Raphael Fabretti (1618 – 7 January 1700) was an Italian

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...

. Born at Urbino in the

Marche Marche ( , ) is one of the twenty regions of Italy. In English, the region is sometimes referred to as The Marches ( ). The region is located in the central area of the country, bordered by Emilia-Romagna and the republic of San Marino to the ...

, he studied law at Cagli and Urbino, where he took his doctorate at the age of eighteen. While in Rome he attracted the notice of Cardinal

Lorenzo Imperiali Lorenzo Imperiali (21 February 1612 - 21 September 1673) was an Italian Catholic cardinal. Early life Imperiali was born in Genoa on 21 February 1612 to the patrician Imperiali family of that city. He went to Rome during the pontificate of P ...

, who employed him successively as treasurer and auditor of the papal legation in Spain, where he remained thirteen years. Meanwhile, his favourite classical and antiquarian studies were not neglected; and on his return journey he made important observations of the relics and monuments of Spain, France, and Italy. At Rome he was appointed judge of appellation of the Capitol, but left to be auditor of the legation at Urbino. After three years he returned to Rome, on the invitation of Cardinal Gaspare Carpegna, vicar of

Pope Innocent XI Pope Innocent XI ( la, Innocentius XI; it, Innocenzo XI; 16 May 1611 – 12 August 1689), born Benedetto Odescalchi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 21 September 1676 to his death on August 12, 1689. Poli ...

, and devoted himself to antiquarian research, examining with minute care the monuments and inscriptions of the Campagna. He always rode a horse which his friends nicknamed "

Marco Polo Marco Polo (, , ; 8 January 1324) was a Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known as ''Book of the Marv ...

", after the Venetian traveller. Pope Innocent XII made him keeper of the archives of the

Castel Sant'Angelo The Mausoleum of Hadrian, usually known as Castel Sant'Angelo (; English: ''Castle of the Holy Angel''), is a towering cylindrical building in Parco Adriano, Rome, Italy. It was initially commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausol ...

, a charge he retained until his death. His collection of inscriptions and monuments was purchased by Cardinal Giovanni Francesco Stoppani, and placed in the ducal palace at Urbino, where they may still be seen. His work ''De Aquis et Aquaeductibus veteris Romae'' (1680), three dissertations on the topography of ancient Latium, is inserted in Graevius's ''Thesaurus'', iv (1677). His interpretation of certain passages in Livy and other classical authors involved him in a dispute with Gronovius, which bore a strong resemblance to that between

John Milton John Milton (9 December 1608 – 8 November 1674) was an English poet and intellectual. His 1667 epic poem '' Paradise Lost'', written in blank verse and including over ten chapters, was written in a time of immense religious flux and political ...

and Claudius Salmasius, Gronovius addressing Fabretti as Faber Rusticus, and the latter, in reply, speaking of Gronovius and his "'' titivilitia''". In this controversy Fabretti used the pseudonym "Iasitheus", which he afterwards took as his pastoral name in the

Academy of the Arcadians The Accademia degli Arcadi or Accademia dell'Arcadia, "Academy of Arcadia" or "Academy of the Arcadians", was an Italian literary academy founded in Rome in 1690. The full Italian official name was Pontificia Accademia degli Arcadi. History F ...

. His other works, ''De Columna Trajani Syntagma'' (1683), and ''Inscriptionum Antiquarum Explicatio'' (1699), throw much light on Roman antiquity. In the former is to be found his explication of an early Imperial Roman bas-relief, with inscriptions, now in the Capitol at Rome, representing the war and taking of Troy, one of the ''

Tabulae Iliacae The ''Tabulae Iliacae'' ("Iliadic tables", "Iliac tables" or "Iliac tablets"; singular ''Tabula Iliaca'') are a collection of 22 stone plaques (''pinakes''), mostly of marble, with reliefs depicting scenes from Greek epic poetry, especially of th ...

''. Letters and other shorter works of Fabretti are to be found in publications of the time, such as the ''Journal des Savants''.

Sources

*H. B. Evans ''Aqueduct Hunting in the Seventeenth Century. Raffaello Fabretti’s De aquis et aquaeductibus veteris Romae''. Pp. xvi + 309, maps, ills. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2002. .

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fabretti, Raphael 1618 births 1700 deaths 17th-century Latin-language writers People from Urbino Italian classical scholars