Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius (sometimes erroneously Avienus) was a
Latin writer of the 4th century AD. He was a native of
Volsinii in
Etruria
Etruria () was a region of Central Italy, located in an area that covered part of what are now most of Tuscany, northern Lazio, and northern and western Umbria.
Etruscan Etruria
The ancient people of Etruria
are identified as Etruscans. T ...
, from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi.
Avienius is not identical with the historian
Festus.
Background
Avienius made somewhat inexact translations into Latin of
Aratus' didactic poem ''Phaenomena''. He also took a popular Greek poem in
hexameters, ''Periegesis,'' briefly delimiting the habitable world from the perspective of
Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandr ...
, written by
Dionysius Periegetes in a terse and elegant style that was easy to memorize for students, and translated it into an archaising Latin as his ''Descriptio orbis terrae'' ("Description of the World's Lands"). Only Book I survives, with an unsteady grasp of actual geography and some far-fetched etymologies: see
Ophiussa
Ophiussa, also spelled Ophiusa, is the ancient name given by the ancient Greeks to what is now Portuguese territory near the mouth of the river Tagus. It means Land of Serpents.
The expulsion of the ''Oestrimni''
The 4th century Roman poet Ruf ...
.
He wrote ''
Ora Maritima'', a poem claimed to contain borrowings from the 6th-century BC ''
Massiliote Periplus''.
[ Donnchadh Ó Corráin Chapter 1 "Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland", in ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland'', R.L. Foster, ed. (Oxford University Press) 2000 ]["Avienus, Rufus Festus" ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology'', Timothy Darvil, ed.. (Oxford University Press) 2002] Avienius also served as governor of
Achaia
Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. T ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
.
According to legend, when asked what he did in the country, he answered ''Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lavo, caeno, quiesco'':
However this quote is a misattribution and likely comes from the works of
Martial
Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 an ...
.
Editions
* A. Berthelot: '. Paris 1934. (text of reference)
* J. P. Murphy: '' or Description of the seacoast''. (Chicago) 1977.
* J. Soubiran: '. CUF, Paris 1981. (text of reference)
* D. Stichtenoth: '. Darmstadt 1968. (the Latin text is that of the ''editio princeps'' of 1488 and is better not cited)
* P. van de Woestijne: '. Brugge 1961. (text of reference)
;Commentaries, monographs and articles
* F. Bellandi, E. Berti und M. Ciappi: '. 96 - 139 e Avieno Arati Phaen. 273 - 352), Pisa 2001
*
* '. Curavit Manfred WACHT. G. Olms Verlag 1995
* M. Fiedler: '. Stuttgart Saur 2004
* C. Ihlemann: '. Diss. Göttingen 1909
* H. Kühne: '. Essen 1905
* K. Smolak: '. In:
* D. Weber: '. Dissertationen der Universität Wien 173, Wien 1986
* L. Willms ' AKAN-Einzelschriften – Antike Naturwissenschaften und ihre Rezeption, vol. 8. Trier WVT 2014
* P. van de Woestijne: '. 1959
* H. Zehnacker: '. Illinois Classical Studies 44 (1989), S. 317-329
References
Further reading
*Alan Cameron, "Macrobius, Avienus, and Avianus" ''The Classical Quarterly'' New Series, 17.2 (November 1967), pp 385–399.
External links
Ortelius' bibliography notes of cartographers
in Latin, at
The Latin LibraryIntroduction and e-text of the "Description"(in French)
English translation of ''Ora maritima''by Ralph Morley (2018) in ToposText.org.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avienius, Postumius Rufius Festus
4th-century Latin writers
4th-century Roman poets
4th-century translators
Late-Roman-era pagans
Postumii
Roman governors of Achaia
Roman governors of Africa
Rufii
Year of birth missing
Year of death missing