Mirum and mirabile in Pliny's Natural history, Βook XXXV
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Date
2025-05-28
Authors
Τυροπάνη, Παρασκευή
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Abstract
The present thesis aspires to combine the two major sites of attention in Plinian scholarship -namely art and wonder - by proposing to explore the role of mirum and mirabile in book XXXV of the Natural History.
In sum, book XXXV is both a historical art record and a cultural document, revealing how painting was understood, practiced, and esteemed in the ancient Roman world. It consistently frames art through the lens of mirum and mirabile—terms rooted in the experience of wonder. This recurring use of the language of wonder is not incidental; it reflects a deliberate strategy that performs multiple functions within Pliny’s encyclopedic project.
First, wonder serves as a measure of value. To describe a work of art as mirabile is to acknowledge its capacity to astonish, to provoke admiration that is both intellectual and emotional. For Pliny, employing this language signals not just passive amazement but an active, discerning response—a sign of cultivated taste.
Second, wonder connects art to the broader category of mirabilia—the natural and artificial marvels that populate the entire Natural History. By grouping extraordinary artworks with other wondrous objects (exotic animals, rare stones, natural phenomena), Pliny blurs the line between the artistic and the natural, making them part of the same cultural and epistemological enterprise.
In this thesis, I begin with the elucidation of the terms "mirum", "mirabile" and "encyclopedia", as understood in antiquity, and I illustrate how the author’s stated purpose in composing the Natural History provides essential insight into the presence—and significance—of the mirabile within his work. Then, I move to book XXXV. The subject matter of this book—art—and the accompanying register of admiration seem to be very potent instruments for Pliny to achieve his overarching purpose in writing his encyclopedia. I proceed with a discussion of mirabile human nature in book VII in comparison with mirabile art in book XXXV. Finally, I interrogate the rhetorical architecture of the Natural History as well as the rhetorical significance of mirum and mirabile in book XXXV.
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Keywords
Mirum, Mirabile, Pliny the Elder, Art, Book XXXV, Natural history