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Cyril of Alexandria was the leading voice of Nicene orthodoxy in the Christological controversies between Constantinople (381) and Chalcedon (451). Assuming the mantle of the Cappadotian fathers, he answered the auguments of Nestorius who had changed the liturgy of Constantinople by altering the prayer which referred to Mary as the Mother of God. Although he died seven years before the Council of Chalcedon, his writings and formulations heavily influenced not only Chalcedon, but the entire trajectory of orthodox christological thought. (Summary by Jonathan Lange)...

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Classics (antiquity), Classics (antiquity), Religion

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Sophocles' play dramatizes the aftermath of Agamemnon's murder by his wife Clytemnestra and her lover Aegisthus. His daughter Electra is hungry for revenge and longs for the return of her brother Orestes to help her achieve her ends. (Summary by Elizabeth Klett)...

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Tragedy, Classics (antiquity), Play

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Η Ιστορία του Θουκυδίδη εξιστορεί τα πρώτα 20 χρόνια του πολέμου μεταξύ της Αθήνας και της Σπάρτης, που κράτησε από το 431 μέχρι το 404 π.Χ. και είναι γνωστός ως Πελοποννησιακός Πόλεμος. Είναι έργο ζωής ενός καλλιεργημένου, ευσυνείδητου και δραστήριου ανθρώπου, που προσφέρει μια διεισδυτική ματιά στα γεγονότα της εποχής του και την ανθρώπινη φύση. Το αρχαίο κείμενο διαβασμένο με σύγχρονη νεοελληνική προφορά. Βιβλίο 5 από τα 8. Thucydides' Histories is the history of the first 20 years of the war between Athens and Sparta, which lasted from 431 until 404 B.C., also known as the Peloponnesian War. It is the life's work of a very sophisticated, efficient and active man which gives us a deep insight to the occurences of his time and human nature. Ancient text read with contemporary Greek pronunciation. Book 5 of 8. (Summary by olorou)...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Sea stories, War stories

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How to maintain a tranquil mind amongst social upheaval and turmoil, addressed to Serenus. (Introduction by Jonathan Hockey)

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Advice

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Lysistrata read by the Classics Drama Company at DePaul. The Classics Drama Company at DePaul is a new gathering of Thespians and Classicists dedicated to performing and understanding ancient literature. If you live in Chicago and attend DePaul University, we welcome new additions to our group. Contact Dr. Kirk Shellko (kshellko@depaul.edu), if interested. First performed in classical Athens c. 411 B.C.E., Aristophanes’ “Lysistrata” is the original battle of the sexes. One woman, Lysistrata, brings together the women of all Greece, exhorting them to withhold sexual contact from all men in order that they negotiate a treaty. Double entendres abound as men of Greece attempt to keep Lysistrata and her prurient gang from putting an end to the Peloponnesian war. Notably risqué, this comic drama sheds light on gender relations in ancient Athens. Lysistrata: Courtney Nehls Calonice: Natalie Chavez Myrrhine: Thu Hien Pham Lampito: Nick Marotta Stratyllis: Maggie Hogan Magistrate: Ryan Keifer Cinesias: Neil Loomis Spartan Herald: Maggie Hogan Envoys: Maggie Hogan, Neil Loomis Athenians: Courtney Nehls, Natalie Chavez, Thu Hien Pham, Nicholas...

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Classics (antiquity)

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Recapitulación de todo lo dicho sobre la invención y disposición. La elocución es la más hermosa parte de la retórica y la más difícil. Debe cuidarse más de los pensamientos que de las palabras. La elocución se considera en las palabras, ya separadas, ya juntas. Debe cuidarse de que las palabras sean castizas, claras, adornadas y acomodadas al asunto. Las palabras unidas entre sí deben ser correctas, bien colocadas y acompañadas de figuras. Algunos preceptos para hablar con pureza y elegancia. La claridad nace de la propiedad de las palabras. De dónde nace la obscuridad y modo de evitarla. El adorno debe ser varonil, no afeminado, debe variarse según la materia. El ornato. Elección de las palabras sinónimas. Vicios contrarios al adorno. Para el ornato contribuye principalmente la energía o hipotiposis, las semejanzas, la braquilogía o concisión, la énfasis y la sencillez o afeleía. La fuerza del orador consiste en amplificar y ponderar o en disminuir. El primer modo de amplificar es por el nombre de la cosa. Los principales géneros de amplificación son cuatro: por aumento, por comparación, por raciocinación, por amontonamiento. Otra...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Languages

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The Versio Latina, or Latin translation of the works of Homer, has existed since the 14th century, but was first printed, under the name of Andreas Divus, in 1537. It is a crib, to give it no finer name, but a crib which had immense influence, being the first introduction to Homer for generations of mediaeval and early modern scholars.(Introduction by hefyd)...

