Mary Beagon selected this small part of a very large work' because it contains Pliny's thoughts on the human race which he believed to be central to the entire natural order and the universe. Following a discussion of Pliny's life and times, his natural philosophy and its presentation in Pliny's magnus Opus , Beagon presents a translation and an extremely detailed commentary. Her aim is to focus in particular on the off-beat, the curious, and the obscure, where investigation frequently reveals a complex substratum of ancient beliefs and ideas'.