pseudo-Aristotle, De Mirabilibus Auscultationibus (250 BCE – 200 CE)
From Athe ̄naios (12 [541a–b]), and throughout late Antiquity, there is evidence for a
De mirabilibus auscultationibus (On Marvelous Things Heard) circulating under the name of A-
. In its present state, it contains 178 chapters probably resulting from merging three
pre-existing collections of excerpts, the nucleus of which might be traced back to the 3rd c.
BCE. Notwithstanding, internal evidence suggests a date well after Aristotle, so the work’s
attribution to the Stagirite (possibly due to the similarity between its opening paragraphs,
1 – 2, 5–6, and 8, and parts of Book 9 of the Historia Animalium) is definitely spurious –
although it probably contributed greatly to its survival.
In keeping with its composite nature, De mirabilibus auscultationibus is structurally muddled.
More than one principle of organization is used to order heterogeneous data. Chapters 1– 77
and 139–151 display a random thematic arrangement, whereas §§ 78 – 136 are clearly organ-
ized along geographical lines, albeit with a few stray chapters; §§ 152 – 178 – the latest addi-
tion to the corpus – are arranged topically. The collection’s content varies widely, featuring
scattered clusters on zoological marvels (the predominant theme), fire-related paradoxa,
curious stones and ore, and wondrous rivers; botanical phenomena, however, are conspicuous
by their near-complete absence.
True to its paradoxographical nature, De mirabilibus auscultationibus acknowledges numer-
ous sources. In §§ 1 – 151, the limited number of sources is of the highest quality: including
Aristotle and T on natural phenomena, T on paradoxa from the
west and Theopompos on those from Greece and the eastern part of the world. In the late
addendum, §§ 152 – 178, the quality declines, with references to -P,
D F, P, and Herodian.
Ed.: PGR 221 – 313; G. Vanotti, Aristotele, De mirabilibus auscultationibus (1997).
RE 18.3 (1949) 1137–1166 (§13, 1149–1152), K. Ziegler; Giannini (1964) 133–135; H. Flashar, Aristo-
teles, Opuscula 2. Mirabilia (1990, 3rd ed.); BNP 10 (2007) 506–509 (I.B.1, 508), O. Wenskus.
Jan Bollansée, Karen Haegemans, and Guido Schepens
Aristotelian Corpus, Translations into Pahlavi (200 – 900 CE)
The impact of Greek philosophy on Sasanian Iran was particularly significant directly
through Pahlavi translations of Greek originals or through Syriac versions of Christian
translators; terms like “philosopher,” “physicist,” and “sophist” are attested with loanwords
in Pahlavi sources. A’s influence was seminal not only in physics, but also in later
Zoroastrian ethics, especially with regard to mesóte ̄s. According to the Anecdota Syriaca, Paulus
Persa (6th c.) offered a Syriac synthesis of Aristotle’s dialectics and logic to King Xusraw I.
Aristotelian concepts and categories such as “movement,” “time,” “space,” “nature,”
“becoming,” “change,” and “increasing” are well attested in the 9th c. Zoroastrian encyclo-
pedia De ̄nkard. They seem to be directly inspired by Aristotle’s Generation and Corruption,
translated also in Syriac by H.unain (809–876). The doctrine of primal matter, that of the
principal elements, and other related concepts were known; all these Greek elements were
more or less adapted to the Zoroastrian framework, and had a certain impact on Sasanian
astronomy, astrology, and culture.
J.P.N. Land, ed., Anecdota Syriaca 4 (1875) 1–30; L.C. Casartelli, La philosophie religieuse du Mazdéisme sous
les Sassanides (1884); Bailey (1943; 1971) 82–119; R.Ch. Zaehner, Zurvan. A Zoroastrian Dilemma (1955;
19712 ); J. de Menasce, Le troisième livre du De ̄nkart (1973); Panaino (2001).
Antonio Panaino
PSEUDO-ARISTOTLE, DE MIRABILIBUS AUSCULTATIONIBUS