Iulius Obsequens

Iulius Obsequens was a Roman writer believed to have lived in the late 4th century AD.

Nothing is known about his life, he is only passed down as the author of a Liber de prodigiis (or Liber prodigiorum ). This "book of omens" deals with years in the period from 190 BC. BC to 11 BC Chr .; the title indicates that the work originally began with the secular celebration in 249 BC. Began. It is a greatly abbreviated and simplified excerpt from the Ab urbe condita libri by Titus Livius , in which the signs and the corresponding historical events are compared. Due to the pagan apologetic tendency, the work was dated to the second half of the 4th century.

In late antiquity and the Middle Ages there are no traces of the work's after-effects. The Editio princeps was published by Aldus Manutius in Venice in 1508, based on a manuscript that has been lost today. During the Renaissance the work was very popular, which resulted in a large number of editions. The most important is that of the Basel humanist Conrad Lycosthenes from 1552. The prophecies ("Centuries") of Nostradamus were influenced by Iulius Obsequens.

literature

Jürgen Beyer: Obsequens, Julius. In: Encyclopedia of Fairy Tales . Concise dictionary for historical and comparative narrative research . Volume 10, Berlin / New York 2000-2002, Col. 176-178.
David Engels : The Roman omens (753-27 BC). Sources, terminology, commentary, historical development . Stuttgart 2007, pp. 221-235.
Peter Leberecht Schmidt: Obsequens. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 4, Stuttgart 1972, Col. 225.
Peter Leberecht Schmidt: Iulius Obsequens and the problem of the Livy epitome. A contribution to the history of Latin product literature . In: Treatises of the humanities and social sciences class . Published by the Academy of Sciences and Literature (Mainz). Wiesbaden 1968, pp. 155-235.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Obsequens, Julius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Roman writer
DATE OF BIRTH	4th century
DATE OF DEATH	4th century or 5th century