Fenestella

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Fenestella (* 52 BC or around 35 BC; † 19 AD or around 35 AD) was a Roman antiquarian-historical writer.

Lifetime

Nothing more is known about the life of Fenestella. According to the chronicle of the church father Hieronymus , whose information goes back to Sueton's biographical compilation De viris illustribus , Fenestella would have died in 19 AD at the age of 70. In research, however, the time taken by the older Pliny is considered more likely, according to which the death of Fenestella occurred at the end of the reign of Emperor Tiberius . The historian Friedrich Münzer suspected that Fenestella was born in the consular year promised by Sextus Pompeius (35 BC), but that Hieronymus had confused this year with the consular year of Sextus' father, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (52 BC). Assuming the accuracy of the statement that Fenestella was 70 years old, in this case it would have been 35 BC. Lived until 35 AD.

Works

Fenestella wrote an annalistic work of history during the Principate of Tiberius, which possibly began with the foundation of Rome and comprised at least 22 books, because the grammarian Nonius Marcellus quotes an event from the year 57 BC from the 22nd book of the annals. The relatively few surviving fragments deal with Roman history from the 2nd and 1st centuries BC. According to the surviving fragments, the author reported in detail in his annals on the history of culture and literature and mentioned various curiosities. So he gave biographical information about the poet Terence and reported on the construction of the aqueduct Aqua Marcia . Lactant , praising Fenestella's care, brings a fragment about 76 BC. Restoration took place in 83 BC. Collection of Sibylline books burned . Furthermore, the chronology and background of Cicero's speeches were dealt with in detail. Further quotations refer to the wearing of golden rings, the introduction of the olive tree, the use of elephants in games, the material of the toga , constitutional issues (such as the right to provoke ), table luxury and the division of the Roman year.

Fenestella's annals were much appreciated; Asconius places them next to the works of Sallust and Titus Livius . For Seneca , Fenestella was one of the philologists. In addition to Asconius, Pliny and Plutarch also referred to Fenestella's work. However, it is controversial to what extent it was exploited by the authors mentioned. In any case, Pliny names Fenestella as the source writer for books 8, 9, 14, 15, 33 and 35 of his Naturalis historia and also mentions him by name in several places in the text. For Plutarch, Fenestella was a source in describing the dispute between Marius and Sulla .

As with other extensive historical works, an epitome was made from Fenestella's annals. From their second book, Diomedes Grammaticus quotes a brief statement about the young Gaius Iulius Caesar : After Caesar was released from his captivity with pirates and then in turn defeated and captured many of his kidnappers, he had them beheaded, while according to the rest of the tradition Caesar had the pirates crucified (around 74 BC).

That Fenestella also wrote poems is only attested by the singular message from Jerome.

Andrea Domenico Fiocchi (Latinized Floccus; † 1452), a Florentine canon and secretary to Pope Eugene IV , wrote a small work entitled De magistratibus sacerdotiisque Romanorum , but Lucius Fenestella is mentioned as its alleged author in some manuscripts and prints . However, this cannot be blamed on Fiocchi, who did not want to commit deception.

expenditure

  • Hermann Peter : Historicorum Romanorum Reliquiae (HRR). Volume 2, Teubner, Leipzig 1906, pp. 79-87 ( digitized version ).
  • Tim Cornell (Ed.): The fragments of the Roman historians . Oxford University Press, Oxford 2013, Vol. 1, pp. 489-496 (Introduction); Vol. 2, pp. 938-963 (fragments with English translation); Vol. 3, pp. 571-591 (commentary).

literature

Remarks

  1. ↑ Hieronymus, Chronicle ad annum AD 19.
  2. ↑ Pliny, Naturalis historia 33, 146.
  3. ^ Friedrich Münzer, Contributions to the source criticism of the natural history of Pliny , p. 345, note 2.
  4. ^ Nonius Marcellus p. 615, 7 ed. Lindsay.
  5. ^ Suetonius, Life of Terence , p. 26f. ed. Reiff.
  6. ^ Frontinus , De aquis 1, 7.
  7. ↑ Lactanz, De ira Dei 22, 5f. and Divinae Institutiones 1, 6, 14.
  8. ^ Asconius to Cicero, Pro Cornelio , p. 53 ed. Stangl.
  9. ↑ Seneca, Epistulae morales ad Lucilium 108, 31.
  10. ↑ Plutarch, Crassus 5 and Sulla 28.
  11. ↑ Diomedes Grammaticus, Grammatici Latini 1, 365, 6 ed. Keil; on this Luciano Canfora , Caesar, the democratic dictator , German Munich 2001, p. 26.
  12. ↑ Hieronymus, Chronicle ad annum AD 19.
  13. ^ Georg Wissowa : Fenestella. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VI, 2, Stuttgart 1909, Col. 2179.
personal data
SURNAME Fenestella
BRIEF DESCRIPTION antiquarian-historical Roman writer
DATE OF BIRTH 52 BC BC or around 35 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 19 or at 35