Martianus Capella
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Martianus Minneus Felix Capella () was a
jurist A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyzes and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal education in law (a law degree) and often a Lawyer, legal prac ...
,
polymath A polymath or polyhistor is an individual whose knowledge spans many different subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific problems. Polymaths often prefer a specific context in which to explain their knowledge, ...
and Latin prose writer of
late antiquity Late antiquity marks the period that comes after the end of classical antiquity and stretches into the onset of the Early Middle Ages. Late antiquity as a period was popularized by Peter Brown (historian), Peter Brown in 1971, and this periodiza ...
, one of the earliest developers of the system of the seven
liberal arts Liberal arts education () is a traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term ''skill, art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically the fine arts. ''Liberal arts education'' can refe ...
that structured early medieval education. He was a native of Madaura. His single encyclopedic work, '' De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury"), also called ''De septem disciplinis'' ("On the seven disciplines"), is an elaborate didactic
allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...
written in a mixture of
prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...
and elaborately allusive verse. Martianus often presents philosophical views based on
Neoplatonism Neoplatonism is a version of Platonic philosophy that emerged in the 3rd century AD against the background of Hellenistic philosophy and religion. The term does not encapsulate a set of ideas as much as a series of thinkers. Among the common id ...
, the Platonic school of philosophy pioneered by
Plotinus Plotinus (; , ''Plōtînos'';  – 270 CE) was a Greek Platonist philosopher, born and raised in Roman Egypt. Plotinus is regarded by modern scholarship as the founder of Neoplatonism. His teacher was the self-taught philosopher Ammonius ...
and his followers. Like his near-contemporary
Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...
, who also produced a major work on classical Roman religion, Martianus never directly identifies his own religious affiliation. Much of his work occurs in the form of
dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...
, and the views of the interlocutors may not represent the author's own.


Life

According to
Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Christian Roman statesman, a renowned scholar and writer who served in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senato ...
, Martianus was a native of Madaura—which had been the native city of
Apuleius Apuleius ( ), also called Lucius Apuleius Madaurensis (c. 124 – after 170), was a Numidians, Numidian Latin-language prose writer, Platonist philosopher and rhetorician. He was born in the Roman Empire, Roman Numidia (Roman province), province ...
—in the Roman province of Africa (now Souk Ahras,
Algeria Algeria, officially the People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered to Algeria–Tunisia border, the northeast by Tunisia; to Algeria–Libya border, the east by Libya; to Alger ...
). He appears to have practiced as a jurist at
Roman Carthage Roman Carthage was an important city in ancient Rome, located in modern-day Tunisia. Approximately 100 years after the destruction of Punic Carthage in 146 BC, a new city of the same name (Latin '' Carthāgō'') was built on the same land by t ...
. Martianus was active during the 5th century, writing after the sack of Rome by
Alaric I Alaric I (; , 'ruler of all'; ; – 411 AD) was the first Germanic kingship, king of the Visigoths, from 395 to 410. He rose to leadership of the Goths who came to occupy Moesia—territory acquired a couple of decades earlier by a combine ...
in 410, which he mentions, but apparently before the conquest of North Africa by the
Vandals The Vandals were a Germanic people who were first reported in the written records as inhabitants of what is now Poland, during the period of the Roman Empire. Much later, in the fifth century, a group of Vandals led by kings established Vand ...
in 429. As early as the middle of the 6th century, Securus Memor Felix, a professor of rhetoric, received the text in Rome, for his personal subscription at the end of Book I (or Book II in many manuscripts) records that he was working "from most corrupt exemplars".
Gerardus Vossius Gerrit Janszoon Vos (March or April 1577, Heidelberg – 19 March 1649, Amsterdam), often known by his Latin name Gerardus Vossius, was a Dutch classical scholar, theologian, and polymath. Life He was the son of Johannes (Jan) Vos, a Protestant ...
erroneously took this to mean that Martianus was himself active in the 6th century, giving rise to a long-standing misconception about Martianus's dating. The lunar crater
Capella Capella is the brightest star in the northern constellation of Auriga. It has the Bayer designation α Aurigae, which is Latinisation of names, Latinised to Alpha Aurigae and abbreviated Alpha Aur or α Aur. Capella is the lis ...
is named after him.


