Florus

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Florus was a Roman historian in the time of the emperors Trajan (98-117) and Hadrian (117-138). He is identified by some ancient scholars with the poet Publius Annius Florus .

Around 120, Florus put together a short sketch of the history of Rome in two volumes (four books in a different number) from the founding of the city to the Varus Battle in 9 AD, focusing primarily on Titus Livius , Sallust , Lucan , Seneca the Elder and Tacitus supports. The work is written in a bombastic and rhetorical style, and more in praise of the greatness of Rome, whose life is divided into four sections: childhood, adolescence, adulthood and old age. It often has geographical and chronological errors, but was still widely used in the Middle Ages . The title in the medieval manuscripts preserved today is Epitoma de Tito Livio (“ Epitome from Titus Livius”), which emphasizes the strong dependence of the information on this author; the original title, however, is likely to have been "Bellorum Romanorum libri duo" ("Two books on the wars of the Romans").

In the handwritten tradition, the author is given by different names: Iulius Florus, Lucius Annaeus Florus or simply Annaeus Florus. Based on style comparisons, he was equated with Publius Annius Florus, a poet, rhetorician and friend of Hadrian, author of a dialogue on the question of whether Virgil was a speaker or a poet, of which the introduction has been preserved.

Editions and translations

  • Roman history. Introduced, translated and commented by Günter Laser. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-534-18122-0 .
  • P. Annii Flori opera quae exstant omnia. Edited by László Havas. Universitas Scientiarum Debreceniensis, Debrecen 1997, ISBN 963-472-188-5 .
  • L. Annaei Flori quae exstant. Edited by Enrica Malcovati . Regia Officina Polygraphica, Rome 1938.
  • Florus: Epitome of Roman History. Translated by ES Forster (= Loeb Classical Library . Volume 231). W. Heinemann, London 1929 (various reprints).

literature

Overview representations

  • Michael von Albrecht : History of Roman literature from Andronicus to Boethius and its continued effect . Volume 2. 3rd, improved and expanded edition. De Gruyter, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-11-026525-5 , pp. 1209-1217.
  • Klaus Sallmann : P. (L.?) Annius Florus. In: Klaus Sallmann (ed.): The literature of upheaval. From Roman to Christian literature, AD 117 to 284 (= Handbook of Ancient Latin Literature , Volume 4). CH Beck, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-406-39020-X , pp. 327-335.

Investigations

reception

  • Christian Raschle: Florus (Publius Annius Florus). Epitoma de Tito Livio. In: Christine Walde (Ed.): The reception of ancient literature. Kulturhistorisches Werklexikon (= Der Neue Pauly . Supplements. Volume 7). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2010, ISBN 978-3-476-02034-5 , Sp. 283-288.

Web links

Wikisource: Florus  - Sources and full texts (Latin)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ For the title see José M. Alonso-Nuñez: The political and social ideology of the historian Florus. Habelt, Bonn 1983, ISBN 3-7749-2053-2 , p. 32.
personal data
SURNAME Florus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Florus, Iulius; Florus, Lucius Annaeus; Florus, Annaeus; Florus, Publius Annius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Roman historian at the time of the Emperor Trajan
DATE OF BIRTH before 120
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century