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Poetry, Classics (antiquity)

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Seneca the Younger wrote the moral essay De Brevitate Vitae — On the Shortness of Life — to his friend Paulinus. The philosopher brings up many Stoic principles on the nature of time, namely that men waste much of it in meaningless pursuits. According to the essay, nature gives man enough time to do what is really important and the individual must allot it properly. (Introduction by xxxx)...

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Classics (antiquity), Philosophy

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Von der Kürze des Lebens von Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4BC - AD64). Übersetzt durch J. Moser; veröffentlicht 1829. Es ist nicht wenig Zeit, was wir haben, sondern es ist viel, was wir nicht nützen. Über die Kostbarkeit der Zeit, die vielfältigen Arten, wie Menschen dieselbe verschwenden, und wie der Mensch die Frist seines Lebens richtig nutzt. Heute so relevant wie 49 AD. (Zusammenfassung von redaer)...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Essay/Short nonfiction, Philosophy

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The Apology is Plato's version of the speech delivered by Socrates before the Athenian people in his defence agaist charges of impiety and of misleading others, which ended in his condemnation and death in 399 BC. It is the earliest and most eloquent expression of what has been termed 'philosophical faith', as that love and search for truth which gives meaning to life and trust in the face of death. (Summary by zaaf) Ο Πλάτωνας ήταν σπουδαίος Έλληνας φιλόσοφος και συγγραφέας (427 π.Χ. - 347 π.Χ.), ο γνωστότερος μαθητής του Σωκράτη. Ο Πλάτων έγραψε την Απολογία του Σωκράτους, που θεωρείται ως μια σχετικά ακριβής καταγραφή της απολογίας του Σωκράτη στη δίκη που τον καταδίκασε σε θάνατο....

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Biography, Memoirs, Philosophy

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The work consists of ten books, originally separate scrolls, and is understood to be based on notes said to be from his lectures at the Lyceum which were either edited by or dedicated to Aristotle's son, Nicomachus. In many ways this work parallels the similar Eudemian Ethics, which has only eight books, and the two works can be fruitfully compared. Books V, VI, and VII of the Nicomachean Ethics are identical to Books IV, V, and VI of the Eudemian Ethics. Opinions about the relationship between the two works, for example which was written first, and which originally contained the three common books, is divided. Aristotle describes his ethical work as being different from his other kinds of study, because it is not just for the sake of contemplating what things are, but rather to actually become good ourselves. It is therefore practical rather than theoretical in the original Aristotelian senses of these terms. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Philosophy, Classics (antiquity)

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Η Ιστορία του Θουκυδίδη εξιστορεί τα πρώτα 20 χρόνια του πολέμου μεταξύ της Αθήνας και της Σπάρτης, που κράτησε από το 431 μέχρι το 404 π.Χ. και είναι γνωστός ως Πελοποννησιακός Πόλεμος. Είναι έργο ζωής ενός καλλιεργημένου, ευσυνείδητου και δραστήριου ανθρώπου, που προσφέρει μια διεισδυτική ματιά στα γεγονότα της εποχής του και την ανθρώπινη φύση. Το αρχαίο κείμενο διαβασμένο με σύγχρονη νεοελληνική προφορά. Βιβλίο 4 από τα 8. Thucydides' Histories is the history of the first 20 years of the war between Athens and Sparta, which lasted from 431 until 404 B.C., also known as the Peloponnesian War. It is the life's work of a very sophisticated, efficient and active man which gives us a deep insight to the occurences of his time and human nature. Ancient text read with contemporary Greek pronunciation. Book 4 of 8. (Summary by olorou)...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Sea stories, War stories

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The Apology of Socrates is Plato's version of the speech given by Socrates as he unsuccessfully defended himself in 399 BC against the charges of corrupting the young, and by not believing in the gods in whom the city believes, but in other daimonia that are novel (24b). Apology here has its earlier meaning (now usually expressed by the word apologia) of speaking in defense of a cause or of one's beliefs or actions (from the Ancient Greek ἀπολογία)....

