Macrobius - Wikipedia Macrobius From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to navigation Jump to search For the lunar crater, see Macrobius (crater). For the Irish bishop, see Macrobius (bishop). For the place in Antarctica, see Macrobius Cove. Macrobius, fully Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, also known as Theodosius (fl. c. 400 AD), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during Late Antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the late Roman Empire to the early Middle Ages, and when Latin was as widespread as Greek among the elite. He is primarily known for his writings, which include the widely copied and read Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis ("Commentary on the Dream of Scipio"), which was one of the most important sources for Neoplatonism in the Latin West during the Middle Ages; the Saturnalia, a compendium of ancient Roman religious and antiquarian lore; and De differentiis et societatibus graeci latinique verbi ("On the Differences and Similarities of the Greek and Latin Verb"), which is now lost. Contents 1 Name 2 Life 3 Works 3.1 Commentary on the "Dream of Scipio" 3.2 Saturnalia 3.3 Editions and translations 4 Legacy 5 Gallery 6 See also 7 Notes 8 References 8.1 Citations 8.2 Bibliography 9 External links Name[edit] The correct order of his names is "Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius", which is how it appears in the earliest manuscripts of the Saturnalia, and how he is addressed in the excerpts from his lost De differentiis. Only in later manuscripts were his names reversed as "Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius", which James Willis then adopted for his edition of the Commentary. Alan Cameron notes that Cassiodorus and Boethius both refer to him as "Macrobius Theodosius", while he was known during his lifetime as "Theodosius": the dedication to the De differentiis is addressed Theodosius Symmacho suo ("Theodosius to his Symmachus"), and by the dedicatory epistle to Avianus's Fables, where he is addressed as Theodosi optime.[1] Life[edit] Macrobius presenting his work to his son Eustachius. From an 1100 copy of Macrobius' "Commentary on the «Dream of Scipio»". Little is known for certain about Macrobius, but there are many theories and speculations about him. He states at the beginning of his Saturnalia that he was "born under a foreign sky" (sub alio ortos caelo), and both of his major works are dedicated to his son, Eustachius.[a] His major works have led experts to assume that he was a pagan. Which "foreign sky" Macrobius was born under has been the subject of much speculation. Terrot Glover considers Macrobius either an ethnic Greek, or born in one of the Greek-speaking parts of the Roman Empire, such as Egypt, due to his intimate knowledge of Greek literature. J. E. Sandys went further and argued that Macrobius was born in one of the Greek provinces. However other experts, beginning with Ludwig van Jan, point out that despite his familiarity with Greek literature Macrobius was far more familiar with Latin than Greek—as evidenced by his enthusiasm for Vergil and Cicero—and favor North Africa, which was part of the Latin-speaking portion of the Roman Empire.[3] Scholars have attempted to identify him with a Macrobius who is mentioned in the Codex Theodosianus as a praetorian prefect of Spain (399–400), and a proconsul of Africa (410).[4] The Codex Theodosianus also records a praepositus (or lord chamberlain) named Macrobius in 422.[5] A number of older authorities go so far as to identify Macrobius the author with the first, and date his floruit to 399–410. There are objections to either identification: as Alan Cameron notes, the complete name of the first candidate is attested in an inscription to be "Flavius Macrobius Maximianus", while the second is excluded because "A praepositus must at this period have been a eunuch."[6] However, since Macrobius is frequently referred to as vir clarissimus et inlustris, a title which was achieved by holding public office, we can reasonably expect his name to appear in the Codex Theodosianus. Further, Cameron points out that during his lifetime Macrobius was referred to as "Theodosius", and looking for that name Cameron found a Theodosius who was praetorian prefect of Italy in 430. "It is significant that the only surviving law addressed to this Theodosius sanctions a privilege for Africa Proconsularis on the basis of information received concerning Byzacena," Cameron notes.