Pliny the Elder's World

Pliny the Elder’s World, Natural History, Books 2-6, a fresh translation of Pliny’s geographic books (and several other relevant passages) by Brian Turner and Richard J. A. Talbert, was published by Cambridge in 2022. A digital database and maps (including a digitized and searchable map expected in late 2024) are hosted by the Institute for the Study of the Ancient World. Both of these digital products rely upon the Pleiades dataset and were produced with the help of the Ancient World Mapping Center, and Gabriel Moss, Lindsay Holman, and Ryan Horne among others.

The Pliny Research Database includes roughly 6500 entries. Whenever possible, each of these entries are linked to a relevant Pleiades ID where students and scholars can learn more about the specific location and geographic history of any places included in Pliny’s often miscellaneous and exhaustive text. Pleiades data, derived from the Barrington Atlas, provided accurate locations and illuminated questions of identification and orthography. The partnership with Pleiades, meantime, has been mutually beneficial. The translation has provided a fresh set of data to be incorporated into the Pleiades dataset, in particular new “names” and clarification of feature types (i.e. places versus peoples). Indeed, work on a revised database (available in late 2024) has also revealed some instances of placenames and peoples who were not included in the Barrington Atlas.  

Just as reading Pliny’s own broad and encompassing Natural History, partnering with Pleiades never fails to repay results.