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 and purports to cover the entire field of ancient knowledge based on the best authorities available to Pliny. He claims to be the only Roman ever to have undertaken such a work.
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. Naturalis Historia is the only work by Pliny to have survived and the last that he published, lacking a final revision at his sudden and unexpected death in the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
Further reading:
Natural History (Pliny)
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