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Nonius Marcellus
Nonius Marcellus was a Roman grammarian of the 4th or 5th century AD. His only surviving work is the ''De compendiosa doctrina'', a dictionary or encyclopedia in 20 books that shows his interests in antiquarianism and Latin literature from Plautus to Apuleius. Nonius may have come from Africa. Life Little is known about Nonius. The full title of his work, ''Noni Marcelli Peripatetici Tubursicensis de Conpendiosa Doctrina ad filium'', indicates that he was a Peripatetic philosopher from Thubursicum in Numidia. An inscription at Thubursicum dedicated by a certain "Nonius Marcellus Herculius" in 323 AD indicates that his family was based in that area. Since Nonius does not mention Christianity and calls himself a peripatetic, he seems not to have converted. Nonius quotes Aulus Gellius and other 2nd-century compilers, and is himself quoted and praised three times by Priscian in the 5th century, and so must have lived between these dates. According to the ''Cambridge History of Cl ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Late Antiquity
Late antiquity is the time of transition from classical antiquity to the Middle Ages, generally spanning the 3rd–7th century in Europe and adjacent areas bordering the Mediterranean Basin. The popularization of this periodization in English has generally been credited to historian Peter Brown, after the publication of his seminal work '' The World of Late Antiquity'' (1971). Precise boundaries for the period are a continuing matter of debate, but Brown proposes a period between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Generally, it can be thought of as from the end of the Roman Empire's Crisis of the Third Century (235–284) to the early Muslim conquests (622–750), or as roughly contemporary with the Sasanian Empire (224–651). In the West its end was earlier, with the start of the Early Middle Ages typically placed in the 6th century, or earlier on the edges of the Western Roman Empire. The Roman Empire underwent considerable social, cultural and organizational changes starting wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Priscian
Priscianus Caesariensis (), commonly known as Priscian ( or ), was a Latin grammarian and the author of the ''Institutes of Grammar'', which was the standard textbook for the study of Latin during the Middle Ages. It also provided the raw material for the field of speculative grammar. Life The details of Priscian's life are largely unknown. Priscian was born and raised in the North-African city of Caesarea (modern Cherchell, Algeria), the capital of the Roman province of Mauretania Caesariensis, which during his lifetime would be under the control of the Vandalic Kingdom. According to Cassiodorus, he taught Latin at Constantinople in the early sixth century. His minor works include a panegyric to Anastasius (491—518), written about 512, which helps establish his time period. In addition, the manuscripts of his ''Institutes'' contain a subscription to the effect that the work was copied (526, 527) by Flavius Theodorus, a clerk in the imperial secretariat. Works Priscian ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Etymologiae
''Etymologiae'' (Latin for "The Etymologies"), also known as the ''Origines'' ("Origins") and usually abbreviated ''Orig.'', is an etymological encyclopedia compiled by Isidore of Seville (c. 560–636) towards the end of his life. Isidore was encouraged to write the book by his friend Braulio, Bishop of Saragossa. ''The Etymologies'' summarized and organized a wealth of knowledge from hundreds of classical sources; three of its books are derived largely from Pliny the Elder's '' Natural History''. Isidore acknowledges Pliny, but not his other principal sources, namely Cassiodorus, Servius and Solinus. The work contains whatever Isidore, an influential Christian bishop, thought worth keeping. ''Etymologiae'' covers an encyclopedic range of topics. Etymology, the origins of words, is prominent, but the work covers among other things: grammar, rhetoric, mathematics, geometry, music, astronomy, medicine, law, the Roman Catholic Church and heretical sects, pagan philosophers, lang ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Verrius Flaccus
Marcus Verrius Flaccus (c. 55 BCAD 20) was a Ancient Rome, Roman grammarian and teacher who flourished under Augustus Caesar, Augustus and Tiberius. Life He was a freedman, and his manumitter has been identified with Verrius Flaccus, an authority on pontifical law; but for chronological reasons the name of Veranius Flaccus, a writer on augury, has been suggested (Teuffel-Schwabe, ''Hist. of Roman Lit.'' 199, 4). He gained such a reputation by his methods of instruction that he was summoned to court to bring up Gaius Caesar, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, Lucius, the grandsons of Augustus. He removed there with his whole school, and his salary was greatly increased on the condition that he took no fresh pupils. He died at an advanced age during the reign of Tiberius (Suetonius' minor works, Suetonius, ''De Grammaticis'', 17), and a statue in his honour was erected at Praeneste, in a marble recess, with inscriptions from his ''Fasti Praenestini''. Works Flaccus was also a distinguished ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sextus Pompeius Festus
Sextus Pompeius Festus, usually known simply as Festus, was a Roman grammarian who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo (Narbonne) in Gaul. Work He made a 20-volume epitome of Verrius Flaccus's voluminous and encyclopedic treatise ''De verborum significatione''. Flaccus had been a celebrated grammarian who flourished in the reign of Augustus. Festus gives the etymology as well as the meaning of many words, and his work throws considerable light on the language, mythology and antiquities of ancient Rome. He made a few alterations, and inserted some critical remarks of his own. He also omitted such ancient Latin words as had long been obsolete; these he apparently discussed in a separate work now lost, entitled ''Priscorum verborum cum exemplis''. Even incomplete, Festus' lexicon reflects at second hand the enormous intellectual effort that had been made in the Augustan Age to put together information on the traditions of the Roman world, which was alrea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Cornelius Sisenna
