(2) WORKS.
A chronological list of Pliny’s writings is given by his nephew (Ep. iii. 5).
1. De iaculatione equestri.—‘Hunc, cum praefectus alae militaret, pari ingenio curaque composuit.’ This manual on the javelin as a cavalry weapon is mentioned by Pliny himself, N.H. viii. 162, ‘Nos diximus in libro de iaculatione equestri condito.’
2. De vita Pomponii Secundi, in two Books, a tribute to the memory of a valued friend, the tragic poet Pomponius. Cf. N.H. xiv. 56, ‘referentes vitam Pomponii Secundi vatis.’
3. Bella Germaniae, in twenty Books, a narrative of the Roman wars in Germany; begun by Pliny when serving in that country, the apparition of Drusus having besought him to rescue his name from oblivion (so Pliny the younger). Cf. Tac. Ann. i. 69, ‘Tradit C. Plinius, Germanicorum bellorum scriptor.’
4. Studiosus, in three Books or six parts, a treatise on rhetoric from the very rudiments. Quintilian, though surprised at some of Pliny’s views (xi. 3, 143; 148), numbers him among the more careful exponents of the subject (iii. 1, 21, ‘accuratius scripsit’). The book contained models of good style: Gell. ix. 16, 1, ‘refert plerasque sententias quas in declamandis controversiis lepide arguteque dictas putat.’
5. Dubius Sermo, in eight Books, published A.D. 67, towards the end of Nero’s reign, when purely technical subjects alone could be treated without danger to an author. Cf. N.H. praef. 28, ‘libellos quos de grammatica edidi.’
6. A fine Aufidii Bassi, in thirty-one Books. At what point Bassus’ history ended and Pliny’s began is not known: but the latter certainly dealt with the closing years of Nero’s reign (N.H. ii. 199, ‘anno Neronis principis supremo, sicut in rebus eius exposuimus’), as well as with the times of Vespasian and Titus (N.H. praef. 20, ‘Vos omnes, patrem te fratremque diximus opere iusto, temporum nostrorum historiam orsi a fine Aufidii Bassi’). The work was completed in A.D. 77, but not published till after the author’s death. His nephew says he wrote with scrupulous care: Ep. v. 8, 5, ‘historias et quidem religiosissime scripsit.’ The book was used by Tacitus (Ann. xiii. 20; xv. 53; Hist. iii. 28).
7. Naturae Historiae, in thirty-seven Books, is Pliny’s only extant work. As he speaks of Titus as ‘sexies consul,’ the date of its presentation to him was A.D. 77. Book i. consists of a dedicatory epistle to Titus and a table of contents. The body of the work is arranged as follows: Book ii., the universe and the elements; iii.-vi., geography of Europe, Asia, and Africa; vii., anthropology and human physiology; viii.-xi., zoology; xii.-xix., botany; xx.-xxvii., the use of vegetable substances in medicine; xxviii.-xxxii., the use of animal substances in medicine; xxxiii.-xxxvii., mineralogy applied to medicine and the fine arts.
This work, which was meant not for continuous perusal, but for consultation as a book of reference, contained twenty thousand facts; and its preparation involved the reading of about two thousand volumes by one hundred authors (see N.H. praef. 17). The extracts he had made from these sources Pliny bequeathed to his nephew in one hundred and sixty volumes. He makes a point of acknowledging his obligations to other writers (praef. 21, ‘in his voluminibus auctorum nomina praetexui, est enim benignum ... et plenum ingenui pudoris fateri per quos profeceris’); cf. the lists of authorities, Roman and foreign, prefixed to the work. Such devotion to natural science was unusual in men of Pliny’s class, and not generally appreciated; cf. xxii. 15, ‘Plerisque ultro etiam irrisui sumus ista commentantes atque frivoli operis arguimur.’ As a scientific writer Pliny fails because he is not an original investigator, and because he lacks the critical faculty. For his method of working see Plin. Ep. iii. 5.