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Essay/Short nonfiction, Classics (antiquity), Philosophy

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Meno (Ancient Greek: Μένων) is a Socratic dialogue written by Plato. Written in the Socratic dialectic style, it attempts to determine the definition of virtue, or arete, meaning in this case virtue in general, rather than particular virtues, such as justice or temperance. The goal is a common definition that applies equally to all particular virtues. Socrates moves the discussion past the philosophical confusion, or aporia, created by Meno's paradox (aka the learner's paradox) with the introduction of new Platonic ideas: the theory of knowledge as recollection, anamnesis, and in the final lines a movement towards Platonic idealism.....

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Classics (antiquity), Philosophy

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Posterior Analytics is the fourth of Aristotle's six texts on logic which are collectively known as the Organon (Instrument). Posterior Analytics deals with demonstration, definition, and scientific knowledge. Demonstration is distinguished as a syllogism productive of scientific knowledge, while Definition is marked as the statement of a thing's nature, a statement of the meaning of the name, or of an equivalent nominal formula. (Introduction Adapted from Wikipedia)...

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Classics (antiquity), Philosophy

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Aeneas flees the destruction of Troy, abandons Dido, queen of the Carthaginians, and wends his way to Latium in Italy, where slaying Turnus, leader of native resistance, he founds the future Rome. (Summary by Malone)...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Poetry

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The Metamorphoses of Ovid is probably one of the best known, certainly one of the most influential works of the Ancient world. It consists of a narrative poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world through mythological tales, starting with a cosmogony and finishing with the deification of Julius Caesar. Published around 8 AD, the Metamorphoses are a source, sometimes the only source, for many of the most famous ancient myths, such as the stories of Daedalus and Icarus, Arachne or Narcisus. Ovid works his way through his subject matter often in an apparently arbitrary fashion; however, the connection between all the seemingly unconnected stories is that all of them talk about transformation. Change as the only permanent aspect of nature is the certainty that underlies the work of Ovid, who jumps from one transformation tale to another, sometimes retelling what had come to be seen as central events in the world of Greek myths and sometimes straying in odd directions. The poem is often called a mock-epic. It is written in dactylic hexameter, the form of the great heroic and nationalistic epic poems, both ...

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Classics (antiquity), Ancient Texts, Myths/Legends, Poetry

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Parva Naturalia [the short treatises on nature (a conventional Latin title first used by Giles of Rome)] is a collection of books by Aristotle, which discuss natural phenomena involving the body and the soul. The books are as follows: I - On Sensation and the Sensible II - On Memory and Recollection III - On Sleeping and Waking IV - On Dreams V - On Prophecy in Sleep VI - On Longevity and Shortness of Life VII - On Youth and Old Age, Life and Death VIII - On Respiration ( Summary Adapted from Wikipedia )...

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Philosophy, Classics (antiquity), Ancient Texts, Psychology, Science

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On Generation and Corruption (Ancient Greek: Περὶ γενέσεως καὶ φθορᾶς, Latin: De Generatione et Corruptione, also known as On Coming to Be and Passing Away) is a treatise by Aristotle. Like many of his texts, it is both scientific and philosophic (although not necessarily scientific in the modern sense). The philosophy, though, is essentially empirical; as in all Aristotle's works, the deductions made about the unexperienced and unobservable are based on observations and real experiences. The question raised at the beginning of the text builds on an idea from Aristotle's earlier work The Physics. Namely, whether things come into being through causes, through some prime material, or whether everything is generated purely through alteration. From this important work Aristotle gives us two of his most remembered contributions. First, the Four Causes and also the Four Elements (earth, wind, fire and water). (Summary Adapted from Wikipedia)...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Nature, Philosophy, Science

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Das Nibelungenlied ist ein mittelalterliches Heldenepos und wurde oft als „Nationalepos der Deutschen“ bezeichnet. Es entstand zu Beginn des 13. Jahrhunderts und wurde in der damaligen Volkssprache Mittelhochdeutsch geschrieben. Das Epos erzählt von der Liebe zwischen dem Drachentöter Siegfried und der burgundischen Prinzessin Kriemhild, von der Brautwerbung des burgundischen Königs Gunther um die isländische Königin Brunhild, vom Verrat der Burgunden an Siegfried und dessen Ermordung durch Hagen. Später ist der Schauplatz der Handlung das Land der Hunnen unter König Etzel, den Kriemhild in zweiter Ehe geheiratet hat. Kriemhild benutzt ihre neue Position, um mithilfe der Hunnen Siegfrieds Tod an Hagen und allen Burgunden zu rächen. Die Übersetzung Karl Joseph Simrocks gehört zu den bekanntesten Übertragungen des alten Textes in die neuhochdeutsche Sprache. The Nibelungenlied (Song of the Nibelungs) is a medieval epic poem and has been often referred to as the German “national epic”. It was written down in the early 13th century in Middle High German, the vernacular of the time. The epic tells of the love between the dragon-slayer Si...

