44 45 Hyginus, 38 Virgil," Trogus, Ovid,"1 Græcinus,42 Columella, 43 Tubero, L. Tarutius, who wrote in Greek on the Stars, Cæsar the Dictator, who wrote upon the Stars, Sergius Paulus, Sabinus Fabianus, M. Cicero, Calpurnius Bassus," Ateius Capito,51 Mamilius Sura, 52 Attius, who wrote the Praxidica. 47 49 FOREIGN AUTHORS QUOTED.-Hesiod, Theophrastus," Aristotle, Democritus,57 King Hiero,58 King Attalus Philometor," King Archelaüs,60 Archytas, 61 Xenophon, Amphilochus of 38 See end of B. iii. 39 See end of B. vii. 40 See end of B. vii. 62 41 A native of Sulmo, in the country of the Peligni, and one of the greatest poets of the Augustan age. It is most probable that his "Fasti" was extensively consulted by Pliny in the compilation of the present Book. Six Books of the Fasti have come down to us, but the remaining six have perished, if, indeed, they were ever written, which has been doubted by many of the learned. 42 See end of B. xiv. 43 See end of B. viii. 44 See end of B. ii. It is supposed that there were several writers of this name, but it is impossible to say with certainty which of them is the one here referred to. It is probable, however, that it is either L. Ælius Tubero, the friend of Cicero, or else Q. Ælius Tubero, his son, that is alluded to. 45 L. Tarutius Firmianus, a mathematician and astronomer, and a friend and contemporary of Cicero and M. Varro. At the request of the latter, he took the horoscope of Romulus. It is generally supposed that he was of Etruscan descent. 46 The founder of the imperial dignity at Rome. His Commentaries are the only work written by him that has come down to us. His treatise on the Stars, which Pliny frequently quotes throughout this Book, was probably written under the inspection of the astronomer, Sosigenes. 47 See end of B. ii. 48 Nothing is known of this writer. that he may have been the same person at the end of B. ii. 49 See end of B. vii. 50 See end of B. iii. It has been suggested, however, 50 See end of B. iii. 53 L. Accius, or Attius, an early Roman tragic poet, and the son of a freedman, born about b.c. 170. His tragedies were chiefly imitations from the Greek. He is highly praised by Cicero. The "Praxidica" here mentioned, is probably the same as the " Pragmatica" spoken of by Aulus Gellius, B. xx. c. 3. Only some fragments of his Tragedies are left. 54 See end of B. vii. 55 See end of B. ii. 59 See end of B. iii. thens, Anaxipolis of Thasos, Aristophanes of Miletus, -pollodorus of Lemnos, Antigonus of Cymæ, Agathocles of hios, Apollonius of Pergamus, Aristander of Athens, Bachius of Miletus, Bion" of Soli, Chæreas73 of Athens, Chaistus of Athens, Diodorus of Priene, Dion of Colophon, Epigenes" of Rhodes, Euagon78 of Thasos, Euphronius of Athens, Androtion80 who wrote on Agriculture, schrion si who wrote on Agriculture, Lysimachus who wrote on Agriulture, Dionysius83 who translated Mago, Diophanes who hade an Epitome from Dionysius, Thales, Eudoxus, Philipus, 87 Calippus, Dositheus, Parmeniscus, Meton," Criton," 88 64 See end of B. ix. 56 See end of B. viii. 66 See end of B. viii. 67 See end of B. viii. 74 See end of B. xiii. 89 85 90 65 See end of B. viii. 83 See end of B. viii. 84 See end of B. xii. 81 S5 Of Miletus, the most ancient of the Greek philosophers, and the ounder of the lonian school of Philosophy. He is said to have written pon the Solstice and the Equinox, and a work on Astronomy, in verse, was also attributed to him. It is, however, more generally believed, that e left no written works behind him, and that those attributed to him were forgeries. 86 See end of B. ii. 87 An astronomer of Medama, or Medma, in Magna Græcia, and a disiple of Plato. He is said to have written a treatise on the winds, and Plutarch states that he demonstrated the figure of the moon. 88 An astronomer of Cyzicus, and a friend of Aristotle, whom he assisted n completing the discoveries of Eudoxus. He invented the cycle of seventy-six years, called after him the Calippic. 89 Of Colonus, a geometrician, to whom Archimedes dedicated his works on the sphere and cylinder, and on spirals. 90 A grammarian, who is supposed to have written a commentary on Aratus. Varro, De Ling. Lat. x. 10, speaks of him as making the distinctive characteristics of words to be eight in number. 91 A famous astronomer of Athens, to whom the discovery of the cycle of nineteen years has been attributed. 92 There were several learned men of this name, but it appears impossible to say which of them is the one here alluded to; probably it is either the Pythagorean philosopher of Ægæ, who wrote on Predestination, or else the historian, a native of Pieria in Macedonia. There was also an astronomer of this name, a native of Naxos, and a friend of Eudoxus of Cnidos. 93 98 2 97 Enopides, Zenon, Euctemon," Harpalus," Hecatæus,7 Anaximander, Sosigenes," Hipparchus,' Aratus, Zoroaster,3 Archibius.* 93 A famous astronomer, a native of Chios. He is said to have claimed the discovery of the obliquity of the Ecliptic. 94 Probably Zenon of Elea, one of the most famous philosophers of antiquity. All of his works had perished at a very early period. 