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.
Name
From its grammatical form, Censorinus is presumably his
cognomen
A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became her ...
, the shared surname of a branch of a Roman family (). The cognomen would typically be used by those descended from,
adopted by, or related by prominent
marriage
Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...
to someone who had held the office of
censor. Censorinus's
given name () and
family name () are unknown, although the
Marcii Censorini
Marcius Censorinus was a name used by a branch of the plebeian ''gens Marcia'' of ancient Rome. The ''cognomen'' Censorinus was acquired through Gaius Marcius Rutilus, the first plebeian censor, whose son used it. The ''gens Marcia'' claimed ...
were by far the most prominent family to use the cognomen. The author is sometimes distinguished as ().
Life
Little is known of Censorinus, although he lived during the 3rd century and apparently dedicated to his patron Quintus Caerellius as a birthday gift.
Works
Censorinus was the author of a lost work as well as the surviving .
(
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the 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 the power ...
for "On the Natal Day" or "On the Birthday") or ("Little Work on the Birthday") was apparently written in 238 for the birthday of Censorinus's patron Quintus Caerellius. 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 astronomical object, celestial objects and phenomena. It uses mathematics, physics, and chemistry in order to explain their origin and chronology of the Universe, evolution. Objects of interest ...
, 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 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
rhetoric
Rhetoric () is the art of persuasion, which along with grammar and logic (or dialectic), is one of the three ancient arts of discourse. Rhetoric aims to study the techniques writers or speakers utilize to inform, persuade, or motivate par ...
al, and the —for the period—good. The chief authorities used were
Varro
Marcus Terentius Varro (; 116–27 BC) 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 Vergil and Cicero). He is sometimes calle ...
and
Suetonius
Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire.
His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...
. 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
Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is c ...
,
music
Music is generally defined as the The arts, art of arranging sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Exact definition of music, definitions of mu ...
, and
versification
Versification may refer to:
* the art of making poetry
** Metre (poetry), the basic rhythmic structure of a verse or lines in verse
** Verse (poetry), a single metrical line in a poetic composition
* Versification (Bible), process by which the bo ...
, 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.
Legacy
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
Mare Tranquillitatis (Latin ''tranquillitātis'', the Sea of Tranquillity or Sea of Tranquility; see spelling differences) is a lunar mare that sits within the Tranquillitatis basin on the Moon. It is the first location on another world to be ...
on the Moon has been named after him.
Notes
References
Citations
Editions
* .
* .
* .
* .
* .
* .
* , omitting the first 11 chapters.
* .
* .
* .
Bibliography
* .
External links
Corpus Grammaticorum Latinorum: complete texts and full bibliography
3rd-century Romans
Grammarians of Latin
3rd-century writers in Latin
Ancient Roman antiquarians
{{AncientRome-bio-stub