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{{short description|Roman poet}}
:''This page is about a Roman author whose cognomen was Avienus. For the Roman gens, see [[Aviena (gens)]].''
{{dmy|date=July 2021}}
'''Avienus''' was a [[Latin literature|Latin writer]] of the 4th century AD. An [[epigraphy|inscription]] from [[Bulla Regia]] reports his full name as "'''Postumius Rufius Festus''' who is also '''Avienius'''". He was a native of [[Volsinii]] in [[Etruria]], from the distinguished family of the [[Rufii Festi]]. He was twice appointed [[Roman consul|consul]], if an inscription published by the 17th-century [[antiquarian|antiquaries]] [[Jacob Spon]] and [[Raffaello Fabretti]] really refers to this Avienus.
{{distinguish|Avienus (disambiguation){{!}}Avienus|Avianus}}
'''Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius'''<ref>{{cite journal |title=Avienus or Avienius? |first=Alan |last=Cameron |author-link=Alan Cameron (classical scholar) |journal=[[Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik]] |year=1995 |pages=252–262 |jstor=20189613 |url=http://uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/ifa/zpe/downloads/1995/108pdf/108252.pdf}}</ref><ref>''[[Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire]]'' vol. 1 p. 336</ref><ref>Rita Lizzi Testa, ''Senatori, popolo, papi: il governo di Roma al tempo dei Valentiniani'' (Bari, 2004), p. 274</ref> (sometimes erroneously '''Avienus''') was a [[Latin literature|Latin writer]] of the 4th century AD. He was a native of [[Volsinii]] in [[Etruria]],<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AqYyDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA34 |title=Astronomical Knowledge Transmission Through Illustrated Aratea Manuscripts |first=Marion |last=Dolan |publisher=[[Springer (publisher)|Springer]] |date=22 August 2017 |page=34 |isbn=9783319567846}}</ref> from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Continuity in a Roman Family; The Rufii Festi of Volsinii |first=John |last=Matthews |journal=[[Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte]] |date=September 1967 |pages=484–509 |publisher=[[Franz Steiner Verlag]] |jstor=4435006}}</ref>


Avienius is not identical with the historian [[Festus (historian)|Festus]].<ref>''Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity'', "Avienius", p. 187</ref>
Famously asked what he did in the country, he answered ''Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lavo, caeno, quiesco'':
== Background==
⚫
Avienius made a free translation into Latin of [[Aratus]]' didactic poem ''Phaenomena''. He also took a popular Greek poem in [[hexameter]]s, ''Periegesis,'' briefly delimiting the habitable world from the perspective of [[Alexandria]], written by [[Dionysius Periegetes]] in a terse and elegant style that was easy to memorize for students, and translated it into an archaising Latin as his ''Descriptio orbis terrae'' ("Description of the World's Lands"). Only Book I survives, with an unsteady grasp of actual geography and some far-fetched etymologies: see [[Ophiussa]].


He wrote ''[[Ora Maritima]]'', a poem claimed to contain borrowings from the 6th-century BC ''[[Massiliote Periplus]]''.<ref name=Foster>[[Donnchadh Ó Corráin]] Chapter 1 "Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland", in ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland'', R.L. Foster, ed. (Oxford University Press) 2000 {{ISBN|0-19-289323-8}}</ref><ref name = AvienusOD>"Avienus, Rufus Festus" ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology'', Timothy Darvil, ed.. (Oxford University Press) 2002</ref> Avienius also served as governor of [[Achaia (Roman province)|Achaia]] and [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa]].<ref>''PLRE'' I, p. 336</ref>
{{cquote|I dine, drink, sing, play, bathe, sup, rest.<ref>As recorded in a poem once erroneously attributed to him; English translation by [[Richard Lovelace]].</ref>}}
⚫
Avienus made somewhat inexact translations into Latin of [[Aratus]]' didactic poem ''Phaenomena''. He also took a popular Greek poem in [[hexameter]]s, ''Periegesis,'' briefly delimiting the habitable world from the perspective of [[Alexandria]], written by [[Dionysius Periegetes]] in a terse and elegant style that was easy to memorize for students, and translated it into an archaising Latin as his ''Descriptio orbis terrae'' ("Description of the World's Lands"). Only Book I survives, with an unsteady grasp of actual geography and some far-fetched etymologies: see [[Ophiussa]].


