Pliny the Elder on metals: Philosophical and scientific issues

The Elder Pliny's Naturalis historia is by far the most detailed ancient source we today possess on Roman metallurgy.1 Solid metals and metal-bearing minerals are a primary subject of the programmatic agenda of the Naturalis historia, which aims to describe Nature in all her aspects: Salve, parens rerum omnium Natura, teque nobis Quiritium solis celebratam esse numeris omnibus tuis fave (HN 37.205).2 Roman civilization placed a crucial emphasis (both practical and symbolic) on these materials for the manufacture, use, and maintenance of such diverse and important objects as weapons, tools, coins, jewelry, artwork, and even medicaments. In this study, I will discuss some philosophical and scientific issues that are present in various metallurgical passages of the Naturalis historia.