, nature, and power. By placing works of statecraft beside intimate verse and mordant social criticism, the volume illuminates both the forma...

Pliny the Elder's Natural History is a vast encyclopaedia, surveying natural phenomena from cosmology to biology, medicine to magic. Direct observation, informed speculation and common knowledge are combined to present a key snapshot of ancient thought and the Romans' perspective on the world around them.Book VII of The Natural History provides a detailed examination of the human animal and is crucial to understanding the work as a whole. In Pliny's eyes, mankind ...

The Greatest Classics of Roman Literature gathers the capacious record of Rome's imaginative, political, philosophical, and historical self-fashioning. Epic, lyric, elegy, satire, comedy, romance, oratory, memoir, technical prose, natural inquiry, biography, and historiography appear in illuminating proximity. Monumental narratives of foundation and empire stand beside intimate poems of desire, severe moral reflections, theatrical social observation, and accounts of military and civic powe...

An enriching collection of classical writings about how ancient Romans made—and thought about—moneyAncient Romans liked money. But how did they make a living and sometimes even become rich? The Roman economy was dominated by agriculture, but it was surprisingly modern in many ways: the Romans had companies with CEOs, shareholders, and detailed contracts regulated by meticulous laws; systems of banking and taxation; and a wide range of occupations, from merchant and...