According to legend, when asked what he did in the country, he answered ''Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lavo, caeno,{{typo help inline|date=October 2023|reason=In Classical Latin this would be "cēnō", not "caenō"; was this misspelling introduced by the original author (since, I think, /ae/ merged with /e:/ in the early or middle Roman Empire), by the manuscript tradition, by the source this article directly took it from, or by the editor who inserted it here?}} quiesco'':
==''Ora maritima''==
Avienus wrote ''Ora Maritima'' ("Sea Coasts"), a poem claimed to contain borrowings from the mythic 6th-century BC ''[[Massiliote Periplus]]''.<ref name=Foster>[[Donnchadh Ó Corráin]] Chapter 1 "Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland", in ''The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland'', R.L. Foster, ed. (Oxford University Press) 2000 ISBN 0-19-289323-8</ref><ref name = AvienusOD>"Avienus, Rufus Festus" ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology'', Timothy Darvil, ed.. (Oxford University Press) 2002</ref> This poeticised ''[[periplus]]'' resulted in a confused amateur's account of the coastal regions of the known world. His editor A. Berthelot demonstrated that Avienus' land-measurements were derived from [[Itinerarium|Roman itineraries]] but inverted some sequences. Berthelot remarked of some names on the Hispanic coast "The omission of [[Empúries|Emporium]], contrasting strangely with the names of [[Tarragona|Tarragon]] and [[Barcelona]], may characterize the method of Avienus, who searches archaic documents and mingles his searches of them with his impressions as an official of the fourth century A.D." (Barthelmy, Introduction). ''Ora maritima'' was a work for the reader rather than the traveller, where the fourth century present intrudes largely in the mention of cities at the time abandoned<ref>F.J. Gonzalez Ponce, ''Avieno y el Periplo'' (Ejica 1995) compares Avienus' literary archaising to [[Claudian]], whose enumeration of German tribes loyal to [[Stilicho]] included many purely literary references of tribes that had long ceased to exist.</ref> (see [[Oestriminis]]). More recent scholars have emended the too credulous reliance on Avienus' accuracy of his editor, the historian-archaeologist [[Adolf Schulten]].<ref>Schulten, ''Avienus'', (Barcelona/Berlin) 1922.</ref> Another ancient chief text cited by Avienus is the ''Periplus of [[Himilco the Navigator|Himilco]]'', the description of a [[Punic]] expedition through the coasts of western Europe which took place at the same time of the [[Periplus of Hanno|circumnavigation of Africa by Hanno]] (c. 500 BC).<ref>''...sicut ad extera Europae noscenda missus eodem tempore Himilco.'' Toer, H. F. (2008). ''A History of Ancient Geography''. Read Books, p. 109. ISBN 1-4437-2492-0</ref>


{{cquote|I dine, drink, sing, play, bathe, sup, rest.<ref>As recorded in a poem once erroneously attributed to him; English translation by [[Richard Lovelace (poet)|Richard Lovelace]].</ref>}}However this quote is a misattribution and likely comes from the works of [[Martial]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Baehrens |first=Emil |url=http://archive.org/details/poetaelatinimino34baeh |title=Poetae latini minores |date=1879 |publisher=Lipsiae : In aedibus B.G. Teubneri |others=PIMS - University of Toronto}}</ref>
''Ora Maritima'' includes reference to the islands of ''Ierne'' and ''[[Albion]]'', [[Ireland]] and [[Great Britain|Britain]], whose inhabitants reputedly traded with the [[Oestrymnides]] of [[Brittany]].<ref name = AvienusOD/> The work was dedicated to [[Sextus Claudius Petronius Probus]].

