''De fluviīs'' (Latin for "concerning rivers"), also called ''Dē fluviōrum et montium nōminibus et dē iīs quae in illīs inveniuntur'' ("concerning the names of rivers and mountains and those things which are found in them") or the Greek ''Περὶ ποταμῶν καὶ ὀρῶν ἐπωνυμίας'', is a Greek text by
Pseudo-Plutarch Pseudo-Plutarch is the conventional name given to the actual, but unknown, authors of a number of pseudepigrapha (falsely attributed works) attributed to Plutarch but now known not to have been written by him.
Some of these works were included in s ...
written during the 2nd century CE. It discusses twenty-five rivers in
Greece
Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
,
Asia Minor
Anatolia (), also known as Asia Minor, is a peninsula in West Asia that makes up the majority of the land area of Turkey. It is the westernmost protrusion of Asia and is geographically bounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the south, the Aegean ...
,
India
India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
,
Gaul
Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Roman people, Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . Ac ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
,
Scythia
Scythia (, ) or Scythica (, ) was a geographic region defined in the ancient Graeco-Roman world that encompassed the Pontic steppe. It was inhabited by Scythians, an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people.
Etymology
The names ...
, and
Armenia
Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...
. The chapters typically start with a myth about the river, include information about local flora and stones, and end with details about a nearby mountain.
Scholars today classify it as
paradoxography, or even a parody of paradoxography.
The work
Notably, Pseudo-Plutarch describes 22 of the 25 rivers as deriving their names from people who committed suicide in them. Six of the rivers were renamed ''twice'' due to suicide. Several of the mountains are also said to have gotten their names from suicides.
Most of the plants and stones described have mystical qualities to them, from warding off spirits and gods, to causing and healing madness, to exposing liars and thieves.
Sources are cited throughout the book including the ''Treatise of Rivers'' by Achelaus, the ''Second Book of Rivers'' by Sostratus, the ''Third Book of Mountains'' by Dercyllus, the ''Third Book of Plants'' by Ctesiphon, and the ''History of Boeotia'' by Leo of Byzantium. A full list is given below.
Authorship
The work is considered
pseudepigrapha
A pseudepigraph (also :wikt:anglicized, anglicized as "pseudepigraphon") is a false attribution, falsely attributed work, a text whose claimed author is not the true author, or a work whose real author attributed it to a figure of the past. Th ...
, meaning written by someone other than the attributed author,
Plutarch
Plutarch (; , ''Ploútarchos'', ; – 120s) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo (Delphi), Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''Parallel Lives'', ...
. It is only preserved by the 9th century codex ''Palatinus gr. Heidelbergensis 398'', which includes a marginal note stating, "This is pseudepigraphic, for the intellectual level and diction are far from the genius of Plutarch. Unless he might be some other Plutarch."
Rivers
Works cited in-text
Some 49 different writers are cited with 65 works between them, including 13 on rivers, 9 on stones, 7 histories, and 12 on international relations. Five are listed as the thirteenth volume on that topic by that author. Based on the titles, there would be at least 204 works by these authors.
In comparison, Plutarch's ''Alexander'', a much longer work, cites around 25 sources by name. The authors cited in ''De fluviis'' seem to very conveniently come in rashes of similar syllables, e.g. Ctesias (x2), Ctesiphon, Ctesippus. The text itself is highly repetitive. These facts among others cause scholars to doubt heavily that any of the works and authors cited ever existed.
However, it does provide insight into the mind of a 2nd century Greek writer, shedding some light on what they would have considered legitimate. If the intended genre was parody, then it gives insight on what a writer from the period found humorous.
References
{{reflist
External links
* Interlinear Greek and Latin
''Geographi Graeci Minores'' Müllerus, Carolus. 1861.
* English
''De fluvii'' Goodwin, William. 1874.
2nd-century texts
Ancient Greek pseudepigrapha