Lucius Cornelius Sisenna (c. 120 – 67 BC) was a Roman soldier, historian, and annalist. Life Little is known of Sisenna's life or family. The first Cornelius Sisenna (perhaps Lucius' grandfather or great-grandfather) appears as urban praetor in 183 BCE. It is not thought that his family, the Cornelii Sisennae, were related to the patrician branches of the famous ''gens Cornelia'', with some scholars suggesting that the Sisennae hailed from Etruria instead. It is likely that Sisenna actively supported Sulla during the civil wars of the 80s BCE. He was friends with some of Sulla's most important associates, including Lucullus, and was apparently overly partial towards Sulla in his writings. Moreover, soon after Sulla's dictatorship, Sisenna was elected to the praetorship for 78 BCE, which implies that he had benefitted politically from Sulla's victory. Apart from his praetorship in 78 BCE, very little is known of Sisenna's political career. It has been suggested that he g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Historiography
Roman historiography stretches back to at least the 3rd century BC and was indebted to earlier Greek historiography. The Romans relied on previous models in the Greek tradition such as the works of Herodotus (c. 484 – 425 BC) and Thucydides (c. 460 – c. 395 BC). Roman historiographical forms are usually different from their Greek counterparts, however, and often emphasize Roman concerns. The Roman style of history was based on the way that the Annals of the Pontifex Maximus, or the '' Annales Maximi'', were recorded. The ''Annales Maximi'' include a wide array of information, including religious documents, names of consuls, deaths of priests, and various disasters throughout history. Also part of the Annales Maximi are the White Tablets, or the "Tabulae Albatae", which consist of information on the origin of the Roman Republic. During the Second Punic War with Carthage, Rome's earliest known annalists Quintus Fabius Pictor and Lucius Cincius Alimentus recorded history in Gr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gaius Lucilius
Gaius Lucilius (180, 168 or 148 BC – 103 BC) was the earliest Roman satirist, of whose writings only fragments remain. A Roman citizen of the equestrian class, he was born at Suessa Aurunca in Campania, and was a member of the Scipionic Circle. Problem of his birthdate The dates assigned by Jerome for Lucilius' birth and death are 148 BC and 103 BC. But it is impossible to reconcile the first of these dates with other facts recorded of him, and the date given by Jerome must be due to an error, the true date being about 180 BC. His sister was Lucilia, being the mother of Roman Politician Sextus Pompeius and the paternal grandmother of Roman Triumvir Pompey. According to Velleius Paterculus, he served under Scipio Aemilianus at the siege of Numantia in 134 BC. Horace notes that he lived on the most intimate terms of friendship with Scipio and Laelius (Satire ii.1), and that he celebrated the exploits and virtues of the former in his satires. F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or exposing the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. A feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm —"in satire, irony is militant", according to literary critic Northrop Frye— but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) the very things the satirist wishes to question. Satire is found in many artistic f ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pacuvius
Marcus Pacuvius (; 220 – c. 130 BC) was an ancient Roman tragic poet. He is regarded as the greatest of their tragedians prior to Lucius Accius. Biography He was the nephew and pupil of Ennius, by whom Roman tragedy was first raised to a position of influence and dignity. In the interval between the death of Ennius (169 BC) and the advent of Accius, the youngest and most productive of the tragic poets, Pacuvius alone maintained the continuity of the serious drama, and perpetuated the character first imparted to it by Ennius. Like Ennius he probably belonged to an Oscan stock, and was born at Brundisium, which had become a Roman colony in 244 BC. Hence he never attained to that perfect idiomatic purity of style, which was the special glory of the early writers of comedy, Naevius and Plautus. Pacuvius obtained distinction also as a painter; and Pliny the Elder (''Naturalis Historia'' xxxv) mentions a work of his in the Temple of Hercules in the Forum Boarium. He was le ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lucius Accius
Lucius Accius (; 170 – c. 86 BC), or Lucius Attius, was a Roman tragic poet and literary scholar. Accius was born in 170 BC at Pisaurum, a town founded in the Ager Gallicus in 184 BC. He was the son of a freedman and a freedwoman, probably from Rome. The year of his death is unknown, but he must have lived to a great age, since Cicero (born 106 BC, hence 64 years younger) writes of having conversed with him on literary matters. Literary works Accius was a prolific writer and enjoyed a very high reputation. The titles and considerable fragments (about 700 lines) of some fifty plays have been preserved. Judging from the titles and fragments, scholars have surmised that most, if not all, of these poems were tragic in nature, although Pliny the Younger ranks him among the erotic poets. His career as a poet can be traced over the course of 36 years from B.C. 140, to B.C. 104. Most of his poetical works were imitations or free translations of the Greek, especially Aeschylus. The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establishment of the Roman Empire, Rome's control rapidly expanded during this period—from the city's immediate surroundings to hegemony over the entire Mediterranean world. Roman society under the Republic was primarily a cultural mix of Latin and Etruscan societies, as well as of Sabine, Oscan, and Greek cultural elements, which is especially visible in the Roman Pantheon. Its political organization developed, at around the same time as direct democracy in Ancient Greece, with collective and annual magistracies, overseen by a senate. The top magistrates were the two consuls, who had an extensive range of executive, legislative, judicial, military, and religious powers ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
