Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Intellectual History Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2014

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Articles 1 - 1 of 1

Full-Text Articles in Intellectual History

Comparison Of Focus And Audience Between Seneca’S Natural Questions And Pliny’S Natural History, Joshua Ely May 2014

Comparison Of Focus And Audience Between Seneca’S Natural Questions And Pliny’S Natural History, Joshua Ely

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Around 65 AD, the Ancient Roman philosopher Seneca wrote his only text concerning Natural Phenomenon: Natural Questions. Considered since medieval times as part of a trinity of great thinkers including Plato and Aristotle, Seneca’s work in rhetoric, philosophy, and legal theory still receive praise today. The praise is not replicated for Natural Questions, however. Modern historians who consider the work paint it as uninspiring. Pliny, another Roman author and philosopher, wrote a far more encompassing and detailed work called Natural History, and it is this work that is considered the premier Roman comment on Natural Philosophy. These contemporaneous …