[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Foreign](https://indike.org/pramana/inf) › [Latin](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la) › [Principate (31 BCE – 300 CE)](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial) › [Naturalis historia](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder) › 12.4.20 # Naturalis historia 12.4.20 Naturalis historia 12.4.20 - **Language:** Latin ### [12.4.20](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.12.4.20) Romae eam Magnus Pompeius triumpho Mithridatico ostendit. accendi Fabianus negat, uritur tamen odore iucundo . duo genera eius: rarum id quod melius, arboreum, purae et enodis materiae nigri splendoris ac vel sine arte protinus iucundi, alterum fruticosum cytisi modo et tota India dispersum. > CHAP. 9.—WHEN EBONY WAS FIRST SEEN AT ROME. THE VARIOUS KINDS OF EBONY. Pompeius Magnus displayed ebony on the occasion of his triumph over Mithridates. Fabianus declares, that this wood will give out no flame; it burns, however, with a very agreeable smell. There are two kinds of ebony; the rarest kind is the best, and is produced from a tree that is singularly free from knots. The wood is black and shining, and pleasing to the eye, without any adventitious aid from art. The other kind of ebony is the produce of a shrub which resembles the cytisus, and is to be found scattered over the whole of India. > — John Bostock & Henry Thomas Riley 1855, The Natural History of Pliny - [Previous: 12.4.19](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.12.4.19) - [Next: 12.5.21](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.12.5.21) - [Up: 12.4](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.12.4) ## Translations (1) - [The Natural History of Pliny](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder~en-bostock-riley.12.9) — John Bostock & Henry Thomas Riley 1855, English --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.12.4.20](https://indike.org/pramana/inf.la.imperial.pliny-elder.12.4.20) · Pramāṇa