Credible Theories
Greece and Rome · Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.34

The burning shield

ReferencePliny the Elder, Natural History 2.34
Writtenc. 77 CE
Set100 BCE
In the consulship of Lucius Valerius and Caius Marius, a burning shield, scattering sparks, was seen to run across the heavens, at sunset, from west to east.

Translation: Bostock and Riley, 1855 · About the translator

Read it literally

Round, burning, sparking, crossing the sky with a date and two consuls' names as witnesses.

What scholars say

Pliny collected reports without much checking.

From the sky
People and places hereGaius MariusPliny the Elder

Quick answers about Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.34

Where is Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.34 found?

Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.34 (Greece and Rome). Translation quoted: John Bostock and H. T. Riley, The Natural History of Pliny (1855).

When was Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.34 written?

c. 77 CE.

What do scholars say about Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.34?

Pliny collected reports without much checking.

Rabbit holes in this passage

EventPliny's burning shieldPliny the Elder records a burning, sparking shield that crossed the sky at sunset from west to east in 100 BCE.

Sources

  1. John Bostock and H. T. Riley, The Natural History of Pliny (1855)Primary text
  2. Pliny the Elder, Natural History 2.34, trans. John Bostock and H. T. Riley (1855)Primary text

Scholarly dates are rounded. The wording follows the named public-domain translation.

Updated