Tiberius Claudius Donatus was a Roman

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

grammarian of the late 4th and early 5th century AD of whom a single work is known, the ''Interpretationes Vergilianae'', a

commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

's ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...

''. His work, rediscovered in 1438, proved popular in the early modern age; 55 editions of this book were printed between 1488 and 1599. In his commentary, Donatus claims that the ''Aeneid'' is a work of

rhetoric Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate parti ...

with the intention of praising

Aeneas In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...

, stating that it is best explained by

rhetor Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate partic ...

s, not grammarians; therefore, he sticks to a strict literal analysis of the text. He also criticizes existing criticisms of the ''Aeneid'', saying that they fail to identify Virgil's apparent rhetorical advocacy for Aeneas. Donatus also maintains that Virgil was not a

philosopher A philosopher is a person who practices or investigates philosophy. The term ''philosopher'' comes from the grc, φιλόσοφος, , translit=philosophos, meaning 'lover of wisdom'. The coining of the term has been attributed to the Greek th ...

but rather a teacher, and that the best way to read the ''Aeneid'' is with an understanding of its universal scope. Donatus had a son by the name of Tiberius Claudius Maximus Donatianus, to whom he dedicated his ''Interpretationes''.

References

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* Grammarians of Latin Virgil Aeneid 5th-century Latin writers {{Europe-linguist-stub