Have you ever wondered why bees are always dying, mirrors lose their shine, and dogs gain terrible superpowers? Well, Pliny the Elder has an idea about that and on this episode of Primary we take a look at his 'Natural History' to learn what that idea is! Spoiler Alert: the idea is menstruation. And if Pliny being wrong about one topic isn't enough, we also discover some of the ways he was wrong about elephants! Erin and Vinnie take Pliny the Elder at his word to learn why elephants being wisely prudent about eating contaminated food became a myth about their cowardice AND why ancient people tried to use menstrual discharge to gather asphalt!

Citations

The Primary Sources

• "Pliny the Elder, The Natural History." Perseus.tufts.edu. Accessed July 30, 2018.http://data.perseus.org/citations/urn:cts:latinLit:phi0978.phi001.perseus-eng1:1.dedication.

Secondary/Additional Sources

• "Philemon Holland's Pliny." http://penelope.uchicago.edu. Accessed July 30, 2018.http://penelope.uchicago.edu/holland/index.html.

• "Pliny the Elder." Livius.org. February 9, 2018. Accessed July 30, 2018.http://www.livius.org/articles/person/pliny-the-elder/.

• "Pliny the Elder (2)." Livius.org. June 23, 2017. Accessed July 30, 2018.http://www.livius.org/articles/person/pliny-the-elder/pliny-the-elder-2/.