Avienius

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius[1][2][3] (sometimes erroneously Avienus) was a Latin writer of the 4th century AD. He was a native of Volsinii in Etruria,[4] from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi.[5]

Avienius is not identical with the historian Festus.[6]

Background

Avienius made somewhat inexact translations into Latin of Aratus' didactic poem Phaenomena. He also took a popular Greek poem in hexameters, Periegesis, briefly delimiting the habitable world from the perspective of Alexandria, written by Dionysius Periegetes in a terse and elegant style that was easy to memorize for students, and translated it into an archaising Latin as his Descriptio orbis terrae ("Description of the World's Lands"). Only Book I survives, with an unsteady grasp of actual geography and some far-fetched etymologies: see Ophiussa.

He wrote

Massiliote Periplus.[7][8] Avienius also served as governor of Achaia and Africa.[9]

According to legend, when asked what he did in the country, he answered Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lavo, caeno,[check spelling] quiesco:

I dine, drink, sing, play, bathe, sup, rest.[10]

However this quote is a misattribution and likely comes from the works of Martial.[11]

Editions

  • A. Berthelot: Ora maritima. Paris 1934. (text of reference)
  • J. P. Murphy: Ora maritima or Description of the seacoast. (Chicago) 1977.
  • J. Soubiran: Aviénus: Les Phénomènes d'Aratos. CUF, Paris 1981. (text of reference)
  • D. Stichtenoth: Ora maritima, lateinisch und deutsch. Darmstadt 1968. (the Latin text is that of the editio princeps of 1488 and is better not cited)
  • P. van de Woestijne: Descriptio orbis terrae. Brugge 1961. (text of reference)
Commentaries, monographs and articles

References

  1. .
  2. ^ Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire vol. 1 p. 336
  3. ^ Rita Lizzi Testa, Senatori, popolo, papi: il governo di Roma al tempo dei Valentiniani (Bari, 2004), p. 274
  4. .
  5. .
  6. ^ Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, "Avienius", p. 187
  7. ^ "Avienus, Rufus Festus" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, Timothy Darvil, ed.. (Oxford University Press) 2002
  8. ^ PLRE I, p. 336
  9. ^ As recorded in a poem once erroneously attributed to him; English translation by Richard Lovelace.
  10. ^ Baehrens, Emil (1879). Poetae latini minores. PIMS - University of Toronto. Lipsiae : In aedibus B.G. Teubneri.

Further reading

  • Alan Cameron, "Macrobius, Avienus, and Avianus" The Classical Quarterly New Series, 17.2 (November 1967), pp 385–399.

External links