Talk:Natural History (Pliny)

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Contents 1 Naturalis Historia? 2 Requested move 2.1 Survey 2.2 Discussion 3 Wikipedia 4 Comment on the art section from Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time (BBC Radio 4) 5 Roman technology

[edit] Naturalis Historia?

Ah yes, Naturalis Historia to be sure. Luckily for us simple folks, Pliny's Natural History still redirects here. The illustrated title page gives a title of Naturalis Historiǣ. Perhaps accuracy is not the main thing. --Wetman 23:13, 24 September 2006 (UTC)

The title on that particular title page is in the genitive case: it means "The first volume of the Natural History of C. Plinius Secundus". So there's no inaccuracy. However, the Wikipedia rule is to choose the form most commonly used by simple (and other) folks in English, isn't it? "Natural History", therefore. Andrew Dalby 21:09, 25 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Requested move

Naturalis Historia → Natural History (Pliny) – Natural History is the most common title for this work in English: see [1] and [2]. Natural History (Pliny) currently redirects to Naturalis Historia, the result of a recent page move. --Akhilleus (talk) 22:10, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Survey

Add "* Support" or "* Oppose" followed by an optional one-sentence explanation, then sign your opinion with ~~~~

• Support. As I said above, Wikipedia prefers the name most commonly used in English. Andrew Dalby 01:07, 1 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Discussion

Add any additional comments --Akhilleus (talk) 22:10, 30 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia

Wikipedia: A "work that is full of insufficient and superfluous allegations, and more varied as nature herself."

[edit] Comment on the art section from Melvyn Bragg's In Our Time (BBC Radio 4)

Their show on The Artist (TX 28th March 2002 [3]) says that Pliny's description of historical artists is quite at odds to how they were viewed at the time. Visual artists (sculptors, painters) were held in low regard, little more than manual labourers. The programme says that Pliny spoke about them in far more elevated terms. I am not familiar with this work, but perhaps someone who is may feel that this is worth mentioning? --bodnotbod 18:58, 14 August 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Roman technology

I have added a new section on technology because Pliny is one of our best source for such information, but much more could be added. There ought to be cross-refs to other authors especially Vitruvius, Varro and even Tacitus. Peterlewis (talk) 07:08, 24 February 2008 (UTC)

I have started to expand the "highlights" section if only because there is a wealth of detail in Pliny to mention, and can be well illustrated from other articles. It also gives the opportunity to produce cross-refs to those other articles. Peterlewis (talk) 19:53, 29 April 2008 (UTC)