Alcidamas, Messenian Speech fr.1

ἐλευθέρους ἀφῆκε πάντας θεός· οὐδένα δοῦλον ἡ φύσις πεποίηκεν.

God let all people go free; nature has made no one a slave.

Pliny the Elder, Natural History 8.36

First, apologies for not posting recently! Here’s a quick piece of Pliny to get things moving again.

Megasthenes scribit in India serpentes in tantam magnitudinem adolescere, ut solidos hauriant cervos taurosque, Metrodorus circa Rhyndacum amnem in Ponto, supervolantes ut quamvis alte perniciterque alites haustu raptas absorbeant.

Megasthenes writes that in India snakes grow to such a great size that they swallow stags and bulls whole. Metrodorus writes that in the region of the river Rhyndacus in Pontus they grow to such a size that they catch birds and devour them by swallowing, even if the birds are flying high and swiftly above them.