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Adventure, Classics (antiquity)

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On the Heavens (Greek: Περί ουρανού, Latin: De Caelo or De Caelo et Mundo) is Aristotle's chief cosmological treatise. In it Aristotle argues that the Earth is a sphere by pointing to the evidence of lunar eclipses. Aristotle also provides a detailed explanation of his theory of 'gravity' arguing that things which contain 'earth' fall towards the centre of the Universe because 'earth' is naturally attracted to the centre of the Universe. Aristotle argues that if the planet Earth was moved to the location of the Moon then objects which contain 'earth' would not fall towards the centre of the Earth but rather towards the centre of the Universe. Aristotle believed that the more 'earth' an object contained the faster it would fall. Aristotle argues that there is another type of matter called 'fire' which is naturally repelled from the centre of the Universe. In addition to his own theories Aristotle expounds the theories of the Pythagoreans (that the Earth is one of the stars and that numbers are the literal building blocks of our world) and Democritus (that matter is made of atoms and objects float because of the motions of these atoms...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Science, Nature, Philosophy

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Our intention is, that Timaeus, who is the most of an astronomer amongst us, and has made the nature of the universe his special study, should speak first, beginning with the generation of the world and going down to the creation of man... 'Timaeus' is usually regarded as one of Plato's later dialogues, and provides an account of the creation of the universe, with physical, metaphysical and ethical dimensions, which had great influence over philosophers for centuries following. It attributes the order and beauty of the universe to a benevolent demiurge - a 'craftsman' or god - fashioning the physical world after the pattern of an ideal, eternal one. The dramatic setting of the dialogue is the day after a discussion in which Socrates has described his ideal state - as in the 'Republic'. A conversation between Socrates, Critias, Hermocrates and Timaeus, including Critias' account of Solon's journey to Egypt (where he hears the story of Atlantis), soon gives way to the monologue by Timaeus that forms the bulk of the work. 'Timaeus' is translated by Benjamin Jowett and his comprehensive introduction to and analysis of the work precedes ...

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Philosophy, Classics (antiquity), Ancient Texts

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Xenophon möchte zeigen, dass Sokrates ganz bewusst in den Tod gegangen sei. Das Unglück seines Todes war kein Zufall. Denn der Philosoph habe gespürt, dass seine Zeit gekommen sei, um das Leben zu vollenden und zu sterben. (Zusammenfassung von Wikipedia)...

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Philosophy, Classics (antiquity)

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Nausicaa, daughter of Alcinous, king of the Phaeacians, is asleep when Athena comes to her to suggest that she go down to the river the next morning, with her attendants. So the next morning Nausicaa persuades her parents to lend her a wagon to take clothes down to the river for washing. The party goes down to the washing pool. Nausicaa is about to fold and put away the clothing when the ship-wrecked Odysseus, who is asleep nearby, wakes up. He wonders where he is. Grabbing an olive branch to hide his modesty, he walks out, caked in salt from the sea and looking terrible. The attendants run away at sight of him, but Nausicaa stands her ground. Odysseus thinks that she might be a goddess, perhaps Artemis. He then tells her that he has been at sea for 20 days, harassed by the god Poseidon, and only came on shore the previous day. He asks Nausicaa for some clothes and if she can tell him how he can get to town. Nausicaa says fate is in Zeus’ hands, but that since Odysseus has reached her country, and she is the daughter of the king, she won't let him go without clothes. She tells her attendants not to be afraid, and to wash the strange...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Literature, Myths/Legends, Poetry

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Commentarii de Bello Gallico (English: Commentaries on the Gallic War) is Julius Caesar's firsthand account of the Gallic Wars, written as a third-person narrative. In it Caesar describes the battles and intrigues that took place in the nine years he spent fighting local armies in Gaul that opposed Roman domination. The work has been a mainstay in the teaching of Latin to schoolchildren, its simple, direct prose lending itself to that purpose. It begins with the frequently quoted phrase Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres, sometimes quoted as Omnia Gallia in tres partes divisa est, meaning All Gaul is divided into three parts. (Summary from Wikipedia)...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), History, War stories

