PLINY THE ELDER: A READER OF THE LATINS

Abstract

In this article I work with the issue of the identity of the erudite disseminated and embodied by Pliny the Elder from his reading of four authors: Marcus Terentius Varro, Seneca, Titus Livius and Cicero. Therefore, I propose that the group of fundamental characteristics to the formation of an erudite as defined by Pliny is deeply connected with the typology of the Natural History. Despite the use of Latin authorities to compose his magnum opus I suggest that Pliny alluded to a different form of reading the tradition and, thus, chose other priorities regarding to the dominions and postures of an erudite of the first century.