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{ Tag Archives } pyramis

The pyramids of Porsena’s tomb.

Pliny the Elder, quoting Varro (Naturalis Historia 36.19): supra id quadratum pyramides stant quinque, quattuor in angulis et in medio una, imæ latæ pedum quinum septuagenum, altæ centenum quinquagenum ita fastigatæ, ut in summo orbis aëneus et petasus unus omnibus sit inpositus […] supra quem orbem quattuor pyramides insuper singulæ stant altæ pedum centenum, supra […]

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Pyramids at Heracleopolis.

Pliny on the Labyrinth at Heracleopolis (Naturalis Historia 36.19) praeterea templa omnium Aegypti deorum contineat superque Nemesis XL aediculis incluserit pyramides complures quadragenarum ulnarum senas radice ἀρούρας optinentes. Additionally, it would contain temples of all the gods of Egypt, and of Nemesis as well; among its forty shrines it would have included many pyramids, each […]

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Pliny on Rhodopis' pyramid.

Pliny on Rhodopis’ pyramid (Naturalis Historia 36.17): Hæc sunt pyramidum miracula, supremumque illud, ne quis regum opes miretur, minimam ex iis, sed laudatissimam, a Rhodopide meretricula factam. These are the marvels of the pyramids, and the greatest of all—lest anyone marvel at the riches of kings—is that the smallest but most admired of them was […]

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Pliny on the Well Shaft.

Pliny on pyramids again (Naturalis Historia 36.17): In pyramide maxima est intus puteus LXXXVI cubitorum; flumen illo admissum arbitrantur. In the largest pyramid, there is an eighty-six cubit well inside; it is thought the river is let in by it. There appears to be doubt as to how much the ancients knew of the interior […]

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Lapicidinae and lapidicinae.

Pliny on pyramids again (Naturalis Historia 36.17) Pyramis amplissima ex Arabicis lapicidinis constat. The largest pyramid is made from the Arabian quarries. This is just about short enough to go without much comment except on the word lapicidinae ‘quarry/quarries’. This word is also found spelled lapidicinae, as indeed some copies of this text have it. […]

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Stupid pyramids.

I’ve been wanting to post these little translations I do for my dictionary, partly for feedback on quality, partly to talk about the texts themselves. In his Natural History, 36.16, Pliny gives us his opinion of the pyramids: Dicantur obiter et pyramides in eadem Ægypto, regum pecuniæ otiosa ac stulta ostentatio. And the pyramids, also […]

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