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Censorinus 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 lett ...
grammarian Grammarian may refer to: * Alexandrine grammarians, philologists and textual scholars in Hellenistic Alexandria in the 3rd and 2nd centuries BCE * Biblical grammarians, scholars who study the Bible and the Hebrew language * Grammarian (Greco-Roman ...
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, galax ...
, 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 An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifacts, archaeological and historic si ...
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 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, music, 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 Crater may refer to: Landforms *Impact crater, a depression caused by two celestial bodies impacting each other, such as a meteorite hitting a planet *Explosion crater, a hole formed in the ground produced by an explosion near or below the surfac ...
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 (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