Corpus agrimensorum Romanorum

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Corpus agrimensorum Romanorum is one of the names in the collection of Roman specialist literature on field measurement , limitation and the activity of agrimensors . The writings are also under the title Gromatic Corpus , Writings of the Roman Surveyors , Corpus of the Roman Surveyors , Tracts of Roman Agrimensors and the like. called.

Codex Arcerianus

Content and authors

The corpus consists of a large number of texts with different content and time. The Codex Arcerianus alone is divided into 33 individual scripts. The writings of the Agrimensors make up a considerable proportion. These writings were evidently written as textbooks or better as instruction books for the free canteens. The most important authors are Sextus Iulius Frontinus (1st century AD), Agennius Urbicus (5th or 6th century AD), Hyginus or Hyginus Gromaticus , Siculus Flaccus (2nd century AD) .), Balbus and Marcus Junius Nipsus .
Another important part are the liber coloniarum , lists of agricultural landscapes and cities in Italy between Tuscany and Sicily, with a focus on southern Italy. It is possible that these are areas that have been treated ( limited ) from an agrimensory point of view , although they have already been owned under arcifinal law, i.e. an agrimensory measure. An interesting and much discussed process for historians.
The writings that deal with the mathematical / geometric aspects of gromatics have a different character. The most extensive and important are the Expositio et ratio omnium formarum by Balbus and a mathematical treatise by the authors Epaphrodites and Vitruvius Rufus.
In addition, a wide variety of texts were included in the bundle:

  • Excerpts from the work of Euclid
  • Extracts from Lucius Junius Moderatus Columellas De re rustica
  • The Lex Mamila Roscia Peducaea Alliena Fabia , part of a law on the establishment and protection of borders. In particular, a fine of 5000 sesterces is imposed for moving a landmark ( terminos singulos, quos eiecerit locoue mouerit ). The time of origin is controversial in research. It is likely that the tribune of the year 109 BC BC Gaius Mamilius Limetanus was the author.
  • and much more

Tradition and survival

The corpus was handed down in numerous manuscripts. The oldest is the illustrated Codex Arcerianus from the 6th or 7th century AD, which is now in the Herzog August Library . Like all the younger ones, this manuscript is not free from gaps and corruptions; The beginning and the end are missing. The photomechanical reproduction clearly shows the character of the compilation that this work has through the different fonts and formats. The different manuscripts also have very different scope and content. So z. B. the important text of the Siculus Flaccus in the Codex Arcerianus and the manuscripts that go back to it with the exception of a short piece inserted into another text.
The corpus , especially its mathematical elements, also found its way into the encyclopedic writings of the late antiquity. The possible influence extends to the palace school of Charlemagne . The collection was also expanded in the early Middle Ages. So were u. a. mathematical writings included, which gladly sought to obtain authority with the authority of a Boethius .

Print editions and translations

From 1491 individual writings of the Corpus appeared in print editions. In 1554 Adrianus Turnebus published larger parts, especially the important Agrimensors. Petrus Scriverius used the Codex Arcerianus as the basis for his edition 1607.
The German ancient historian Karl Lachmann edited significant parts of the collection in 1848, in particular the writings of the agrimensors Sextus Iulius Frontinus, Agennius Urbicus, Hyginus Gromaticus and Siculus Flaccus, as well as the libri coloniarum . The 1913 edition of Carl Olof Thulin contains only a few works. In contrast, the Brian Campbells 2000 edition is not only much more extensive, but also contains a translation into English. A translation of essential parts of the corpus into the German language is not available.

Text output

  • Friedrich Blume , Karl Lachmann, Adolf August Friedrich Rudorff (eds.): Gromatici veteres . The writings of the Roman surveyors, 2 vol., Berlin 1848-52
  • Corpus Agrimensorum Romanorum (Cod. Guelf. 36.23 Aug. 2 °, Codex Arcerianus): an Agrimensor Codex, illustrated manual for the Roman surveyor , 6th century, in the Herzog August Library. Photo-technical reproduction with an introduction by Hans Butzmann , Leiden 1970, ISBN 90-218-9230-8 .
  • Carl Olof Thulin (Ed.): Corpus agrimensorum Romanorum (= Opuscula agrimensorum veterum. I). Leipzig 1913 (reprint Stuttgart 1971), ISBN 3-519-01245-6 .
  • Brian Campbell, (Ed., Transl., Comm.): The writings of the Roman land surveyors. Introduction, translation and commentary (= Journal of the Roman Studies Monographs. 9), London 2000

literature

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Carl Olof Thulin
  2. ↑ Codex Arcerianus , Herzog August Bibliothek
  3. ^ Adolf Schulten: Gromatici. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume 14, Stuttgart 1893ff., Sp. 1888-1888.
  4. ↑ F. Blume, K. Lachmann, A. Rudorff: The writings of the Roman surveyors
  5. ↑ Manfred Fuhrmann: The systematic textbook , p. 98
  6. ↑ Thorsten Fögen: The tracts of Roman agrimensors in the context of ancient specialist literature in In den Gefilden der Roman Feldmesser , p. 215
  7. ^ Friedrich Adolf Ebert in Karl Lachmann a. a .: The writings of the Roman surveyors , Volume II, p. 467ff
  8. ↑ Focke Tannen Hinrichs: The history of the gromatic instructions , p. 163
  9. ^ Theodor Mommsen : The libri coloniarum in Karl Lachmann and others: The writings of the Roman surveyors , Volume II, p. 145ff
  10. ↑ Theodor Mommsen: The liber coloniarum in Karl Lachmann among others: The writings of the Roman surveyors , Volume II, p. 162
  11. ↑ Menso Folkerts: The Mathematics of Agrimensors - Sources and Aftermath in In the Fields of the Roman Surveyors , P. 132
  12. ↑ Menso Folkerts: The Mathematics of Agrimensors - Sources and Aftermath in In the Fields of the Roman Surveyors , P. 132
  13. ^ Ernst Fabricius: About the Lex Mamilia Roscia Peducaea Alliena Fabia , p. 16
  14. ↑ Friedrich Blume: Manuscripts and editions of the Agrimensors in The writings of the Roman surveyors , Volume II, p. 6
  15. ↑ Friedrich Blume: Manuscripts and editions of the Agrimensors in The writings of the Roman surveyors , Volume II, p. 22ff
  16. ↑ Menso Folkerts: The mathematics of the agrimensors - sources and aftermath in In the fields of the Roman surveyors , p. 143f
  17. ↑ Jens-Olaf Lindermann: Locus, ager, spatium. Word investigations on the spatial concept of the Gromatici veteres in In den Gefilden der Roman Feldmesser , p. 199
  18. ^ Friedrich Blume: Manuscripts and editions of the Agrimensors in The writings of the Roman surveyors , Volume II, p. 76ff
  19. ^ Brian Campbell: The writings of the Roman land surveyors . S. XXI