PLINIO IL VECCHIO E LE PARETI TRASPARENTI. UNA NOTA A NATURALIS HISTORIA 36.98

Abstract

This article discusses a passage from Pliny the Elder’s encyclopedia regarding the interior of a shrine at Cyzicus (Nat. 36.98). A thin thread of gold was inserted into every vertical joint of the stonework, so that fine filaments of light could shine through the interstices. Although apparently anecdotal, this passage is key both in constructing a narrative progression towards the treatise’s final book, and to Pliny’s discourse about the relationship between natural materials and human ingenuity.