File:First_page_from_the_Editio_Princeps_of_the_Pliny's_"Historia_Naturalis".jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Natural History
Sign in to saveAlso known as Pliny's Natural History, Naturalis Historia, Plin. Nat.
Encyclopedia published circa AD 77–79 by Pliny the Elder
Natural History is an ancient encyclopedia written by the Roman author Pliny the Elder around AD 77–79 that compiles knowledge about the natural world, including animals, plants, minerals, and geography as the Romans understood them. It matters because it preserves what educated Romans knew about nature at that time and has influenced how later generations thought about the natural world.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
In the Vinony graph
Vinony's link graph records 2,169 inbound references to Natural History, and connects out to engraved gem, Latin and Colosseum.
It sits within the topics 1st-century books in Latin, Ancient Roman medicine and Encyclopedias in classical antiquity.
Vinony links it to 53 Wikipedia language editions.
Wikidata facts
- Author
- Pliny the Elder
- Country of origin
- Roman Empire
- Main subject
- natural history
- Image
- First page from the Editio Princeps of the Pliny's "Historia Naturalis".jpg
Show 10 more facts
- Commons category
- Naturalis Historia
- title
- Naturalis historia
- language of work or name
- Latin
- copyright status
- public domain
- place of publication
- Ancient Rome
- different from
- natural history
- inception
- 0074-00-00
- entry in abbreviations table
- Plin. Nat.
- form of creative work
- encyclopedia
- topic has template
- Template:Cite Pliny
via Wikidata · CC0
~40 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Natural History (Latin: Naturalis historia) is a Latin work by Pliny the Elder. The largest single work to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day, the Natural History compiles information gleaned from other ancient authors. Despite the work's title, its subject area is not limited to what is today understood by natural history; Pliny himself defines his scope as "the natural world, or life". It is encyclopedic in scope, but its structure is not like that of a modern encyclopedia. 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 of his death during the AD 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 including astronomy, mathematics, geography, ethnography, anthropology, human physiology, zoology, botany, agriculture, horticulture, pharmacology, mining, mineralogy, sculpture, art, and precious stones.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Natural History” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.