What Did the Romans Know?
An Inquiry into Science and Worldmaking
What did the Romans know about their world? Quite a lot, as Daryn Lehoux makes clear in this fascinating and much-needed contribution to the history and philosophy of ancient science. Lehoux contends that even though many of the Romans' views about the natural world have no place in modern science – the umbrella-footed monsters and dog-headed people that roamed the earth and the stars that foretold human destinies – their claims turn out not to be so radically different from our own.
Lehoux draws upon a wide range of sources from what is unquestionably the most prolific period of ancient science, from the first century BC to the second century AD. He begins with Cicero's theologico-philosophical trilogy "On the Nature of the Gods", "On Divination", and "On Fate", illustrating how Cicero's engagement with nature is closely related to his concerns in politics, religion, and law. Lehoux then guides readers through highly technical works by Galen and Ptolemy, as well as the more philosophically oriented physics and cosmologies of Lucretius, Plutarch, and Seneca, all the while exploring the complex interrelationships between the objects of scientific inquiry and the norms, processes, and structures of that inquiry. This includes not only the tools and methods the Romans used to investigate nature, but also the Romans' cultural, intellectual, political, and religious perspectives. Lehoux concludes by sketching a methodology that uses the historical material he has carefully explained to directly engage the philosophical questions of incommensurability, realism, and relativism.
By situating Roman arguments about the natural world in their larger philosophical, political, and rhetorical contexts, "What Did the Romans Know?" demonstrates that the Romans had sophisticated and novel approaches to nature, approaches that were empirically rigorous, philosophically rich, and epistemologically complex.
Reviews
"This is a fascinating analysis of how elite Romans thought about their place in nature. It will be a permanent contribution to our attempts to understand how literate civilizations at various times and places have thought about human relationships to other creatures, to things, and to the gods" – Ian Hacking, College de France
"At the intersection of classics, history, and philosophy of science, this is a very original book that explores Roman ways of knowing the world and shows how, despite seeming irrational or completely alien to us today, those views of nature did make perfect sense. Engagingly written, replete with insights and flashes of humor, and addressing current debates in several disciplines, 'What Did the Romans Know?' will finally put to rest the idea that 'Roman science' is a contradiction in terms" – Serafina Cuomo, Birkbeck, University of London
"'What Did the Romans Know?' is a brilliant achievement. Equally historical and philosophical, Lehoux's book is simultaneously sophisticated and accessible. Virtually every page presents provocative and well-grounded insights that reshape what we thought we knew about the Romans and their interconnected world of nature, law, and religion. It is required reading for historians and philosophers, classicists, and anyone interested in antiquity and the bases of human knowledge about the natural world" – Lawrence M. Principe, Johns Hopkins University