95 An Athenian astronomer, the friend and assistant of Meton, about 430 b.c. 96 An astronomer mentioned by Censorinus, as having corrected the intercalation of Cleostratus. Nothing further appears to be known of him. 97 For Hecatæus of Miletus, see B. iv. For Hecatæus of Abdera, see B. vi. 98 See end of B. iv. 99 See end of B. ii. 1 See end of B. ii. 2 A native of Soli, or else Tarsus, in Cilicia. He was the author of two Greek astronomical poems which have come down to us. He flourished about b.c. 270. 3 Nothing can be said of him with any degree of historical certainty. By the Persians he was called Zerdusht, and was said to have been the founder of the Magian religion. There were several works in Greek bearing his name, but which, no doubt, were forgeries of a later age than that usually assigned to him. 4 He is mentioned in c. 70 of this Book, as writing a letter to Antiochus, king of Syria; but nothing further seems to be known of him. 129 BOOK XIX. THE NATURE AND CULTIVATION OF FLAX, AND AN ACCOUNT OF VARIOUS GARDEN PLANTS. chap. 1.—the nature of flax—marvellous facts relative thereto. We have now imparted a knowledge of the constellations and of the seasons, in a method unattended with difficulty for the most ignorant even, and free from every doubt; indeed, to those who understand these matters aright, the face of the earth contributes in no less a degree to a due appreciation of the celestial phænomena, than does the science of astronomy to our improvement in the arts of agriculture. Many writers have made it their next care to treat of horticulture; but, for my own part, it does not appear to me altogether advisable to pass on immediately to that subject, and, indeed, I am rather surprised to find that some among the learned, who have either sought the pleasures of knowledge in these pursuits, or have grounded their celebrity upon them, have omitted so many particulars in reference thereto; for no mention do we find in their writings of numerous vegetable productions, both wild as well as cultivated, many of which are found, in ordinary life, to be of higher value and of more extended use to man than the cereals even. To commence, then, with a production which is of an utility that is universally recognized, and is employed not only upon dry land but upon the seas as well, we will turn our attention to flax,2 a plant which is reproduced from seed, but which can neither be classed among the cereals nor yet among the garden plants. What department is there to be found of active life in which flax is not employed? and in what production of the earth are there greater marvels3 revealed to us 1 More particularly in B. xvii. cc. 2 and 3, and B. xviii. cc. 57-75. 2 The Linum usitatissimum of Linnæus. 3 What would he have said to the application of the powers of steam, and the electric telegraph ? TOL. IV. K 5 than in this? To think that here is a plant which brings Egypt in close proximity to Italy!—so much so, in fact, that Galerius and Balbillus, both of them prefects of Egypt, made the passage to Alexandria from the Straits of Sicily, the one in six days, the other in five! It was only this very last summer, that Valerius Marianus, a senator of prætorian rank, reached Alexandria from Puteoli in eight days, and that, too, with a very moderate breeze all the time! To think that here is a plant which brings Gades, situate near the Pillars of Hercules, within six days of Ostia, Nearer Spain within three, the province of Gallia Narbonensis within two, and Africa within one!—this last passage having been made by C. Flavius, when legatus of Vibius Crispus, the proconsul, and that, too, with but little or no wind to favour his passage! What audacity in man! What criminal perverseness! thus to sow a thing in the ground for the purpose of catching the winds and the tempests, it being not enough for him, forsooth, to be borne upon the waves alone! Nay, still more than this, sails even that are bigger than the very ships themselves will not suffice for him, and although it takes a whole tree to make a mast to carry the cross-yards, above those cross-yards sails upon sails must still be added, with others swelling at the prow and at the stern as well—so many devices, in fact, to challenge death! Only to think, in fine, that that which moves to and fro, as it were, the various countries of the earth, should spring from a seed so minute, and make its appearance in a stem so fine, so little elevated above the surface of the earth! And then, besides, it is not in all its native strength that it is employed for the purposes of a tissue; no, it must first be rent asunder, and then tawed and beaten, till it is reduced to the softness of wool; indeed, it is only by such violence done to its nature, and prompted by the extreme audacity of man, and * * * that it is rendered subservient to his purposes. The inventor of this art has been 4 Possibly Galerius Trachalus, Consul a.d. 68, a relation of Galeria Fundana, the wife of the Emperor Vitellius. 5 Governor of Egypt in the reign of Nero, a.d. 55. He is mentioned by Seneca, Quæst. Nat. B. iv. c. 2, and is supposed to have written a work on Egypt and his journeys in that country. Or, as Sillig suggests, "after ill treatment such as this, that it arrives at the sea." The passage is evidently defective. |