Albinovanus Pedo was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a letter ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or writte ...

who flourished during the Augustan age.

Works

Pedo wrote ''Theseis'', referred to in a letter from his friend

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

epigram An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two mille ...

s which are commended by

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

and an epic poem on the exploits of

Germanicus Germanicus Julius Caesar (24 May 15 BC – 10 October AD 19) was an ancient Roman general, known for his campaigns in Germania. The son of Nero Claudius Drusus and Antonia the Younger, Germanicus was born into an influential branch of the Patric ...

. He had the reputation of being an excellent ''raconteur'', and

Quintilian Marcus Fabius Quintilianus (; 35 – 100 AD) was a Roman educator and rhetorician from Hispania, widely referred to in medieval schools of rhetoric and in Renaissance writing. In English translation, he is usually referred to as Quintilia ...

awards him qualified praise as a writer of epics. All that remains of his works is a fragment preserved in the ''Suasoria'' of the rhetorician

Seneca the Elder Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Elder (; c. 54 BC – c. 39 AD), also known as Seneca the Rhetorician, was a Roman writer, born of a wealthy equestrian family of Corduba, Hispania. He wrote a collection of reminiscences about the Roman schools of rheto ...

, from a description of the voyage of Germanicus (AD 16) through the river Ems to the Northern Ocean, when he was overtaken by the storm described by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

. The cavalry commander spoken of by the historian is probably identical with the poet.

, ''

Annales Annals are a concise form of historical writing which record events chronologically, year by year. The equivalent word in Latin and French is ''annales'', which is used untranslated in English in various contexts. List of works with titles contai ...

'' i. 60 Three elegies were formerly attributed to Pedo by

Scaliger The Della Scala family, whose members were known as Scaligeri () or Scaligers (; from the Latinized ''de Scalis''), was the ruling family of Verona and mainland Veneto (except for Venice) from 1262 to 1387, for a total of 125 years. History Wh ...

; two on the death of

Maecenas Gaius Cilnius Maecenas ( – 8 BC) was a friend and political advisor to Octavian (who later reigned as emperor Augustus). He was also an important patron for the new generation of Augustan poets, including both Horace and Virgil. During the rei ...

(''In Obitum Maecenatis'' and ''De Verbis Maecenatis moribundi''), and a ''consolatio'' addressed to

Livia Livia Drusilla (30 January 59 BC – 28 September AD 29) was a Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Roman emperor, Emperor Augustus Caesar. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal Adoption in ancient Rome, adoption into the J ...

to console her for the death of her son

Drusus Drusus may refer to: * Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Drusus) (10 BC–AD 54), Roman emperor from 41 to 54 * Drusus Caesar (AD 8–33), adoptive grandson of Roman emperor Tiberius * Drusus Julius Caesar (14 BC–AD 23), son of Roman emperor Tiberiu ...

(''Consolatio ad Liviam de Morte Drusi'' or ''Epicedion Drusi'', usually printed with Ovid's works); but it is now generally agreed that they are not by Pedo. The ''Consolatio'' has been put down as late as the 15th century as the work of an Italian imitator, there being no manuscripts and no trace of the poem before the publication of the ''

editio princeps In classical scholarship, the ''editio princeps'' (plural: ''editiones principes'') of a work is the first printed edition of the work, that previously had existed only in manuscripts, which could be circulated only after being copied by hand. For ...

'' of Ovid in 1471. There is an English verse translation of the elegies by

Edward Hayes Plumptre Edward Hayes Plumptre (6 August 1821 – 1 February 1891) was an English divine and scholar born in London. Life He was born on 6 August 1821, being the son of Edward Hallows Plumptre, a London solicitor. Charles John Plumptre was his brother ...

(1907).

References

Sources

* E. Bahrens, ''Poetae Latini Minores'' (1879) and ''Fragmenta Poetarum Latinorum'' (1886) *

Moritz Haupt Moriz or Moritz Haupt (27 July 1808 – 5 February 1874), was a German philologist. Biography He was born at Zittau, Lusatia, Saxony. His early education was mainly conducted by his father, Ernst Friedrich Haupt, burgomaster of Zittau, a man of ...

, ''Opuscula'', i. (1875) *

Oskar Haube Oskar may refer to: * oskar (gene), the Drosophila gene * Oskar (given name) Oscar or Oskar is a masculine given name of Irish origin. Etymology The name is derived from two elements in Irish: the first, ''os'', means "deer"; the second element, ' ...

, ''Beitrag zur Kenntnis des Albinovanus Pedo'' (1880). {{DEFAULTSORT:Pedo, Albinovanus Roman-era poets Golden Age Latin writers Latin writers known only from secondary sources 1st-century Romans 1st-century Roman poets Tullii