[7] Works[edit] Commentary on the "Dream of Scipio"[edit] Macrobius's most influential book and one of the most widely cited books of the Middle Ages was a commentary on the book Dream of Scipio narrated by Cicero at the end of his Republic. The nature of the dream, in which the elder Scipio appears to his (adopted) grandson and describes the life of the good after death and the constitution of the universe from a Stoic and Neo-Platonic point of view, gave occasion for Macrobius to discourse upon the nature of the cosmos, transmitting much classical philosophy to the later Middle Ages.[8] In astronomy, this work is noted for giving the diameter of the Sun as twice the diameter of the Earth.[9] Of a third work On the Differences and Similarities of the Greek and Latin Verb, we only possess an abstract by a certain Johannes, doubtfully identified with Johannes Scotus Eriugena (9th century).[8] See editions by Ludwig von Jan (1848–1852, with a bibliography of previous editions, and commentary), Franz Eyssenhardt (1893, Teubner text), James Willis (1994, new Teubner), and R. A. Kaster (OCT and Loeb, 2011); on the sources of the Saturnalia see H. Linke (1880) and Georg Wissowa (1880). The grammatical treatise will be found in Jan's edition and Heinrich Keil's Grammatici latini; see also Georg Friedrich Schömann, Commentatio macrobiana (1871). Saturnalia[edit] Main article: Saturnalia (Macrobius) Early printed edition of Macrobius's In Somnium Scipionis and Saturnaliorum. Macrobius's Saturnalia (Latin: Saturnaliorum Libri Septem, "Seven Books of the Saturnalia") consists of an account of the discussions held at the house of Vettius Agorius Praetextatus during the holiday of the Saturnalia. It contains a great variety of curious historical, mythological, critical, antiquarian and grammatical discussions. "The work takes the form of a series of dialogues among learned men at a fictional banquet."[10] Editions and translations[edit] Robert A. Kaster (ed.), Macrobius: Saturnalia. Loeb classical library 510-512. Cambridge, MA/ London: Harvard University Press, 2011. 3 volumes. Percival Vaughan Davies (trans.), Macrobius: The Saturnalia. New York: Columbia University Press, 1969. William Harris Stahl (trans.), Macrobius: Commentary on the Dream of Scipio. New York: Columbia University Press, 1952. (Second printing, with revisions, 1966) Macrobius, Ambrosius Aurelius Theodosius (1400s). Seven Books of the Saturnalia: Codex from the Plutei Collection of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence (in Latin). World Digital Library. Retrieved 2014-02-28. Legacy[edit] A prominent lunar crater is named after Macrobius.[11] Macrobius Cove in Antarctica is named after Macrobius. Gallery[edit] Cicero's Dream of Scipio described the Earth as a globe of insignificant size in comparison to the remainder of the cosmos.[12] Many early medieval manuscripts of Macrobius include maps of the Earth, including the antipodes, zonal maps showing the Ptolemaic climates derived from the concept of a spherical Earth and a diagram showing the Earth (labeled as globus terrae, the sphere of the Earth) at the center of the hierarchically ordered planetary spheres.[13] (See also: flat Earth). Images from a 12th-century manuscript of Macrobius's Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis (Parchment, 50 ff.; 23.9 × 14 cm; Southern France). Date: ca. 1150. Source: Copenhagen, Det Kongelige Bibliotek, ms. NKS 218 4°. Initial E shaped in the form of a writing man, probably representing Macrobius himself. The Universe, the Earth in the centre, surrounded by the five planets, the sun and the moon, within the zodiacal signs. The five climes of the Earth. Frozen climes in yellow; Temperate climes in blue; Torrid clime in red. Sketch map showing the inhabited northern region separated from the antipodes by an imagined ocean at the equator. Diagram showing a lunar eclipse. Diagram showing a solar eclipse. See also[edit] Allegory in the Middle Ages Notes[edit] ^ Alan Cameron notes that several of the earliest manuscripts of his works spell his son's name Eustathius, then after pointing out that a certain Plotinus Eustathius was Urban prefect in 462 observes "Plotinus would be a peculiarly appropriate name for a neoplatonist philosopher and keen admirer of the great Lycopolitan (cf. Comm. I, 8, 5) to have given his son." There is also a Macrobius Plotinus Eudoxius who collaborated with Memmius Symmachus over an edition of Macrobius' Commentary.[2] References[edit] Citations[edit] ^ See Cameron, "The Date and Identity of Macrobius", Journal of Roman Studies, 56 (1966), p. 27 and notes. ^ Cameron, "Date and Identity", p. 38. ^ William Harris Stahl, Macrobius: Commentary on the Dream of Scipio (New York: Columbia University, 1952), pp. 4f ^ Codex Theodosianus XIV.10.15, VIII.5.61, XI.28.6 ^ Codex Theodosianus VI.8.1 ^ Cameron, "Date and Identity", pp. 25f ^ Cameron, "Date and Identity", pp. 26f ^ a b  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Macrobius, Ambrosius Theodosius". Encyclopædia Britannica. 