The whole text derives from a single manuscript source, used for the ''editio princeps'' published at [[Venice]] in 1488.<ref>Avienus, Rufius Festus and Murphy, J. P. (1977) ''Ora maritima: or, description of the seacoast from Brittany round to Massilia''. Ares Publishers, p. 100. ISBN 0-89005-175-5</ref>

==Ruf[i]us Festus==
This Avienus is surely not identical with the [[Festus (historian)|Rufus Festus]] who wrote, ''ca.''&nbsp;369, an [[epitome]] of Roman history in the genre called ''breviarium:''

The scholar [[Theodor Mommsen]] identified that author with Rufius Festus, proconsul of [[Achaea]] in 366, and both with Rufus Festus Avienus. Others take him to be Festus of Tridentum, ''magister memoriae'' (secretary) to [[Valens]] and notoriously severe [[proconsul]] of the province of [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]], where he was sent to punish those implicated in the conspiracy of Theodorus. The work itself (''Breviarium rerum gestarum populi Romani'') is divided into two parts, one geographical, the other historical.

==See also==

*[[Ophiussa]]
*[[Thule]]
*[[Pytheas]]
*[[Oestriminis]]
*[[Ligures]]


==Editions==
==Editions==
Line 51: Line 38:
* H. Zehnacker: ''{{lang|fr|D'Aratos à Aviénus: Astronomie et idéologie}}''. Illinois Classical Studies 44 (1989), S. 317-329
* H. Zehnacker: ''{{lang|fr|D'Aratos à Aviénus: Astronomie et idéologie}}''. Illinois Classical Studies 44 (1989), S. 317-329


==Notes==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}


Line 62: Line 49:
*[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/avienus.html ''Ora maritima'' and ''Periegesis''] in Latin, at [[The Latin Library]]
*[http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/avienus.html ''Ora maritima'' and ''Periegesis''] in Latin, at [[The Latin Library]]
*[http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/avienus/univers.htm Introduction and e-text of the "Description"] (in French)
*[http://remacle.org/bloodwolf/erudits/avienus/univers.htm Introduction and e-text of the "Description"] (in French)
*[https://topostext.org/work/751 English translation of ''Ora maritima''] by Ralph Morley (2018) in ToposText.org.

{{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Avienius, Postumius Rufius Festus}}
{{Persondata <!-- Metadata: see [[Wikipedia:Persondata]]. -->
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[[Category:4th-century writers in Latin]]
| NAME = Avienus
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[[Category:4th-century Roman poets]]
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
[[Category:4th-century translators]]
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Latin writer
[[Category:Late-Roman-era pagans]]
| DATE OF BIRTH =
[[Category:Postumii]]
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
[[Category:Roman governors of Achaia]]
| DATE OF DEATH =
[[Category:Roman governors of Africa]]
| PLACE OF DEATH =
[[Category:Rufii]]
}}
⚫
[[Category:Year of birth unknown]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Avienus}}
[[Category:Year of birth missing]]
[[Category:Year of death unknown]]
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[[Category:Year of death missing]]
[[Category:Late Antique Latin-language writers]]
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[[Category:4th-century writers]]
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[[Category:4th-century Romans]]

Latest revision as of 01:44, 9 April 2024

Not to be confused with Avienus or Avianus.

Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius[1][2][3] (sometimes erroneously Avienus) was a Latin writer of the 4th century AD. He was a native of Volsinii in Etruria,[4] from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi.[5]

Avienius is not identical with the historian Festus.[6]

Background[edit]

Avienius made a free translation into Latin of Aratus' didactic poem Phaenomena. He also took a popular Greek poem in hexameters, Periegesis, briefly delimiting the habitable world from the perspective of Alexandria, written by Dionysius Periegetes in a terse and elegant style that was easy to memorize for students, and translated it into an archaising Latin as his Descriptio orbis terrae ("Description of the World's Lands"). Only Book I survives, with an unsteady grasp of actual geography and some far-fetched etymologies: see Ophiussa.

He wrote Ora Maritima, a poem claimed to contain borrowings from the 6th-century BC Massiliote Periplus.[7][8] Avienius also served as governor of Achaia and Africa.[9]

According to legend, when asked what he did in the country, he answered Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lavo, caeno,[check spelling] quiesco:

I dine, drink, sing, play, bathe, sup, rest.[10]

However this quote is a misattribution and likely comes from the works of Martial.[11]

Editions[edit]

