Plinius

Plinius (Pliny the Elder / Gaius Plinius, AD 23-79), a Roman historian and naturalist born in Verona or Novum Comum, lived during the Roman Empire. Among ancient sources, he is remembered as one of the authors who shed light on the geographical and ethnographic background of Kurdish history with his encyclopedic work (Volume 1, p. 46).

His Work and Influence

Plinius's work titled Naturalis Historia (Natural History) is valuable for containing rich information from the perspective of historical geography (Volume 1, p. 46). In this respect, Plinius became a reference source for subsequent generations; for example, when Kazvinî's works were evaluated in Islamic period geography and travel literature, due to their importance, these works were compared with the famous Greek historian Herodotus (425-484 BC) along with Gaius Plinius (AD 23-79) (Volume 2, p. 28).

Geographical Information

The geographical information conveyed by Plinius is important in determining the settlement areas of the regional peoples. Plinius mentions the living areas of the Mard/Amardiler as the Niphates mountains northeast of Van Gölü (Volume 1, p. 46).

Critical Evaluation

Some information provided by Plinius is evaluated with a critical eye. It is pointed out that the information regarding the Cossaeiler being assigned to the Persian army might be incorrect; as according to Diodorus, the Cossaeiler were not subjects of the Persian king (Volume 1, p. 46).