Lucius Ampelius
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The ''Liber Memorialis'' is an ancient book in
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
featuring an extremely concise summary—a kind of index—of
universal history Universal history may refer to: * Universal history (genre), a literary genre **''Jami' al-tawarikh'', 14th-century work of literature and history, produced by the Mongol Ilkhanate in Persia ** Universal History (Sale et al), ''Universal History'' ...
from earliest times to the reign of
Trajan Trajan ( ; born Marcus Ulpius Traianus, 18 September 53) was a Roman emperor from AD 98 to 117, remembered as the second of the Five Good Emperors of the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. He was a philanthropic ruler and a successful soldier ...
. It was written by Lucius Ampelius, who was possibly a tutor or schoolmaster.


Description

The book is dedicated to a Macrinus, who may have been the
emperor The word ''emperor'' (from , via ) can mean the male ruler of an empire. ''Empress'', the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), mother/grandmother (empress dowager/grand empress dowager), or a woman who rules ...
who reigned 217–218, but that name was not uncommon, and it seems more likely he was simply a young man with a thirst for universal knowledge, which the book was compiled to satisfy. The book's object and scope are indicated in its dedication: The ''Liber Memorialis'' seems to have been intended as a
textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions, but also of learners ( ...
to be learned by heart. This little work, in fifty chapters, gives a sketch of cosmography,
geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
,
mythology Myth is a genre of folklore consisting primarily of narratives that play a fundamental role in a society. For scholars, this is very different from the vernacular usage of the term "myth" that refers to a belief that is not true. Instead, the ...
(Chapters I-X), and history (Chapters X to end). The historical portion, dealing mainly with the republican period, is untrustworthy and the text in many places corrupt; the earlier chapters are more valuable, and contain some interesting information. Chapter VIII (''Miracula Mundi'') contains the following, the only reference by an ancient writer to the famous sculptures of the
Pergamon Altar The Pergamon Altar () was a monumental construction built during the reign of the Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek King Eumenes II of the Kingdom of Pergamon, Pergamon Empire in the first half of the 2nd century BC on one of the terraces of the ac ...
, which were discovered in 1871, excavated in 1878, and are now in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
:


Date

Nothing is known of the date at which the work was written; the times of Trajan,
Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...
,
Antoninus Pius Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Pius (; ; 19 September 86 – 7 March 161) was Roman emperor from AD 138 to 161. He was the fourth of the Five Good Emperors from the Nerva–Antonine dynasty. Born into a senatorial family, Antoninus held var ...
, the beginning of the 3rd century have all been suggested. However, in Chapter V De Orbe Terrarum (The World), Ampelius refers to the "Tigris and Euphrates in Parthia," which suggests that Ampelius wrote before the Sassanians overthrew the Parthians in 224.


Editions

The first edition of the ''Liber Memorialis'' was published in 1638 by
Claudius Salmasius Claude Saumaise (15 April 1588 – 3 September 1653), also known by the Latin name Claudius Salmasius, was a French classical scholar. Life Salmasius was born at Semur-en-Auxois in Burgundy (region), Burgundy. When Salmasius was sixteen, his fath ...
(Saumaise) from the Dijon manuscript, now lost, together with the ''Epitome'' of
Florus Three main sets of works are attributed to Florus (a Roman cognomen): ''Virgilius orator an poeta'', the ''Epitome of Roman History'' and a collection of 14 short poems (66 lines in all). As to whether these were composed by the same person, or ...
. An 1873 edition by Wölfflin was based on Salmasius's copy of the lost codex. The more recent editions are * Erwin Assmann's
Teubner The Bibliotheca Teubneriana, or ''Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana'', also known as Teubner editions of Greek and Latin texts, comprise one of the most thorough modern collections published of ancient (and some medieva ...
edition of 1935 * Nicola Terzaghi's edition, published by Chiantore in Turin ca. 1947 (preface dated 1943) * Marie-Pierre Arnaud-Lidet's 1993 edition for the
Collection Budé The ''Collection Budé'', or the ''Collection des Universités de France'', is an editorial collection comprising the Greek and Latin classics up to the middle of the 6th century (before Emperor Justinian). It is published by Les Belles Lettre ...
(includes French translation)


Notes


References

*Glaser, ''Rheinisches Museum,'' ii. (1843) *Wölfflin, ''De L. Ampelii Libro Memoriali'' (1854) *Zink, ''Eos,'' ii (1866) *


External links


''Liber Memorialis''
(Wölfflin's Latin text) at
LacusCurtius LacusCurtius is the ancient Graeco-Roman part of a large history website, hosted as of March 2025 on a server at the University of Chicago. Starting in 1995, as of January 2004 it gave "access to more than 594 photos, 559 drawings and engravings, ...

''Liber memoralis''
( Erwin Assmann's BT-edition) at Bibliotheca Augustana {{Authority control Works about history in Latin Universal history books