17 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 269. ^ Hall, Graham; Elliott, Ian; Joeveer, Mihkel; Bònoli, Fabrizio; Langermann, Y. Tzvi; Casulleras, Josep; Sarma, Ke Ve; Bell, Trudy E.; Gurshtein, Alexander A.; Cunning, David; Wegner, Gary A.; Berggren, Len; Bònoli, Fabrizio; Hatch, Robert Alan; Jarrell, Richard A.; Durham, Ian T.; Durham, Ian T.; Snedegar, Keith; Trimble, Virginia; Dick, Steven J.; McCarthy, Dennis D.; Charette, François; Bolt, Marvin; Belenkiy, Ari; McFarland, John; Jackson, Francine; Green, Daniel W. E.; Ikeyama, Setsuro; Snedegar, Keith; et al. (2007). "Macrobius, Ambrosius (Theodosius)". The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers. New York: Springer. p. 723. doi:10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_882. ISBN 978-0-387-30400-7. ^ "Seven Books of the Saturnalia". World Digital Library. 2014-02-26. Retrieved 2014-02-28. ^ International Astronomical Union Working Group for Planetary System Nomenclature. "Gazetteer of Planetary Nomenclature". USGS. Retrieved 2013-07-17. ^ Macrobius, Commentary on the Dream of Scipio, transl. W. H. Stahl, (New York: Columbia Univ. Pr., 1952), chaps. v-vii, (pp. 200-212). ^ B. Eastwood and G. Graßhoff, Planetary Diagrams for Roman Astronomy in Medieval Europe, ca. 800-1500, Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, 94, 3 (Philadelphia, 2004), pp. 49-50. Bibliography[edit] Brigitte Englisch: Die Artes liberales im frühen Mittelalter (5.–9. Jahrhundert). Das Quadrivium und der Komputus als Indikatoren für Kontinuität und Erneuerung der exakten Wissenschaften zwischen Antike und Mittelalter. Steiner, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-515-06431-1 Frateantonio, C., "Praetextatus – Verteidiger des römischen Glaubens? Zur gesellschaftlichen (Neu-)Inszenierung römischer Religion in Macrobius' Saturnalien," Zeitschrift für Antikes Christentum, 11,2 (2007), 360–377. Kaster, R. (ed), Studies on the Text of Macrobius’s ‘Saturnalia’ (New York, 2010) (American Philological Association. American Classical Studies, 55). Cameron, A., The Last Pagans of Rome (Oxford, 2011). External links[edit] Wikiquote has quotations related to: Macrobius Wikisource has original works written by or about: Macrobius  Latin Wikisource has original text related to this article: Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius Macrobius: The Saturnalia, the Latin text of the critical edition edited by Ludwig von Jan (Gottfried Bass; Quedlinburg and Leipzig, 1852), web edition by Bill Thayer. Opera quae supersunt, 2 voll., Quedlinburgi et Lipsiae, typis et sumptibus Godofredi Bassii, 1848-52: vol. 1, vol. 2. Iohannis (Scoti) defloratio de Macrobio[permanent dead link], a paraphrase of Macrobius' De uerborum Graeci et Latini differentiis uel societatibus. Also as Excerpta parisina in Grammatici latini, vol. 5, Lipsiae, in aedibus B. G. Teubneri, 1923, pagg. 599-629. Macrobii excerpta Bobiensa[permanent dead link], some extracts from Macrobius' De uerborum Graeci et Latini differentiis uel societatibus. Also as Excerpta bobiensa in Grammatici latini, vol. 5, cit., pagg. 631-55. Bibliography on Macrobius' grammatical work[permanent dead link] v t e Platonists Academic Old Plato Aristotle Eudoxus Philip of Opus Aristonymus Coriscus and Erastus of Scepsis Demetrius of Amphipolis Euaeon of Lampsacus Heraclides and Python of Aenus Hestiaeus of Perinthus Lastheneia of Mantinea Timolaus of Cyzicus Speusippus Axiothea of Phlius Heraclides Ponticus Menedemus of Pyrrha Xenocrates Crantor Polemon Crates of Athens Skeptic Middle Arcesilaus Diocles of Cnidus Lacydes Telecles and Evander Hegesinus New Carneades Hagnon of Tarsus Metrodorus of Stratonicea Clitomachus Charmadas Aeschines of Neapolis Philo of Larissa Cicero Dio of Alexandria Middle Platonist Antiochus Philo of Alexandria Plutarch Justin Martyr Gaius Albinus Alcinous Apuleius Atticus Maximus of Tyre Numenius of Apamea Longinus Clement of Alexandria Origen the Pagan Calcidius Neoplatonist Ancient Ammonius Saccas Plotinus Disciples Origen Amelius Porphyry Iamblichus Sopater Eustathius of Cappadocia Sosipatra Aedesius Dexippus Chrysanthius Theodorus of Asine Julian Sallustius Maximus of Ephesus Eusebius of Myndus Priscus of Epirus Antoninus Gregory of Nyssa Hypatia Augustine Macrobius Academy Plutarch of Athens Asclepigenia Hierocles Syrianus Hermias Aedesia