''De nuptiis''

This single encyclopedic work, ''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury"), sometimes called ''De septem disciplinis'' ("On the seven disciplines") or the ''Satyricon'', is an elaborate didactic
allegory As a List of narrative techniques, literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a wikt:narrative, narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political signi ...
written in a mixture of
prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...
and elaborately allusive verse, a ''
prosimetrum A ''prosimetrum'' (plural ''prosimetra'') is a poetic composition which exploits a combination of prose (''prosa'') and verse (''metrum'');Braund, Susanna. Prosimetrum. In Cancil, Hubert, and Helmuth Schneider, eds. ''Brill's New Pauly''. Brill O ...
'' in the manner of the
Menippean satire The genre of Menippean satire is a form of satire, usually in prose, that is characterized by attacking mental attitudes rather than specific individuals or entities. It has been broadly described as a mixture of allegory, picaresque narrative, an ...
s of
Varro Marcus Terentius Varro (116–27 BCE) 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 Virgil and Cicero). He is sometimes call ...
. The style is wordy and involved, loaded with
metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide, or obscure, clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are usually meant to cr ...
and bizarre expressions. The book was of great importance in defining the standard formula of academic learning from the Christianized
Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...
of the fifth century until the
Renaissance of the 12th century The Renaissance of the 12th century was a period of many changes at the outset of the High Middle Ages. It included social, political and economic transformations, and an intellectual revitalization of Western Europe with strong philosophical and ...
. This formula included a medieval love for allegory (in particular personifications) as a means of presenting knowledge, and a structuring of that learning around the seven liberal arts. The book, embracing in résumé form the narrowed classical culture of his time, was dedicated to his son. Its
frame story A frame story (also known as a frame tale, frame narrative, sandwich narrative, or intercalation) is a literary technique that serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, where an introductory or main narrative sets the stage either fo ...
in the first two books relates the courtship and wedding of Mercury (intelligent or profitable pursuit), who has been refused by Wisdom, Divination and the Soul, with the maiden Philologia (learning, or more literally the love of letters and study), who is made immortal under the protection of the gods, the
Muses In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology, the Muses (, ) were the Artistic inspiration, inspirational goddesses of literature, science, and the arts. They were considered the source of the knowledge embodied in the poetry, lyric p ...
, the
Cardinal Virtues The cardinal virtues are four virtues of mind and character in classical philosophy. They are prudence, Justice (virtue), justice, Courage, fortitude, and Temperance (virtue), temperance. They form a Virtue ethics, virtue theory of ethics. The t ...
and the Graces. The title refers to the allegorical union of the intellectually profitable pursuit (Mercury) of learning by way of the art of letters (Philology). Among the wedding gifts are seven maids who will be Philology's servants. They are the seven liberal arts:
Grammar In linguistics, grammar is the set of rules for how a natural language is structured, as demonstrated by its speakers or writers. Grammar rules may concern the use of clauses, phrases, and words. The term may also refer to the study of such rul ...
(an old woman with a knife for excising children's grammatical errors),
Dialectic Dialectic (; ), also known as the dialectical method, refers originally to dialogue between people holding different points of view about a subject but wishing to arrive at the truth through reasoned argument. Dialectic resembles debate, but the ...
,
Rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...
(a tall woman with a dress decorated with figures of speech and armed in a fashion to harm adversaries),
Geometry Geometry (; ) is a branch of mathematics concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. Geometry is, along with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. A mathematician w ...
,
Arithmetic Arithmetic is an elementary branch of mathematics that deals with numerical operations like addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. In a wider sense, it also includes exponentiation, extraction of roots, and taking logarithms. ...
,
Astronomy Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest includ ...
and (musical)
Harmony In music, harmony is the concept of combining different sounds in order to create new, distinct musical ideas. Theories of harmony seek to describe or explain the effects created by distinct pitches or tones coinciding with one another; harm ...
. As each art is introduced, she gives an exposition of the principles of the science she represents, thereby providing a summary of the seven liberal arts. Two other arts,
Architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...
and
Medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...
, were present at the feast, but since they care for earthly things, they were to keep silent in the company of the celestial deities. Each book is an abstract or a compilation from earlier authors. The treatment of the subjects belongs to a tradition which goes back to Varro's ''Disciplinae'', even to Varro's passing allusion to architecture and medicine, which in Martianus Capella's day were mechanics' arts, material for clever slaves but not for senators. The classical Roman curriculum, which was to pass—largely through Martianus Capella's book—into the early medieval period, was modified but scarcely revolutionized by
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
. The verse portions, on the whole correct and classically constructed, are in imitation of Varro. The eighth book describes a modified geocentric
astronomical Astronomy is a natural science that studies celestial objects and the phenomena that occur in the cosmos. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and their overall evolution. Objects of interest include ...
model, in which the Earth is at rest in the center of the universe and circled by the Moon, the Sun, three planets and the stars, while Mercury and
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
circle the Sun. The view that Mercury and
Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
circle the Sun was singled out as one not to "disregard" by
Copernicus Nicolaus Copernicus (19 February 1473 – 24 May 1543) was a Renaissance polymath who formulated a mathematical model, model of Celestial spheres#Renaissance, the universe that placed heliocentrism, the Sun rather than Earth at its cen ...
in Book I of his ''
De revolutionibus orbium coelestium ''De revolutionibus orbium coelestium'' (English translation: ''On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres'') is the seminal work on the heliocentric theory of the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543) of the Polish Renaissance. The book ...
''.


