FENÓMENOS SUBLUNARES EN PLINIO Y SÉNECA. IDENTIFICACIÓN Y TRADUCCIÓN

Abstract

The identification of the phenomena considered as sublunary in antiquity from the Latin terminology is particularly difficult. Our proposal is to consider the terms that appear in the enumerations of Pliny and Seneca taking as reference parameter modern astronomical nomenclature and as hypothesis that the antique observations by people of great power of observation in a sky without light pollution can be compared to those we can get today through astrophotography. The conclusion is that, since in Greco-Roman antiquity each phenomenon was reported with the same descriptive formula, it is possible to determine the equivalence between Romans and modern terms (comets, meteors, etc.) as step prior to a translational decision, whether we considered them as scientific or as culturally specific terms.