André Simões, David Mesquita (edd.) Universidade de Lisboa
Abstract
This article discusses the application in the classroom of the Latin paraphrasis and the humanistic commentaries and relates this ancient instructional resource to the modern concept of “linguistic mediation”. The first commentary published in Spain in 1504 on Pliny the Elder’s Naturalis Historia by Lucius Flaminius Siculus is examined along with some additional statements on Pliny’s work from the commentary by Martinho de Figueiredo published later in Lisbon (1529). Pliny’s Naturalis Historia, which was used in Europe during the Renaissance as a university textbook, was very helpful to students, as Flaminius in Salamanca and Figueiredo in Lisbon explained with remarkable success in the Latin language to audiences of scholars and students
