Pliny, Nero, and the 'Emerald' (NH 37,64)
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Published Version
Date
2006
Authors
Woods, David
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Klassillis-filologinen yhdistys–Klassisk-filologiska föreningen (The Classical Association of Finland)
Published Version
Abstract
Pliny the Elder’s Natural History which he seems to have completed shortly before his
death in AD79, preserves a story of how the emperor Nero used to watch the gladiatorial games in Rome with the assistance of a piece of a mineral which he describes as smaragdus (NH 37,64 ). This allegation is one of the most famous anecdotes within Pliny's text, and is routinely cited by various modern historians of science and technology. Pliny uses the term smaragdus to describe a wide variety of green minerals. The fact that Pliny describes this use immediately following his description of how smaragdi reflect objects in the same way as mirrors, ought to make it clear that he intended this anecdote as an example of the way in which smaragdus could be used as a mirror.
Pliny's claim is best explained as the result of the misreading and mistaken translation of a source which had originally described how Nero had used to watch the games like a spy, not in the manner of a man with a mirror.
Description
Keywords
Nero , Pliny the Elder , smaragdus , gladiator games , Roman history
Citation
Woods, D., 2006. Pliny, Nero, and the 'Emerald' (NH 37,64). Arctos Acta Philologica Fennica, 40, pp.189-196