Influence

Martianus Capella can best be understood in connection with the reputation of his book. The work was read, taught, and commented upon throughout the early Middle Ages and shaped European education during the early medieval period and the
Carolingian Renaissance The Carolingian Renaissance was the first of three medieval renaissances, a period of cultural activity in the Carolingian Empire. Charlemagne's reign led to an intellectual revival beginning in the 8th century and continuing throughout the 9th ...
. As early as the end of the fifth century, another African,
Fulgentius Fulgentius is a Latin male given name which means "bright, brilliant". It may refer to: *Fabius Planciades Fulgentius (5th–6th century), Latin grammarian *Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe (5th–6th century), bishop of Ruspe, North Africa, possib ...
, composed a work modeled on it. A note found in numerous manuscripts—written by one Securus Memor Felix, who was intending to produce an edition—indicates that by about 534 the dense and convoluted text of ''De nuptiis'' had already become hopelessly corrupted by scribal errors (Michael Winterbottom suggests that Securus Memor's work may be the basis of the text found in "an impressive number of extant books" written in the ninth century).Winterbottom, "Martianus Capella" in ''Texts and Transmission: A Survey of the Latin Classics'', edited by L. D. Reynolds (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1983), p. 245. Another sixth-century writer,
Gregory of Tours Gregory of Tours (born ; 30 November – 17 November 594 AD) was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours during the Merovingian period and is known as the "father of French history". He was a prelate in the Merovingian kingdom, encom ...
, attests that it had become virtually a school manual. In his 1959 study, C. Leonardi catalogued 241 existing manuscripts of ''De nuptiis'', attesting to its popularity during the Middle Ages. It was commented upon copiously: by John Scotus Erigena, Hadoard, Alexander Neckham, and
Remigius of Auxerre Remigius (Remi) of Auxerre (; c. 841 – 908) was a Benedictine monk during the Carolingian period, a teacher of Latin grammar, and a prolific author of commentaries on classical Greek and Latin texts. He is also accredited with collecting and co ...
. In the eleventh century the German monk
Notker Labeo Notker Labeo ( – 28 June 1022), also known as Notker the German () or Notker III, was a Benedictine monk active as a scholar and teacher. He was the first commentator on Aristotle active in the Middle Ages and translated the works of earlier L ...
translated the first two books into
Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
. Martianus continued to play a major role as transmitter of ancient learning until the rise of a new system of learning founded on scholastic
Aristotelianism Aristotelianism ( ) is a philosophical tradition inspired by the work of Aristotle, usually characterized by Prior Analytics, deductive logic and an Posterior Analytics, analytic inductive method in the study of natural philosophy and metaphysics ...
. As late as the thirteenth century, Martianus was still credited as having been the
efficient cause The four causes or four explanations are, in Aristotelian thought, categories of questions that explain "the why's" of something that exists or changes in nature. The four causes are the: material cause, the formal cause, the efficient cause, ...
of the study of astronomy. Modern interpreters have less interest in Martianus's ideas, "except for the light his work throws on what men in other times and places knew or thought it was important to know about the '' artes liberales''".
C. S. Lewis Clive Staples Lewis (29 November 1898 – 22 November 1963) was a British writer, literary scholar and Anglican lay theologian. He held academic positions in English literature at both Magdalen College, Oxford (1925–1954), and Magdalen ...
, in '' The Allegory of Love'', states that "the universe, which has produced the bee-orchid and the
giraffe The giraffe is a large Fauna of Africa, African even-toed ungulate, hoofed mammal belonging to the genus ''Giraffa.'' It is the Largest mammals#Even-toed Ungulates (Artiodactyla), tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant on ...
, has produced nothing stranger than Martianus Capella". The
editio princeps In Textual scholarship, textual and 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. These had to be copied by han ...
of ''De nuptiis'', edited by Franciscus Vitalis Bodianus, was printed in
Vicenza Vicenza ( , ; or , archaically ) is a city in northeastern Italy. It is in the Veneto region, at the northern base of the Monte Berico, where it straddles the Bacchiglione, River Bacchiglione. Vicenza is approximately west of Venice and e ...
in 1499. The work's comparatively late date in print, as well as the modest number of later editions, is a marker of the slide in its popularity, save as an elementary educational primer in the liberal arts. For many years the standard edition of the work was that of A. Dick (Teubner, 1925), but J. Willis produced a new edition for Teubner in 1983. A modern introduction, focusing on the mathematical arts, is ''Martianus Capella and the Seven Liberal Arts'', vol. 1: ''The Quadrivium of Martianus Capella: Latin Traditions in the Mathematical Sciences, 50 B.C. – A.D. 1250''. Volume 2 of this work is an English translation of ''De nuptiis''.


