Pliny's Natural History was written alongside other substantial works (which have since been lost). Pliny (AD 23–79) combined his scholarly activities with a busy career as an imperial administrator for the emperor 查看更多內容

First publication
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, … 查看更多內容

Medieval and early modern
The anonymous fourth-century compilation Medicina Plinii contains more than 1,100 pharmacological recipes, the vast majority of them from the Historia naturalis; perhaps because Pliny's name was attached to it, it … 查看更多內容

1. ^ Cf. Pliny's consideration of Aristotle, as well as modern criticism of Pliny's work, in Trevor Murphy, Pliny the Elder's Natural History: The Empire in the Encyclopedia, OUP (2004), pp. … 查看更多內容

Purpose
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 … 查看更多內容

The Natural History is generally divided into the organic plants and animals and the inorganic matter, although there are frequent digressions in each section. The encyclopedia also notes the uses made of all of these by the Romans. Its description of metals and … 查看更多內容

• Books portal
• Famulus – his biography is featured in Natural History
• Naturales quaestiones – a similar, shorter encyclopedia written by Seneca 查看更多內容