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Plato's Phaedo is one of the great dialogues of his middle period, along with the Republic and the Symposium. The Phaedo, which depicts the death of Socrates, is also Plato's seventh and last dialogue to detail the philosopher's final days (the first six being Theaetetus, Euthyphro, Sophist, Statesman, Apology, and Crito). In the dialogue, Socrates discusses the nature of the afterlife on his last day before being executed by drinking hemlock. Socrates has been imprisoned and sentenced to death by an Athenian jury for not believing in the gods of the state and for corrupting the youth of the city. The dialogue is told from the perspective of one of Socrates' students, Phaedo of Elis. Having been present at Socrates' death bed, Phaedo relates the dialogue from that day to Echecrates, a fellow philosopher. By engaging in dialectic with a group of Socrates' friends, including the Thebans Cebes and Simmias, Socrates explores various arguments for the soul's immortality in order to show that there is an afterlife in which the soul will dwell following death. Phaedo tells the story that following the discussion, he and the others were the...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), History

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The scene of the Dialogus de Oratoribus, as this work is commonly known, is laid in the sixth year of Vespasian, 75 a.D. The commentators are much divided in their opinions about the real author; his work they all agree is a masterpiece in the kind; written with taste and judgement; entertaining, profound, and elegant. It is normally considered to have been written by Tacitus, even though some ascribe it to Quintilian. The main subject is the decadence of oratory, for which the cause is said to be the decline of the education, both in the family and in the school, of the future orator. In a certain way, it can be considered a miniature art of rhetoric. (Summary by Leni)...

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Classics (antiquity), Ancient Texts, Advice

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Categories (Lat. Categoriae, Greek Κατηγορίαι Katēgoriai) is the first of Aristotle's six texts on logic which are collectively known as the Organon. In Categories Aristotle enumerates all the possible kinds of things that can be the subject or the predicate of a proposition. Aristotle places every object of human apprehension under one of ten categories (known to medieval writers as the praedicamenta). Aristotle intended them to enumerate everything that can be expressed without composition or structure, thus anything that can be either the subject or the predicate of a proposition. The ten categories, or classes, are: Substance, Quantity, Quality, Relation, Place, Time, Position, State, Action and Affection. (Wikipedia) The Categories places every object of human apprehension under one of ten categories (known to medieval writers as the praedicamenta). Aristotle intended them to enumerate everything that can be expressed without composition or structure, thus anything that can be either the subject or the predicate of a proposition....

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Classics (antiquity), Philosophy

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An exposition of Epicurus atomic theory and the ethical tenets based upon it. Drawing upon this materialist philosophy, Lucretius cites the fear of death as the cause of man's ills, and shows the way to freedom from that fear. (Summary by bropops4)...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Philosophy, Poetry

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Laws (Greek: Νόμοι) is Plato's last and longest dialogue. It is generally agreed that Plato wrote this dialogue as an older man, having failed in his effort in Syracuse on the island of Sicily to guide a tyrant's rule, instead having been thrown in prison....

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Classics (antiquity), Ancient Texts, Economics/Political Economy, History, Philosophy, Politics

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On the Laws (Latin: De Legibus) was written shortly after Cicero's On the Commonwealth during the last years of the Roman Republic. The three surviving books (out of an original six), in order, expound on Cicero's beliefs in Natural Law, recast the religious laws of Rome (in reality a rollback to the religious laws under the king Numa Pompilius) and finally talk of his proposed reforms to the Roman Constitution. (Summary Adapted from Wikipedia)...

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Classics (antiquity), Philosophy, Politics

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In this book the famous Gaius Julius Caesar himself describes the seven years of his war in Gaul. When Caesar got proconsul of Gallia and Illyria in 58 B.C, the conquest of land in Gaul was an urgent need, both to improve his political standing and to calm his creditors in Rome. So Caesar claims his interest for a very large area already in the first sentence. His steps and measures always appear clear and logic, but this simplicity is the result of a strict discipline in style. Caesar really choses his words, and the list of standard words that he never or rarely uses, is astonishing. E.g. for river he only uses flumen and never fluvius or amnis. He avoids porro (furthermore), which would be no decided beginning of a sentence, and in his writings never occurs the word clades (the defeat), although this would normally be demanded by the context. It is remarkable, that still today in all the lands of his conquest the word for peace is derived from latin pax (even basque bake). This peace is no friendship between equals, which is the idea behind the german word Friede. Pax Romana implies subordination, and this concept was promoted by...

