Pliny Archive
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Menstrual Blood in Ancient Rome: An Unspeakable Impurity?
Posted on February 8, 2013 | No CommentsThis article examines the language and power associated with menstrual blood in Roman literature, focusing primarily on the issue of ritual impurity. -
Pliny, Nero, and the ‘Emerald’
Posted on September 28, 2012 | No CommentsOne notes here that Pliny does not actually explain why Nero should have preferred to watch the games in this way. The temptation is to assume that he must have been suffering from some sort of eye-condition, whether temporary or permanent, which he thought that he could relieve in this way, not least because the colour green was believed to be soothing to the eyes. -
The Medical Use of Cannabis Among the Greeks and Romans
Posted on September 2, 2012 | No CommentsThis paper is intended to update our knowledge of the medical use of canna- bis in the Classical world, a topic on which the only serious discussion is Brun- ner 1973 -
Suetonius and the Death of Pliny the Elder
Posted on August 26, 2012 | No CommentsThis account of Pliny the Elder -
Earthworms and Honey
Posted on June 6, 2012 | No CommentsThe most famous way of thinking about the body in the ancient -
The eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79 and the death of Gaius Plinius Secundus
Posted on August 30, 2010 | No CommentsThe effect of the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79, which led inter alia to the death of Pliny the Elder, is reviewed.
