INTRODUCTION

THIS volume contains Books III–VII of Pliny’s Naturalis Historia Natural History.
The detailed contents will be found in Pliny’s own outline of his work, which, with lists of the authorities used for each Book, constitutes Book I; for Books III–VII see Volume I, pp. 28–41, of this edition.
The subject of Books III–VI is the geography, physical, political and historical, of the ancient world.
Book III: Southern Spain; Southern Gaul; Italy; the Western Mediterranean and Ionian and Adriatic Islands; the countries round the north of the Adriatic.
Book IV: Greece and the rest of the Balkan Peninsula; the islands of the Eastern Mediterranean; the Black Sea and the countries west of it; Northern Europe.
Book V: North Africa; the Eastern Mediterranean and Asia Minor.
Book VI: Countries from the Black Sea to India; Persia; Arabia; Ethiopia; the Nile valley.
The subject of Book VII is the human race—its biology, physiology and psychology.