Pliny's Naturalis Historia ? a brilliant and sophisticated encyclopaedia of the scientific, artistic, philosophical, botanical and zoological riches of the ancient world ? has had a long career in the footnotes of historical studies. This is a phenomenon born of the sense that the work was there to consult, or to ?use ?, as a resource to aid investigation of specific technical issues or passages, of Quellenforschung, or of delimited topic areas. The contributors to the present volume both represent and join a new generation of critics who have begun to try to ?read ? this monumental text, and ? by examining the dominant motifs which give shape and order to the work ? to construct frameworks within which we may understand and interpret Pliny ?s overarching agenda.