# Pliny's Natural History



## Franky Baby (Sep 19, 2020)

From Wikipedia: The_ Natural History_ (Latin: _Naturalis Historia_) is a book about the whole of the natural world in Latin by Pliny the Elder, a Roman author and naval commander who died in 79 AD. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman Empire to the modern day and purports to cover all ancient knowledge. The work's subject area is thus 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.

Not many people have time to read a whole encyclopedia, so I took screenshots of the most interesting parts, so you don't have to!

Tartary is mentioned in the footnotes.

Hyperboreans one two

Scythians.

Interesting account of the Chinese. one two

Freaky half-human creatures.

More strange creatures.

Ball earth

Rain of Milk, Blood, Flesh, Iron, Wool, Tiles, and Bricks

Wonders of the Earth

Wonders of Waters, Fountains, and Rivers one two three four

Wonders of Fire and Water Jointly Together

Pliny on the pyramids - one two three

Pygmies one two (bonus: Amazons)

India - the religious kill themselves in fire, over 10,000 war elephants one two

Giants with red hair and blue eyes

Men who hate gold, and bury it

The Island dogs will not enter

Eratosthenes deduces the measure of the Earth one two

Ethiopia - men and beasts of monstrous shapes, giants 12 ft tall (8 cubits). The king who is a dog. The king who's a cyclops. Men with the head of a dog.

You should probably read the first few chapters of Book 7 for yourself. It's crazy. Table of contents

_Sergius_: super soldier, Man of Valor

The whole section about elephants is awesome.

Elephants vs dragons one two three

The Romans slay a 120-foot snake with their Engines of War

European lions

Sphinx. The winged unicorn (pegasus).

Furious unicorns (monoceros).

The basilisk one two three

Medicines learned of by observing animals one two three

Dogs. If you sit, a furious dog won't attack. Amazing tales of horses.

Tartars prefer ass. (See footnote.)

Sea monsters, nereids, mermen. Sea-elephants. one two

Dolphins like to be called _Simo_.

1000-pound fish requiring yokes of oxen to pull out of the river, sea-serpents that drag elephants underwater

Oysters which, if you reach inside to steal their pearls, will cut off your hand. Their Chiefs. Cleopatra dissolves and drinks a $60 million (1860s dollars) pearl to win a bet. Aesop's son and friends drinking expensive pearls for enjoyment.

Corinthiacum (Corinthian metal). Plato said this lost alloy was used on the walls of Atlantis. Pliny gives an idea of how it's made.

The long lives of fish, including a pike that lived 267 years. (See footnote.)

Giant snails, so big their shells could hold almost four gallons. one two

Glow-in-the-dark shellfish.

The Phoenix one two three

Eagles with teeth. How eagles kill deer. Eagles vs dragons.

The Goat-sucker bird. (Its description in the footnote is eerily reminiscent of Filipino _wak-wak._) Birds that can speak (including ravens). one two three four five

Animals that can't learn anything.

Now you know more about the ancient world than 99.9% of so-called scholars. Thanks for reading!


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## HollyHoly (Sep 20, 2020)

That is fun stuff still going thru it but wowser..   the possible reason for tail docking of dogs..Soveriegn Remedy Against The Bite Of A Mad Dog also apparently Semiramis among her other exploits was a horse "lover" Of The Nature Of Horses


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## JimDuyer (Sep 21, 2020)

I like your user image.


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## JWW427 (Sep 21, 2020)

Lets not forget that the Vatican and its Jesuit monks were quick with the edit scissors and the book burnings of all ancient knowledge in the West.


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## Franky Baby (Sep 22, 2020)

Not so with Pliny, I don't think. Otherwise there wouldn't be so many favorable mentions of pagan gods, Old World monsters, giants, etc. Aren't those the things they would normally censor? 

I mean, the book is full of that stuff. Doesn't seem censored to me. In fact, it may well be the greatest, most important, surviving description of the Old World still in existence.


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## Fanna (Sep 23, 2020)

In Cali, we can get this beer called Pliny the Elder.  ?

Also I've always wondered about mentions of freaky, half-human creatures popping up from time to time.  I kinda dismissed it as ... furries or something, but--





-- I uhh...
...
(is that image still staring at me?)
...
I lost my train of thought.  This was a great read, thank you.


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## Franky Baby (Sep 23, 2020)

Fanna said:


> Also I've always wondered about mentions of freaky, half-human creatures popping up from time to time.  I kinda dismissed it as ... furries or something, but--



Don't forget the ones in the pyramids!





https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cynocephaly


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## Fanna (Sep 23, 2020)

That connection made my brain melt a little.  
...
Really?  Atlanteans?


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## ibiseyedmacks (Sep 25, 2020)

Fanna said:


> In Cali, we can get this beer called Pliny the Elder.  ?
> 
> Also I've always wondered about mentions of freaky, half-human creatures popping up from time to time.  I kinda dismissed it as ... furries or something, but--
> 
> ...



The words "genetic manipulation" ring through my head numerous times throughout the day. On the previous SH there was a post on Diana Fertility Temple that eye wish eye had stored before the website drop. Also a post on pigs and cheetas stuck out to me. Pigs having human like eyes, and cheetas being somewhat mixed like a cat and doggo, their spots have dog hair.


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## Franky Baby (Sep 25, 2020)

The Book of Enoch says the fallen elohim combined different creatures to mock God.


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## Oracle (Apr 9, 2021)

Franky Baby said:


> Don't forget the ones in the pyramids


I recently learned what some of the animal heads on egyptian priests meant.


> the task of drawing a presentable eagle, the symbolic form of the Kerub of Air, he will use the Zodiacal sign for Scorpio. The evolutionary connection between the snake and the bird is well known to biologists; but long ages before Darwin, initiates used the Serpent and the Eagle to represent the unsublimated and sublimated aspects of the life-force. The Scorpion connects with the Serpent through the Dragon.


 pg. 85
psychic-self-defense : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive


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