Editions and translations

* ''Martianus Capella and the Seven Liberal Arts''. New York: Columbia University Press 1971. **Vol. 1: ''The quadrivium of Martianus Capella. Latin traditions in the mathematical sciences, 50 B.C.–A.D. 1250'', by
William Harris Stahl William Harris Stahl (New York 20 December 1908 – 20 April 1969) was an American historian of science and professor of classics at New York University and Brooklyn College, known for his translation of Macrobius' '' Commentary on the Dream of Sci ...
, 1971. **Vol. 2: ''The marriage of Philology and Mercury'', translated by
William Harris Stahl William Harris Stahl (New York 20 December 1908 – 20 April 1969) was an American historian of science and professor of classics at New York University and Brooklyn College, known for his translation of Macrobius' '' Commentary on the Dream of Sci ...
and R. Johnson, with E. L. Burge, 1977. * M. Ferré, ''Martianus Capella. Les noces de Philologie et de Mercure. Livre IV: la dialectique'', Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2007. * * B. Ferré, ''Martianus Capella. Les noces de Philologie et de Mercure. Livre VI: la géométrie'', Paris: Les Belles Lettres, 2007. * J.-Y. Guillaumin, ''Martianus Capella. Les noces de Philologie et de Mercure. Livre VII: l'arithmétique'', Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2003.
De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii
(books 1-9, Latin text only).


See also

*
Allegory in the Middle Ages As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory throughout ...
*
Macrobius Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...
, a contemporaneous pagan handbook compiler who offers many parallels with Martianus. *
Cassiodorus Magnus Aurelius Cassiodorus Senator (c. 485 – c. 585), commonly known as Cassiodorus (), was a Christian Roman statesman, a renowned scholar and writer who served in the administration of Theodoric the Great, king of the Ostrogoths. ''Senato ...


Notes


References

* An early version of this article was based on it.
"Martianus Capella"
in ''
Encyclopædia Britannica Online An encyclopedia is a reference work or compendium providing summaries of knowledge, either general or special, in a particular field or discipline. Encyclopedias are divided into articles or entries that are arranged alphabetically by artic ...
''. * P. Wessner in Pauly-Wissowa, ''Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaften'' 1930. * M. Cappuyns, in ''Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastique'', Paris, 1949. * Konrad Vössing, "Augustinus und Martianus Capella - ein Diskurs im Spätantiken Karthago?", in Therese Fuhrer (hg), ''Die christlich-philosophischen Diskurse der Spätantike: Texte, Personen, Institutionen: Akten der Tagung vom 22.-25. Februar 2006 am Zentrum für Antike und Moderne der Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg'' (Stuttgart, Franz Steiner Verlag, 2008) (Philosophie der Antike, 28), * O’Sullivan, Sinéad, "Martianus Capella and the Carolingians: Some Observations Based on the Glosses on Books I–II from the Oldest Gloss Tradition on De nuptiis," in Elizabeth Mullins and Diarmuid Scully (eds), ''Listen, O Isles, unto me: Studies in Medieval Word and Image in honour of Jennifer O’Reilly'' (Cork, 2011), 28–38.


External links

. * *
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
High resolution images of works by Martianus Capella in .jpg and .tiff format.
''De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii'' in PDF and other formats
*''Rhetores latini minores'', Carl Halm (ed.), Lipsiae in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1863
pp. 449-492
{{DEFAULTSORT:Capella, Martianus 5th-century deaths 5th-century writers in Latin 5th-century Romans Ancient Roman rhetoricians Algerian writers Ancient Roman encyclopedists People from Souk Ahras Province Music theorists Neoplatonists Encyclopedias in classical antiquity 5th-century mathematicians Medieval geometers Year of birth uncertain 5th-century philosophers