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Firmicus Maternus
__NOTOC__ Julius Firmicus Maternus was a Roman Latin writer and astrologer, who received a pagan classical education that made him conversant with Greek; he lived in the reign of Constantine I (306 to 337 AD) and his successors. His triple career made him a public advocate, an astrologer and finally a Christian apologist. The ''explicit'', or end-tag, of the sole surviving manuscript of his ''De errore profanarum religionum'' ("On the error of profane religions") gives his name as ''Iulius Firmicus Maternus V C'', identifying him as a ''vir clarissimus'' and a member of the senatorial class. He was also author of the most extensive surviving text of Roman astrology, ''Matheseos libri octo'' ("Eight books of astrology") written around 334–337. Manuscripts of this work identify him as "the younger" (''iunior'') or "the Sicilian" (''Siculus''). The lunar crater Firmicus was named in his honour. The ''Matheseos'' was dedicated to the governor of Campania, Lollianus Mavortius, whose ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe, North Africa, and Western Asia, and was ruled by emperors. From the accession of Caesar Augustus as the first Roman emperor to the military anarchy of the 3rd century, it was a Principate with Italia as the metropole of its provinces and the city of Rome as its sole capital. The Empire was later ruled by multiple emperors who shared control over the Western Roman Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire. The city of Rome remained the nominal capital of both parts until AD 476 when the imperial insignia were sent to Constantinople following the capture of the Western capital of Ravenna by the Germanic barbarians. The adoption of Christianity as the state church of the Roman Empire in AD 380 and the fall of the Western ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Neoplatonist
Neoplatonism is a strand of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a chain of thinkers. But there are some ideas that are common to it. For example, the monistic idea that all of reality can be derived from a single principle, "the One". Neoplatonism began with Ammonius Saccas and his student Plotinus (c. 204/5 – 271 AD) and stretched to the 6th century AD. After Plotinus there were three distinct periods in the history of neoplatonism: the work of his student Porphyry (3rd to early 4th century); that of Iamblichus (3rd to 4th century); and the period in the 5th and 6th centuries, when the Academies in Alexandria and Athens flourished. Neoplatonism had an enduring influence on the subsequent history of philosophy. In the Middle Ages, neoplatonic ideas were studied and discussed by Christian, Jewish, and Muslim thinkers. In the Islamic cultu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karl Felix Halm
Karl Felix Halm (also ''Carl''; ''Karl Felix Ritter von Halm'' after 1872; 5 April 1809 – 5 October 1882), was a German classical scholar and critic. Life He was born at Munich. In 1849, having held appointments at Speyer and Hadamar, he became rector of the newly founded ''Maximiliansgymnasium'' at Munich, and in 1856 director of the royal library and professor in the University of Munich. These posts he held till his death. Works Halm is known chiefly as the editor of Cicero and other Latin prose authors, although during his early career he also devoted considerable attention to Greek and also authored an edition of Aesop's fables in the Greek. After the death of J.C. Orelli, he joined J.G. Baiter in the preparation of a revised critical edition of the rhetorical and philosophical writings of Cicero (1854–1862). His school editions of some of the speeches of Cicero in the Haupt and Sauppe series, with notes and introductions, were very successful. He also edited a nu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Conrad Bursian
Conrad Bursian (; 14 November 1830 – 21 September 1883) was a German philologist and archaeologist. Biography He was born at Mutzschen in Saxony. When his parents moved to Leipzig, he received his early education at Thomasschule zu Leipzig. From 1847 to 1851 he was a student at the University of Leipzig, where his instructors included Moritz Haupt (1808–1874) and Otto Jahn (1813–1869). He then spent six months in Berlin, where he attended lectures given by Philipp August Böckh (1785–1867). In 1852 he completed his university studies at Leipzig, spending the next three years traveling in Belgium, France, Italy and Greece. In 1856 he obtained his habilitation, and two years later was an associate professor in Leipzig. In 1861 he was appointed professor of philology and archaeology at Tübingen; in 1864 he was a professor of classical antiquities at Zürich. From 1869 at Jena, he was a professor and director of the archaeological museum, and in 1874 he relocated to Munich ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arnobius The Younger
Arnobius the Younger ( la, Arnobius Junior), Christian priest or bishop in Gaul, wrote from Rome around the year 460.''Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture'', Old Testament volume VII, edited by Craig A. Blaising and Carmen S. Harden He is the author of a mystical and allegorical commentary on the Psalms, first published by Erasmus in 1522, and by him attributed to the elder Arnobius. It has been frequently reprinted, and in the edition of De la Barre, 1580, is accompanied by some notes on the Gospels by the same author. More recently, '' CCSL 25'' has produced a critical edition of his commentary. To him has sometimes been ascribed the anonymous treatise, ''Arnobii catholici et Serapionis conflictus de Deo trino et uno ... de gratiae liberi arbitrii concordia'', which was probably written by a follower of Augustine. The opinions expressed in his commentary have been called semi-Pelagian, probably due to his opposition to Augustine's doctrine of predestination. Rondeau infer ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cyprian
Cyprian (; la, Thaschus Caecilius Cyprianus; 210 – 14 September 258 AD''The Liturgy of the Hours according to the Roman Rite: Vol. IV.'' New York: Catholic Book Publishing Company, 1975. p. 1406.) was a bishop of Carthage and an early Christian writer of Berber descent, many of whose Latin works are extant. He is recognized as a saint in the Western and Eastern churches. He was born around the beginning of the 3rd century in North Africa, perhaps at Carthage, where he received a classical education. Soon after converting to Christianity, he became a bishop in 249. A controversial figure during his lifetime, his strong pastoral skills, firm conduct during the Novatianist heresy and outbreak of the Plague of Cyprian (named after him due to his description of it), and eventual martyrdom at Carthage established his reputation and proved his sanctity in the eyes of the Church. His skillful Latin rhetoric led to his being considered the pre-eminent Latin writer of Western Chr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Marcus Minucius Felix
