This paper analyses a passage in Pliny’s Naturalis historia, in which the author mentions the orbital periods of planets Venus and Mercury. Such informations are generally regarded as incorrect, but the few attempts to explain their origin seem unconvincing. As other classical texts on the same subject are of little help, this article recurs to modern planetary data to search for plausible hypotheses about the sources of Pliny’s figures in light, also, of literature on ancient astronomical texts.
Signiferi ambitus: il periodo zodiacale di Venere e Mercurio in Plin. nat. II 38-39
Simone Meli
2026-01-01
Abstract
This paper analyses a passage in Pliny’s Naturalis historia, in which the author mentions the orbital periods of planets Venus and Mercury. Such informations are generally regarded as incorrect, but the few attempts to explain their origin seem unconvincing. As other classical texts on the same subject are of little help, this article recurs to modern planetary data to search for plausible hypotheses about the sources of Pliny’s figures in light, also, of literature on ancient astronomical texts.
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