Naturales quaestiones
Naturales quaestiones (Natural Questions) is a Latin work of natural philosophy written by Seneca around 65 AD. It is not a systematic encyclopedia like the Naturalis Historia of Pliny the Elder, though with Pliny's work it represents one of the few Roman works dedicated to investigating the natural world. Seneca's investigation takes place mainly through the consideration of the views of other thinkers, both Greek and Roman, though it is not without original thought. One of the most unusual features of the work is Seneca's articulation of the natural philosophy with moralising episodes that seem to have little to do with the investigation. Much of the recent scholarship on the Naturales Quaestiones has been dedicated to explaining this feature of the work. It is often suggested that the purpose of this combination of ethics and philosophical 'physics' is to demonstrate the close connection between these two parts of philosophy, in line with the thought of Stoicism. Date The earliest date (terminus post quem) for writing is AD 60, and it is generally thought to have been written around 62 to 64 AD. Contents The Naturales Quaestiones is addressed to Lucilius Junior: The work originally had eight books, but the book