Gaius Julius Solinus

Last updated
Solinus (Nuremberg Chronicle) Nuremberg chronicles f 093v 5.png
Solinus ( Nuremberg Chronicle )

Gaius Julius Solinus, better known simply as Solinus, was a Latin grammarian, geographer, and compiler who probably flourished in the early 3rd century AD. Historical scholar Theodor Mommsen dates him to the middle of the 3rd century.

Contents

Solinus was the author of De mirabilibus mundi ("The wonders of the world") which circulated both under the title Collectanea rerum memorabilium ("Collection of Curiosities"), and Polyhistor, [1] though the latter title was favoured by the author himself. The work is indeed a description of curiosities in a chorographic framework. Adventus, to whom it is dedicated, is identified with Oclatinius Adventus, Roman consul in AD 218. It contains a short description of the ancient world, with remarks on historical, social, religious, and natural history questions. The greater part is taken from Pliny's Natural History and the geography of Pomponius Mela. [2]

According to Mommsen, Solinus also relied upon a chronicle (possibly by Cornelius Bocchus) and a Chorographia pliniana, an epitome of Pliny's work with additions made about the time of Hadrian. Schanz, however, suggests the Roma and Prata of Suetonius. [2]

A greatly revised version of his original text was made, perhaps by Solinus himself. This version contains a letter that Solinus wrote as an introduction to the work, which gives the work the title Polyhistor ("multi-descriptive").[ citation needed ] Both versions of the work circulated widely and eventually Polyhistor was taken for the author's name. It was popular in the Middle Ages, hexameter abridgments being current under the names of Theodericus and Petrus Diaconus. [2]

The commentary by Saumaise in his Plinianae exercitationes (1689) was considered indispensable; the 1895 edition by Mommsen includes a valuable introduction on the manuscripts, the authorities used by Solinus, and subsequent compilers. See also Teuffel, Hist. of Roman Literature (Eng. trans., 1900), 389; and Schanz, Geschichte der römischen Litteratur (1904), iv. I. There is an early modern English translation by Arthur Golding (1587) [2] and a modern one with commentary by Dr. Arwen Apps of Macquarie University.

Editions

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dumnonii</span> Celtic tribe in southwestern Britain during the Iron Age

The Dumnonii or Dumnones were a British tribe who inhabited Dumnonia, the area now known as Cornwall and Devon in the further parts of the South West peninsula of Britain, from at least the Iron Age up to the early Saxon period. They were bordered to the east by the Durotriges tribe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amphiaraus</span> Figure from Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, Amphiaraus or Amphiaraos was the son of Oicles, a seer, and one of the leaders of the Seven against Thebes. Amphiaraus at first refused to go with Adrastus on this expedition against Thebes as he foresaw the death of everyone who joined the expedition. His wife, Eriphyle, eventually compelled him to go.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angerona</span>

In Roman religion, Angerona or Angeronia was an old Roman goddess, whose name and functions are variously explained. She is sometimes identified with the goddess Feronia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carmenta</span> Roman goddess of childbirth and prophecy

In ancient Roman religion and myth, Carmenta was a goddess of childbirth and prophecy, associated with technological innovation as well as the protection of mothers and children and a patron of midwives. She was also said to have invented the Latin alphabet.

Gaius Julius Hyginus was a Latin author, a pupil of the scholar Alexander Polyhistor, and a freedman of Caesar Augustus. He was elected superintendent of the Palatine library by Augustus according to Suetonius' De Grammaticis, 20. It is not clear whether Hyginus was a native of the Iberian Peninsula or of Alexandria.