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Classics (antiquity), Ancient Texts, History, War stories

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Naturalis Historia (Latin for Natural History) is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77-79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny. The work became a model for all later encyclopedias in terms of the breadth of subject matter examined, the need to reference original authors, and a comprehensive index list of the contents. The scheme of his great work is vast and comprehensive, being nothing short of an encyclopedia of learning and of art so far as they are connected with nature or draw their materials from nature. The work divides neatly into the organic world of plants and animals, and the realm of inorganic matter, although there are frequent digressions in each section. He is especially interested in not just describing the occurrence of plants, animals and insects, but also their exploitation (or abuse) by man, especially Romans. The description of metals and minerals is particularly detailed, and valuable for the history of science as being the m...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Animals, Instruction, Nature

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Ab urbe condita, is a monumental history of ancient Rome written in the Latin language by Titus Livius, an ancient Roman historian. The work covers the time from the stories of Aeneas, the earliest legendary period from before the city's founding in c. 753 BC, to Livy's own times in the reign of the emperor, Augustus. The last year covered by Livy is 745 AUC, or 9 BC, the death of Drusus. About 25% of the work survives. Livy's History of Rome was in demand from the publication of the first packet. Livy became so famous that a man from Cadiz travelled to Rome just to see him, and once he had seen, returned home. The popularity of the work continued through the entire classical period. A number of Roman authors used Livy, including Aurelius Victor, Cassiodorus, Eutropius, Festus, Florus, Granius Licinianus and Orosius. Livy wrote during the reign of Augustus, who came to power after a civil war with generals and consuls claiming to be defending the Roman Republic. Livy's enthusiasm for the republic is evident from the first pentade of his work, and yet the Julio-Claudian family were as much fans of Livy as anyone. Livy must have been ...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), History

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Aristotle's On Interpretation (Greek Περὶ Ἑρμηνείας or Peri Hermeneias) or De Interpretatione (the Latin title) is the second of Aristotle's six texts on logic which are collectively known as the Organon. On Interpretation is one of the earliest surviving philosophical works in the Western tradition to deal with the relationship between language and logic in a comprehensive, explicit, and formal way. The work begins by analyzing simple categoric propositions, and draws a series of basic conclusions on the routine issues of classifying and defining basic linguistic forms, such as simple terms and propositions, nouns and verbs, negation, the quantity of simple propositions (primitive roots of the quantifiers in modern symbolic logic), investigations on the excluded middle (what to Aristotle isn't applicable to future tense propositions — the Problem of future contingents), and on modal propositions. The first five chapters deal with the terms that form propositions. Chapters 6 and 7 deal with the relationship between affirmative, negative, universal and particular propositions. These relationships are the basis of the well-known Squar...

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Languages, Classics (antiquity)

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Naturalis Historia (Latin for Natural History) is an encyclopedia published circa AD 77-79 by Pliny the Elder. It is one of the largest single works to have survived from the Roman empire to the modern day and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge, based on the best authorities available to Pliny. The work became a model for all later encyclopedias in terms of the breadth of subject matter examined, the need to reference original authors, and a comprehensive index list of the contents. The scheme of his great work is vast and comprehensive, being nothing short of an encyclopedia of learning and of art so far as they are connected with nature or draw their materials from nature. The work divides neatly into the organic world of plants and animals, and the realm of inorganic matter, although there are frequent digressions in each section. He is especially interested in not just describing the occurrence of plants, animals and insects, but also their exploitation (or abuse) by man, especially Romans. The description of metals and minerals is particularly detailed, and valuable for the history of science as being the m...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), Instruction, Nature

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The Catiline Conspiracy and the Jugurthine War are the two separate surviving works of the historian commonly known as Sallust. Nearly contemporary to the events he describes, he is supposed to have been a retired officer of Caesar's army. Catiline contains the history of the memorable year 63. Sallust describes Catiline as the deliberate foe of law, order and morality (although party politics may have influenced his view). Still, Sallust does recount Catiline's noble traits, including his courage in the final battle. There is doubt among historians about whether Caesar was involved in the conspiracy; several of Catiline's adherants who survived later joined Caesar's side in his was against Pompey. The difficulty of Cicero's position is throughly treated. Jugurthine War records the war in Numidia c.112 B.C. This war, which introduces the rivals Marius and Sulla to the Roman political scene, recounts the downfall and captur of the Numidian King Jugurtha. There is an exciting description of an agile Ligurian agent of the Roman side entering a besieged enemy city. (Summary adapted from Wikipedia by Karen Merline)...

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Ancient Texts, Classics (antiquity), History