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Natural catastrophes
(1,050 words)

[German version]

For the whole of antiquity there are numerous reports of natural catastrophes (NC). Especially in the eastern Mediterranean, but also in Italy, tectonic conditions resulted in an extraordinary susceptibility for frequently disastrous seismic activity (earthquakes and resulting tsunami, volcanic eruptions). The ancient perception was that phenomena such as storms, epidemics, rains of stones, comets (Cic. Nat. deor. 2,14) and solar and lunar eclipses (e.g. Plut. Nicias 23; Eclipses) were also in the category of NC.

Earthquakes (cf. map) again and again led…

Cite this page
Sonnabend, Holger (Stuttgart), “Natural catastrophes”, in: Brill’s New Pauly, Antiquity volumes edited by: Hubert Cancik and , Helmuth Schneider, English Edition by: Christine F. Salazar, Classical Tradition volumes edited by: Manfred Landfester, English Edition by: Francis G. Gentry. Consulted online on 19 March 2024 <http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/1574-9347_bnp_e817610>
First published online: 2006
First print edition: 9789004122598, 20110510



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