Censorinus was a Roman grammarian and miscellaneous writer from the 3rd century AD.

Biography

He was the author of a lost work ''De Accentibus'' and of an extant treatise ''De Die Natali'', written in 238, and dedicated to his patron Quintus Caerellius as a birthday gift. The contents are of a varied character: the natural history of man, the influence of the stars and '' genii,'' music, religious rites,

astronomy Astronomy () is a natural science that studies celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and evolution. Objects of interest include planets, moons, stars, nebulae, g ...

, the doctrines of the

Greek philosophers Ancient Greek philosophy arose in the 6th century BC, marking the end of the Greek Dark Ages. Greek philosophy continued throughout the Hellenistic period and the period in which Greece and most Greek-inhabited lands were part of the Roman Empire ...

, and antiquarian subjects. The second part deals with chronological and mathematical questions, and has been of great service in determining the principal epochs of ancient history. The whole is full of curious and interesting information. The style is clear and concise, although somewhat rhetorical, and the —for the period—good. The chief authorities used were

Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) was a Roman polymath and a prolific author. He is regarded as ancient Rome's greatest scholar, and was described by Petrarch as "the third great light of Rome" (after Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...

and Suetonius. Some scholars, indeed, hold that the entire work is practically an adaptation of the lost ''Pratum'' of Suetonius. The fragments of a work ''De Naturali Institutione'', dealing with astronomy,

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

music Music is generally defined as the art of arranging sound to create some combination of form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise expressive content. Exact definitions of music vary considerably around the world, though it is an aspe ...

, and versification, and usually printed with the ''De Die Natali'' of Censorinus, are not by him. Part of the original manuscript, containing the end of the genuine work, and the title and name of the author of the fragment are lost. A bright crater in the Sea of Tranquility on the Moon has been named after him.

Works

References

Notes

Bibliography

* Good edition with commentary by Heinrich Lindenbrog (1614) * Critical editions by **

Otto Jahn Otto Jahn (; 16 June 1813, in Kiel – 9 September 1869, in Göttingen), was a German archaeologist, philologist, and writer on art and music. Biography After the completion of his university studies at Christian-Albrechts-Universität in Kiel, ...

(1845) **

Friedrich Hultsch Friedrich Otto Hultsch (22 July 1833, Dresden – 6 April 1906, Dresden) was a German classical philologist and historian of mathematics in antiquity. Biography After graduating from the Dresden ''Kreuzschule'', Friedrich Hultsch studied classica ...

(1867) ** Ivan Cholodniak (1889) ** Kai Brodersen (2012) * English translation of th
''De Die Natali''
(the first eleven chapters being omitted) with notes by William Maude (New York, 1900) * * New English translation of the ''De Die Natali'' by Holt N. Parker (trans.): ''Censorinus. The Birthday Book''. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2007. Pp. xiv, 102. * New German translation by Kai Brodersen (trans.): ''Censorinus. Das Geburtstagsbuch''. Darmstadt: Primus, 2011. Pp. 120. * New critical edition with German translation by Kai Brodersen: ''Censorinus. Über den Geburtstag'' (Edition Antike). Darmstadt: WBG, 2012. Pp. 160.

External links

(Latin text, French translation: Cholodniak's edition)
Corpus Grammaticorum Latinorum: complete texts and full bibliography
3rd-century Romans Grammarians of Latin 3rd-century Latin writers Ancient Roman antiquarians {{AncientRome-bio-stub