Open main menu
Home
Random
Recent changes
Special pages
Community portal
Preferences
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Incubator escapee wiki
Search
User menu
Talk
Dark mode
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Editing
Macrobius
(section)
Warning:
You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you
log in
or
create an account
, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
Anti-spam check. Do
not
fill this in!
==Life== [[File:Macrobius and Eustachius.jpg|thumb|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 ortus caelo''), and both of his major works are dedicated to his son, Eustachius. [[Alan Cameron (classicist)|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''.<ref name="Cameron1966"/>{{rp|p=38}} 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 Reaveley Glover|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.<ref>William Harris Stahl, ''Macrobius: Commentary on the Dream of Scipio'' (New York: Columbia University, 1952), pp. 4f</ref> Scholars have attempted to identify him with a Macrobius who is mentioned in the ''[[Codex Theodosianus]]'' as a [[Prefect#Praetorian prefects|praetorian prefect]] of [[Spain#Roman Empire|Spain]] (399–400), and a proconsul of Africa (410).<ref>''Codex Theodosianus'' XIV.10.15, VIII.5.61, XI.28.6</ref> The ''Codex Theodosianus'' also records a ''[[praepositus]]'' (or lord chamberlain) named Macrobius in 422.<ref>''Codex Theodosianus'' VI.8.1</ref> 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."<ref name="Cameron1966"/>{{rp|p=25}} 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 (Roman province)|Africa Proconsularis]] on the basis of information received concerning [[Byzacena]]," Cameron notes.<ref name="Cameron1966"/>{{rp|p=26}}
Edit summary
(Briefly describe your changes)
By publishing changes, you agree to the
Terms of Use
, and you irrevocably agree to release your contribution under the
CC BY-SA 4.0 License
and the
GFDL
. You agree that a hyperlink or URL is sufficient attribution under the Creative Commons license.
Cancel
Editing help
(opens in new window)