Reading the Latin classics is very rewarding. And it's true that there's really not much that is new in this world. We try to make it new or look fresh, but it's just another case of "everything that's old is new again." I found a website that contains the works of Pliny the Elder, and the translation is from 1601. Middle English is not all that hard to read. Actually it's easier than the Middle English version of The Canterbury Tales I studied a few years ago. The translation is attributed to Philemon Holland dated 1601. My logic reasons that this indicates that English had progressed toward Modern at this time.
Pliny was an interesting man, brilliant, productive, a military man, and an avid scholar. He wrote constantly. His only extant work is the voluminous Historie of Natvre(History of Nature). The book addresses all manner of subjects that occur in our environment including culture, history, and science as Pliny experienced it.
Some of his writing was dedicated to rhetoric which was the beginning of a young man's introduction into society and adult thought. Writing on rhetoric was a way of being productive while avoiding the notice of the emperor-Caligula and Nero were both volatile and homicidal.
Much of his military service was spent in Germania. Pliny was a lawyer and argued cases after his military service was completed. He served as a procurator several times in different provinces.
The first entry I read in the History focused on a description of elephants in Volume VIII Chapter I. I love elephants. His observations are fascinating even though not scientifically accurate. Pliny also describes many other animals and it makes sense that he would. He was in Africa during his military career. Reading and exploring the writings of Pliny and his fellow Romans gives me a new excitement about the New Year.