  • A. Berthelot: Ora maritima. Paris 1934. (text of reference)
  • J. P. Murphy: Ora maritima or Description of the seacoast. (Chicago) 1977.
  • J. Soubiran: Aviénus: Les Phénomènes d'Aratos. CUF, Paris 1981. (text of reference)
  • D. Stichtenoth: Ora maritima, lateinisch und deutsch. Darmstadt 1968. (the Latin text is that of the editio princeps of 1488 and is better not cited)
  • P. van de Woestijne: Descriptio orbis terrae. Brugge 1961. (text of reference)
Commentaries, monographs and articles
  • F. Bellandi, E. Berti und M. Ciappi: "Iustissima Virgo": Il mito della Vergine in Germanico e in Avieno (saggio di commento a Germanico Arati Phaen. 96 - 139 e Avieno Arati Phaen. 273 - 352), Pisa 2001
  • A. Cameron (1995). "Avienus or Avienius?" (PDF). Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik. 108: 252–262. Retrieved 13 December 2006.
  • Concordantia in Rufium Festum Avienum. Curavit Manfred WACHT. G. Olms Verlag 1995
  • M. Fiedler: Kommentar zu V. 367-746 von Aviens Neugestaltung der Phainomena Arats. Stuttgart Saur 2004
  • C. Ihlemann: De Avieni in vertendis Arateis arte et ratione. Diss. Göttingen 1909
  • H. Kühne: De arte grammatica Rufi Festi Avieni. Essen 1905
  • K. Smolak: Postumius Rufius Festus Avienus. In: Handbuch der lateinischen Literatur der Antike, hrsg. von R. Herzog und P. L. Schmidt, Fünfter Band. Restauration und Erneuerung. Die lateinische Literatur von 284 bis 374 n. Chr., München 1989, S. 320-327
  • D. Weber: Aviens Phaenomena, eine Arat-Bearbeitung aus der lateinischen Spätanike. Untersuchungen zu ausgewählten Partien. Dissertationen der Universität Wien 173, Wien 1986
  • L. Willms Übersetzung, philologischer Kommentar und vergleichende Interpretation des Tierkreises in Aviens Phaenomena (Verse 1014 – 1325) AKAN-Einzelschriften – Antike Naturwissenschaften und ihre Rezeption, vol. 8. Trier WVT 2014
  • P. van de Woestijne: De vroegste uitgaven van Avienus' Descriptio orbis terrae (1488-1515). 1959
  • H. Zehnacker: D'Aratos à Aviénus: Astronomie et idéologie. Illinois Classical Studies 44 (1989), S. 317-329

References[edit]

  1. ^ Cameron, Alan (1995). "Avienus or Avienius?" (PDF). Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik: 252–262. JSTOR 20189613.
  2. ^ Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire vol. 1 p. 336
  3. ^ Rita Lizzi Testa, Senatori, popolo, papi: il governo di Roma al tempo dei Valentiniani (Bari, 2004), p. 274
  4. ^ Dolan, Marion (22 August 2017). Astronomical Knowledge Transmission Through Illustrated Aratea Manuscripts. Springer. p. 34. ISBN 9783319567846.
  5. ^ Matthews, John (September 1967). "Continuity in a Roman Family; The Rufii Festi of Volsinii". Historia: Zeitschrift für Alte Geschichte. Franz Steiner Verlag: 484–509. JSTOR 4435006.
  6. ^ Oxford Dictionary of Late Antiquity, "Avienius", p. 187
  7. ^ Donnchadh Ó Corráin Chapter 1 "Prehistoric and Early Christian Ireland", in The Oxford Illustrated History of Ireland, R.L. Foster, ed. (Oxford University Press) 2000 ISBN 0-19-289323-8
  8. ^ "Avienus, Rufus Festus" The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Archaeology, Timothy Darvil, ed.. (Oxford University Press) 2002
  9. ^ PLRE I, p. 336
  10. ^ As recorded in a poem once erroneously attributed to him; English translation by Richard Lovelace.
  11. ^ Baehrens, Emil (1879). Poetae latini minores. PIMS - University of Toronto. Lipsiae : In aedibus B.G. Teubneri.

Further reading[edit]

  • Alan Cameron, "Macrobius, Avienus, and Avianus" The Classical Quarterly New Series, 17.2 (November 1967), pp 385–399.

External links[edit]

Wikisource has the text of the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica article "Avienus, Rufius Festus".
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Avienius&oldid=1217981250"