Editing Macrobius (section)

==Works==
===''Commentary on the "Dream of Scipio"''===
{{main|Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis}}
Macrobius's most influential book and one of the most widely cited books of the Middle Ages was a [[Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis|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 [[stoicism|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.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Macrobius, Ambrosius Theodosius|volume=17|page=269}}</ref> In [[astronomy]], this work is noted for giving the diameter of the Sun as twice the diameter of the Earth.<ref>{{cite book|title=The Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers|date=2007|publisher=Springer|location=New York|isbn=978-0-387-30400-7|page=723|doi=10.1007/978-0-387-30400-7_882|chapter=Macrobius, Ambrosius (Theodosius)|editor-last1=Hockey |editor-first1=Thomas }}</ref> Of a third work ''On the Differences and Similarities of the Greek and Latin Verb'', we possess only an abstract by a certain Johannes, doubtfully identified with [[Johannes Scotus Eriugena]] (9th century).<ref name="EB1911"/>

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 ([[Oxford Classical Texts|OCT]] and [[Loeb Classical Library|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''===
{{main|Saturnalia (Macrobius)}}
[[Image:Macrobii scipionis saturnalorium ludguni paganum 1560.jpg|thumb|right|Early printed edition of Macrobius's ''In Somnium Scipionis'' and ''Saturnaliorum''.]]

Macrobius's ''Saturnalia'' ({{langx|la|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."<ref>{{Cite web
| title = Seven Books of the Saturnalia
| work = World Digital Library
| access-date = 2014-02-28
| date = 2014-02-26
| url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11612/
}}</ref>

===Editions and translations===
* 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)
*{{Cite book
| last = Macrobius
| first = Ambrosius Aurelius Theodosius
| title = Seven Books of the Saturnalia: Codex from the Plutei Collection of the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana in Florence
| publisher = World Digital Library
| date = 1400s
| access-date = 2014-02-28
| language = la
| url = http://www.wdl.org/en/item/11612/
}}