__NOTOC__ Marcus Minucius Felix (died c. 250 AD in Rome) was one of the earliest of the Latin Christian apologetics, apologists for Christianity. Nothing is known of his personal history, and even the date at which he wrote can be only approximately ascertained as between AD 150 and 270. Jerome's ''De Viris Illustribus (Jerome), De Viris Illustribus'' No. 58 speaks of him as "''Romae insignis causidicus''" [one of Rome's notable solicitors], but in that he is probably only improving on the expression of Lactantius who speaks of him as "non-ignobilis inter causidicos loci" [not unknown among solicitors]. Octavius He is now exclusively known by his ''Octavius (dialogue), Octavius'', a dialogue on Christianity between the paganism, pagan Caecilius Natalis and the Christian Octavius Januarius. Written for educated non-Christians, the arguments are borrowed chiefly from Cicero, especially his ''De natura deorum'' ("Concerning the Nature of the Gods"), and Christian material, mainly fr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bibliotheca Palatina
The Bibliotheca Palatina (" Palatinate library") of Heidelberg was the most important library of the German Renaissance, numbering approximately 5,000 printed books and 3,524 manuscripts. The Bibliotheca was a prominent prize captured during the Thirty Years' War, taken as booty by Maximilian of Bavaria, and given to the Pope in a symbolic and political gesture. While some of the books and manuscripts are now held by the University of Heidelberg, the bulk of the original collection is now an integral part of the Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana at the Vatican. The important collection of German-language manuscripts have shelf-marks beginning cpg (older usage: Cod. Pal. ger., for "Codices Palatini germanici"), while the vast Latin manuscript collection has shelf-marks with cpl (or Cod. Pal. lat., for "Codices Palatini latini"). Foundation In the 1430s, Elector Louis III founded the ''Stiftsbibliothek'' in the Heiliggeistkirche, which had good light for reading. This library f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Christianity
Early Christianity (up to the First Council of Nicaea in 325) spread from the Levant, across the Roman Empire, and beyond. Originally, this progression was closely connected to already established Jewish centers in the Holy Land and the Jewish diaspora. The first followers of Christianity were Jews or proselytes, commonly referred to as Jewish Christians and God-fearers. The Apostolic sees claim to have been founded by one or more of the apostles of Jesus, who are said to have dispersed from Jerusalem sometime after the crucifixion of Jesus, c. 26–36, perhaps following the Great Commission. Early Christians gathered in small private homes, known as house churches, but a city's whole Christian community would also be called a church – the Greek noun ἐκκλησία (''ekklesia'') literally means assembly, gathering, or congregation but is translated as church in most English translations of the New Testament. Many early Christians were merchants and others who had prac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Theodor Mommsen
Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th century. His work regarding Roman history is still of fundamental importance for contemporary research. He received the 1902 Nobel Prize in Literature for being "the greatest living master of the art of historical writing, with special reference to his monumental work, '' A History of Rome''", after having been nominated by 18 members of the Prussian Academy of Sciences. He was also a prominent German politician, as a member of the Prussian and German parliaments. His works on Roman law and on the law of obligations had a significant impact on the German civil code. Life Mommsen was born to German parents in Garding in the Duchy of Schleswig in 1817, then ruled by the king of Denmark, and grew up in Bad Oldesloe in Holstein, where his fat ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eduard Wölfflin
Eduard Wölfflin (1 January 1831, Basel – 8 November 1908, Basel) was a Swiss classical philologist. He was the father of art historian Heinrich Wölfflin. Career From 1848 to 1854, he studied at the Universities of Basel and Göttingen, where he was a pupil of Karl Friedrich Hermann. Following graduation, he worked as an assistant librarian at the University of Basel (1854–61). He spent the next decade as schoolteacher in Winterthur (1861–71), and in the meantime became an associate professor in Latin philology (1869). In 1871 he attained a full professorship at the University of Zurich. From 1875 to 1880, he was a professor at the University of Erlangen, and from 1880 to 1906, was a professor at the University of Munich. Wölfflin was a member of the Bavarian Maximilian Order for Science and Art. Published works He was a primary catalyst in the establishment of the ''Thesaurus Linguae Latinae'', a comprehensive dictionary of the Latin language — a project t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mystery Religions
Mystery religions, mystery cults, sacred mysteries or simply mysteries, were religious schools of the Greco-Roman world for which participation was reserved to initiates ''(mystai)''. The main characterization of this religion is the secrecy associated with the particulars of the initiation and the ritual practice, which may not be revealed to outsiders. The most famous mysteries of Greco-Roman antiquity were the Eleusinian Mysteries, which predated the Greek Dark Ages. The mystery schools flourished in Late Antiquity; Julian the Apostate in the mid 4th century is known to have been initiated into three distinct mystery schools—most notably the mithraists. Due to the secret nature of the school, and because the mystery religions of Late Antiquity were persecuted by the Christian Roman Empire from the 4th century, the details of these religious practices are derived from descriptions, imagery and cross-cultural studies. Much information on the Mysteries come from Marcus Terent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