The year 700 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as year 54 Ab urbe condita. The denomination 700 BC for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Aquae Sulis</span> Town in Roman Britain on the site of Bath, England

Aquae Sulis was a small town in the Roman province of Britannia. Today it is the English city of Bath, Somerset. The Antonine Itinerary register of Roman roads lists the town as Aquis Sulis. Ptolemy records the town as Aquae calidae in his 2nd-century work Geographia, where it is listed as one of the cities of the Belgae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sestos</span> Ancient city in Thrace

Sestos was an ancient city in Thrace. It was located at the Thracian Chersonese peninsula on the European coast of the Hellespont, opposite the ancient city of Abydos, and near the town of Eceabat in Turkey.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Julia gens</span> Ancient Roman family

The gens Julia was one of the most prominent patrician families in ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Gaius Julius Iulus in 489 BC. The gens is perhaps best known, however, for Gaius Julius Caesar, the dictator and grand uncle of the emperor Augustus, through whom the name was passed to the so-called Julio-Claudian dynasty of the first century AD. The nomen Julius became very common in imperial times, as the descendants of persons enrolled as citizens under the early emperors began to make their mark in history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinnamon bird</span> Mythical creature

The cinnamon bird, also known as Cinnamologus, Cinomolgus, or Cynnamolgus is a mythical creature described in various bestiaries as a giant bird that collected cinnamon to build its nests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scylletium</span> Ancient city in Calabria, Italy

Scylletium or Skylletion or Scolacium was an ancient seaside city in Calabria, southern Italy. Its ruins can be found at the frazione of Roccelletta, near Catanzaro, facing the Gulf of Squillace.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lucius Siccius Dentatus</span> 5th century BC Roman politician and soldier

Lucius Siccius or Sicinius Dentatus is a supposed Roman soldier, primus pilus, and tribune, famed for his martial bravery. He was cast as a champion of the plebeians in their struggle with the patricians. His cognomen Dentatus means "born with teeth". His exploits are likely fictitious.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorgades</span>

The Gorgades may refer to a group of islands off the Atlantic coast of Africa, as well as the fabled tribe of native inhabitants, the women of which were covered entirely with hair.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poems by Julius Caesar</span>

Poems by Julius Caesar are mentioned by several sources in antiquity. None are extant.

<i>Fons memorabilium universi</i>

Fons memorabilium universi is an early encyclopedia, written in Latin by the Italian humanist Domenico Bandini of Arezzo . Planned to inform and edify educated men who lack other books, the work covered God and the natural world, as was common for encyclopedias of the time, but also added a voluminous last part dealing with man and historical figures, philosophy and history, theology, ethics, heretics and women.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crete (mythology)</span> Several figures in Greek mythology

In Greek mythology, the name Crete may refer to several figures, all of whom are associated with the homonymous island of Crete, and may have been considered its eponyms:

Johann Jacob Grasser was a scholar and polyhistor of Basel. He studied theology and was active as a poet, in the sciences and in geography. He was Magister Artium and Poeta laureatus in Basel in 1601. He travelled across Switzerland and in Europe during 1603 to 1608. When he was in Nîmes, he wrote a treatise on the Roman antiquities there which was reprinted several times. In 1607, he was given the title of Count Palatine by the Imperial Commissioner in Padua, from which time he styled himself as Ioannes Iacobus Grasserus, Civis Romanus, Comes Palatinus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Munatia gens</span>

The gens Munatia was a plebeian family at Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned during the second century BC, but they did not obtain any of the higher offices of the Roman state until imperial times.

The gens Rubria was a plebeian family at ancient Rome. Members of this gens are first mentioned in the time of the Gracchi, but they did not rise to prominence until imperial times. The first of the Rubrii to obtain the consulship was Rubrius Gallus, some time before AD 68.

<i>De natura rerum</i> (Cantimpré)

De natura rerum is a thirteenth century work of natural history, written by Flemish Roman Catholic friar and medieval writer. Thomas of Cantimpré. De natura rerum may be Thomas' most significant work, as it's both the one he dedicated more time to and the one that had the largest posthumous fortune, as witnessed by the large number of codes that contain this work, but also by the many authors that took inspiration from it.

References

Citations

  1. Wilford, John (1981). The Mapmakers. United States of America: Random House. p.  41. ISBN   0375708502.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Chisholm 1911.

Bibliography

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Gaius Julius Solinus at Wikimedia Commons