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Gaius Julius Solinus, better known simply as Solinus, was a

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 ...

grammarian, geographer, and compiler who probably flourished in the early 3rd century AD. Historical scholar

Theodor Mommsen Christian Matthias Theodor Mommsen (; ; 30 November 1817 – 1 November 1903) was a German classical scholar, historian, jurist, journalist, politician and archaeologist. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest classicists of the 19th ce ...

dates him to the middle of the 3rd century. Solinus was the author of ("On the Wonders of the World") which circulated under the titles ("A Collection of Curious Things"), , and , the latter title being favoured by the author himself. The work is indeed a description of curiosities in a chorographic framework. Adventus, to whom it is dedicated, is identified with Oclatinius Adventus, Roman consul in AD 218. It contains a short description of the ancient world, with remarks on historical, social, religious, and natural history questions. The greater part is taken from Pliny's ''Natural History'' and the geography of

Pomponius Mela Pomponius Mela, who wrote around AD 43, was the earliest known Roman geographer. He was born at the end of the 1st century BC in Tingentera (now Algeciras) and died AD 45. His short work (''De situ orbis libri III.'') remained in use nea ...

. According to Mommsen, Solinus also relied upon a chronicle (possibly by Cornelius Bocchus) and a , an epitome of Pliny's work with additions made about the time of

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 '' ...

. Schanz, however, suggests the ''Roma'' and ''Prata'' of

Suetonius Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is ''De vita Caesarum'', common ...

. A greatly revised version of his original text was made, perhaps by Solinus himself. This version contains a letter that Solinus wrote as an introduction to the work, which gives the work the title . Both versions of the work circulated widely and eventually was taken for the author's name. It was popular in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

hexameter Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek as well as in Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of s ...

abridgments being current under the names of Theodericus and Petrus Diaconus. The commentary by Saumaise in his (1689) was considered indispensable; the 1895 edition by Mommsen includes a valuable introduction on the manuscripts, the authorities used by Solinus, and subsequent compilers. See also Teuffel, ''History of Roman Literature'' (English translation, 1900), 389; and Schanz, (1904), iv. I. There is an early modern English translation by Arthur Golding (1587) and a modern one with commentary by Dr. Arwen Apps of Macquarie University.

Editions

* Kai Brodersen, ''Solinus: Wunder der Welt''. Collectanea Rerum Mirabilium. Lateinisch und Deutsch. Edition Antike. Darmstadt: Wiss. Buchgesellschaft 2014. *Arwen Elizabeth Apps, ''Gaius Iulius Solinus and His Polyhistor'', Macquarie University, 2011 (PhD Dissertation)

References

Citations

Bibliography

*Hermann Walter, Die ‘Collectanea rerum memorabilium’ des C. Julius Solinus. Ihre Entstehung und die Echtheit ihrer Zweitfassung, Wiesbaden, 1969 (Hermes. Einzelschriften, 22). * Kai Brodersen (ed.), Solinus. New Studies. Heidelberg: Verlag Antike 2014. *

External links

Gaius Julius Solinus, the Polyhistor
English translation by Arwen Apps (in ToposText.org, from her PhD diss., Macquarie University, 2011)

Editio princeps, Venice 1473, at the

Bavarian State Library The Bavarian State Library (, abbreviated BSB, called ''Bibliotheca Regia Monacensis'' before 1919) in Munich is the central " Landesbibliothek", i. e. the state library of the Free State of Bavaria, the biggest universal and research libra ...

* ttp://www.thelatinlibrary.com/solinus.html Gaii Iulii Solini de Mirabilibus Mundiat The Latin Library, Latin texts of both the C.L.F. Panckoucke edition (Paris 1847) and the Mommsen edition (1864).
Online Galleries, History of Science Collections, University of Oklahoma Libraries
High resolution images of works by Solinus in .jpg and .tiff format.
The excellent and pleasant worke of Iulius Solinus Polyhistor Contayning the noble actions of humaine creatures, the secretes & prouidence of nature, the description of countries, the maners of the people: with many meruailous things and strange antiquities, seruing for the benefitt and recreation of all sorts of persons. Translated out of Latin into English, by Arthur Golding. Gent.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Solinus, Gaius Julius 3rd-century Romans 3rd-century writers in Latin solinus Solinus, Gaius Post–Silver Age Latin writers Ancient Roman geographers 3rd-century geographers