Proclus Ammonius Hermiae Asclepiodotus Hegias Zenodotus Marinus Agapius Isidore Damascius Simplicius Priscian Medieval Boethius John Philoponus Olympiodorus Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite John Scotus Eriugena Islamic Golden Age Al-Farabi Anselm Peter Abelard Chartres Bernard Gilbert Thierry Henry of Ghent Bonaventure Theodoric of Freiberg Meister Eckhart Berthold of Moosburg Paul of Venice Modern Renaissance Florentine Academy Plethon Marsilio Ficino Cristoforo Landino Giovanni Pico della Mirandola Cambridge Ralph Cudworth Henry More Anne Conway Petrus Ramus Giordano Bruno Blaise Pascal Emanuel Swedenborg German idealist Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Christian Wolff Moses Mendelssohn Immanuel Kant Johann Gottlieb Fichte Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling Arthur Schopenhauer G. W. F. Hegel Hermann Lotze Otto Weininger Thomas Taylor Ralph Waldo Emerson Josiah Royce Søren Kierkegaard Henri Bergson Aleksei Losev Contemporary Analytic Gottlob Frege G. E. Moore Kurt Gödel Alonzo Church Roderick Chisholm Michael Dummett W. V. O. Quine David Kaplan Saul Kripke Alvin Plantinga Peter van Inwagen Nicholas Wolterstorff Crispin Wright Edward N. Zalta Continental Edmund Husserl Roman Ingarden Leo Strauss Miscellaneous Philip K. Dick Joseph Ratzinger Bernard Bolzano Authority control BIBSYS: 90671916 BNE: XX1257394 BNF: cb11999201s (data) CANTIC: a10116904 CiNii: DA04585890 GND: 118640763 ISNI: 0000 0001 1624 565X LCCN: n50043606 LNB: 000057922 NKC: jn20020102058 NLA: 35320872 NLG: 221604 NLI: 000087370 NLP: A12585919 NSK: 000073669 NTA: 069488991 RERO: 02-A000108846 SELIBR: 282835 SUDOC: 03092166X Trove: 910749 VcBA: 495/54659 VIAF: 39387062 WorldCat Identities: lccn-n50043606 Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Macrobius&oldid=991984020" Categories: 4th-century Romans 5th-century Byzantine people 5th-century philosophers 5th-century Latin writers Grammarians of Latin Latin-language writers Neoplatonists Philosophers of Roman Italy Roman-era philosophers Romans from Africa Ancient Roman antiquarians Ancient Roman scholars of religion Byzantine-era pagans 5th-century Byzantine writers Hidden categories: Wikipedia articles incorporating a citation from the 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica with Wikisource reference Wikipedia articles incorporating text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica Articles containing Latin-language text CS1 Latin-language sources (la) All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from March 2020 Articles with permanently dead external links Wikipedia articles with BIBSYS identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNE identifiers Wikipedia articles with BNF identifiers Wikipedia articles with CANTIC identifiers Wikipedia articles with CINII identifiers Wikipedia articles with GND identifiers Wikipedia articles with ISNI identifiers Wikipedia articles with LCCN identifiers Wikipedia articles with LNB identifiers Wikipedia articles with NKC identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLA identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLG identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLI identifiers Wikipedia articles with NLP identifiers Wikipedia articles with NSK identifiers Wikipedia articles with NTA identifiers Wikipedia articles with RERO identifiers Wikipedia articles with SELIBR identifiers Wikipedia articles with SUDOC identifiers Wikipedia articles with Trove identifiers Wikipedia articles with VcBA identifiers Wikipedia articles with VIAF identifiers Wikipedia articles with WORLDCATID identifiers Navigation menu Personal tools Not logged in Talk Contributions Create account Log in Namespaces Article Talk Variants Views Read Edit View history More Search Navigation Main page Contents Current events Random article About Wikipedia Contact us Donate Contribute Help Learn to edit Community portal Recent changes Upload file Tools What links here Related changes Upload file Special pages Permanent link Page information Cite this page Wikidata item Print/export Download as PDF Printable version In other projects Wikimedia Commons Wikiquote Wikisource Languages Asturianu Български Català Čeština Deutsch Ελληνικά Español Esperanto Euskara Français Հայերեն Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Latina Magyar Nederlands Norsk bokmål Polski Português Русский Slovenčina Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska Türkçe Українська 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 2 December 2020, at 21:24 (UTC). 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