Editing Oppian (section)

==Biography==
Oppian states that he is from 'the city of Hermes' and the 'city at the promontory of Sarpedon'.<ref>''Halieutica'' 3.9, 3.205-209</ref> This has been supplemented by information from the biographies attached to medieval manuscripts, which state that his birthplace was  Caesarea (now known as [[Anazarbus]]) or Corycus in [[Cilicia]],<ref>Mair, A.W. 1928. ''Oppian, Colluthus, Tryphiodorus.'', Loeb Classical Library, Cambridge (MA), xiii-xv.</ref> or [[Corycus]] according to the [[Suda]]. All these cities were in the [[list of Roman provinces|Roman province]] of [[Cilicia]], in what is now southern Turkey.

He composed a [[didactic poem]] in [[ancient Greek language|Greek]] [[hexameter]] on [[fishing]] ({{lang|grc|Ἁλιευτικά}}, {{Lang|grc|Halieutiká}}). It is about 3500 lines and bears a dedication to [[Marcus Aurelius]] and his son [[Commodus]], placing it to the time of their joint rule (176-180 AD).

A later didactic poem on [[hunting]], the ''Cynegetica'' ({{lang|grc|Κυνηγετικά}}, {{Lang|grc|Kynēgetiká}}), was also attributed to Oppian. For that reason, its anonymous poet is generally referred to as [[Oppian of Apamea|Pseudo-Oppian]] or Oppian of Apamea.<ref>The most comprehensive study that proves that the ''Cynegetica'' is not by Oppian is Martínez, S. and Silva, T. 2003. 'Opiano, ¿un poeta o dos?', ''L'Antiquité Classique'' 72, 219-230</ref> Furthermore, a didactic poem on [[bird catching]], ''Ixeutica'' ({{lang|grc|Ἰξευτικά}}, {{Lang|grc|Ixeutiká}}), which now only survives in a prose [[paraphrase]], was also attributed to Oppian in the manuscript tradition. The ''Ixeutica'' is now thought to describe a work composed by the Dionysus whom the [[Suda]] mention as the author of a treatise on rocks ({{lang|grc|Λιθιακά}}, {{Lang|grc|Lithiaká}}). A likely explanation for the attribution of all these works to Oppian is that the three didactic poems on hunting, fishing, and fowling were at some point circulated as a complementary trio.<ref>Keydell, R. 1937. ''Oppianos (2)'', in: von Pauly, A.F. et al. (eds), ''Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft''. Stuttgart, vol. 18, 703-708, p.703-704; James, A.W. 1970. ''Studies in the Language of Oppian of Cilicia'', Amsterdam, p. 2</ref>

According to the anonymous biographies attached to the Byzantine manuscripts of the ''Halieutica'', Oppian's father, having incurred the displeasure of a colleague of [[Marcus Aurelius]] named [[Lucius Verus]] by neglecting to pay his respects to him when he visited Rome, was banished to [[Malta]]. Oppian, who had accompanied his father into exile, returned after the death of Verus {{nowrap|(AD 169)}} and presented his poems to Marcus Aurelius, who was so pleased with them that he gave the author a piece of gold for each line, took him into favour, and pardoned his father. Oppian subsequently returned to his native country but died of the plague shortly afterwards at the early age of thirty. His contemporaries erected a statue in his honour, with an inscription which is still extant, containing a lament for his premature death and a eulogy of his precocious genius.<ref>{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Oppian|volume=20|page=140}}</ref>