The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 1 (of 6)

Chapter 73: CHAP. 69. (69.)—THAT THE EARTH IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD.

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The text assembles a systematic survey of the natural world, opening with cosmological and geographical discussions and proceeding through plants, animals, minerals, and human uses of natural substances. It synthesizes reports from earlier authors, travelers, and craftsmen, combining empirical observation, hearsay, and learned commentary to describe physical phenomena, medicinal remedies, technologies, and curiosities. Organized as an encyclopedic sequence of books and chapters, it catalogues facts and theories, cites authorities, and balances practical instruction with natural-philosophical reflection.

CHAP. 69. (69.)—THAT THE EARTH IS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD.

It is evident from undoubted arguments, that the earth is in the middle of the universe481, but it is the most clearly proved by the equality of the days and the nights at the equinox482. It is demonstrated by the quadrant483, which affords the most decisive confirmation of the fact, that unless the earth was in the middle, the days and nights could not be equal; for, at the time of the equinox, the rising and setting of the sun are seen on the same line, and the rising of the sun, at the summer solstice, is on the same line with its setting at the winter solstice; but this could not happen if the earth was not situated in the centre.