Natural History (Pliny)
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The Natural History 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 an
First page from the editio princeps of the Naturalis historia, printed in 1469 in Venice by Johann of Speyer. Bibliothèque nationale de France.
Copy of Naturalis Historia printed by Johannes Alvisius in 1499 in Venice, Italy
A cynocephalus, or dog-head, as described by Pliny in his Natural History. From the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493).
A sciapod, described by Pliny in his Natural History, from the Nuremberg Chronicle (1493)
In 79 AD, Mount Vesuvius, a stratovolcano located in the modern-day region of Campania, Italy, erupted, causing one of the deadliest eruptions in history. Vesuvius violently ejected a cloud of super-h
Natural History (Pliny)
…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…
The Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum (c. 1821) by John Martin
The Last Day of Pompeii. Painting by Karl Brullov, 1830–1833
Inside the crater of Vesuvius
Pompeii, with Vesuvius towering in the background