Paeanius was a late Roman Empire historian, author of a translation into
Greek language
Greek ( el, label= Modern Greek, Ελληνικά, Elliniká, ; grc, Ἑλληνική, Hellēnikḗ) is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages, native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Italy ( Calabria and Salento), souther ...
of the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, 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 ...
''Breviarium historiae Romanae'', the historical work of
Eutropius.
The ''Breviarium'' was completed by Eutropius within 369: Paeanius' translation appeared before 380. The ''Breviarium'' was a compendium of ancient Roman history, used both as a textbook in schools and as a fast course on Roman history for the higher social classes (it was dedicated to Emperor
Valens
Valens ( grc-gre, Ουάλης, Ouálēs; 328 – 9 August 378) was Roman emperor from 364 to 378. Following a largely unremarkable military career, he was named co-emperor by his elder brother Valentinian I, who gave him the eastern half of ...
): Paeanius' translation allowed Greek-speaking people to have a graceful version of this compendium.
The translation was first published in print in 1590 by
Friedrich Sylburg in his collection of minor Greek writers of Roman history. Later editions of Eutropius often included Paeanius' ''metaphrasis''. The translation was also printed on its own for school use.
Bibliography
*
John J. Winkler, Gordon Willis Williams, ''Later Greek literature'', CUP Archive, 1982, , pp. 189–192.
External links
1590 editio princeps of Paeanius
{{authority control
Late Antique writers
Roman-era Greek historians
Latin–Greek translators