Marcus Manilius

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Marcus Manilius is very likely the name of the author of a Latin didactic poem in five books, called Astronomica or Astronomicon libri V , in which he comprehensively presented the astronomy of the time . The poet lived in the early 1st century AD.

Life

Almost nothing is known about Manilius as a person, nowhere is he mentioned in ancient literature; however, individual verses are cited by several authors. Even this name is only highly probable: in older manuscripts the author is anonymous, later ones indicate Manilius , Manlius and Mallius . The poem reveals that the author must have lived as a citizen and inhabitant of Rome at the time of the emperors Augustus and Tiberius - the term post quem is the Varus Battle in AD 9; Richard Bentley (1662–1742) thought he was a Greek from Asia Minor , Johann Friedrich Jacob (1792–1854) was a North African. The work shows him to be very well read; He has studied his subject with the best authors and represents the view of astronomy at that time, which from today's point of view could be assigned to astrology.

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Manilius often imitates Lucretius , his predecessor in didactic poetry, whom he resembles in seriousness, originality and strength in giving the dry subject a lively impression. Although the diction has some quirks, the style is metrically correct.

The last event mentioned in the poem is the defeat of Varus against Arminius in the Varus Battle in the year 9. The fifth book was not written before Tiberius took office, seems to be incomplete and was probably never published, especially since it was never published by subsequent authors is quoted.

The astrological system of the houses named by Manilius Templa , which connects human destinies with a zodiac sign (zodiac), was developed over centuries, but appears for the first time in the Astronomica . The first datable and traditional horoscope to use this system is only a little older and dates from around 20 BC. In contrast, Claudius Ptolemy (around 130–170), the father of classical astrology, hardly used the system in the astrological text Tetrabiblos at all.

reception

Firmicus Maternus , who wrote at the time of Emperor Constantine I , shows so much in common with Manilius' work that he either used it or must have resorted to a common source. Since Firmicus declares that apart from Caesar , Cicero and Fronto hardly any Roman had dealt with the subject, he probably did not even know Manilius' work.

Two Astronomica manuscripts from the 10th and 11th centuries have survived in monasteries, the one in Brussels today in the former Argenton Abbey in the Duchy of Brabant , and the other in the Leipzig University Library today . The unknown text was discovered by the humanist Poggio Bracciolini near Constance in 1416 or 1417, during a break in the Council of Constance . The editio princeps of Astronomica was prepared by the astronomer Regiomontanus on the basis of damaged manuscripts and published in Nuremberg in 1473. The text was critically reviewed by Joseph Justus Scaliger , whose edition was published for the first time in 1579 in Paris and for the second time in 1600 in Leiden . A much improved edition comes from Richard Bentley from 1739. The Loeb edition by Alfred Edward Housman in five volumes from 1903 to 1930 was considered authoritative for a long time; it was replaced in 1977 by the edition by George P. Goold , the new Latin edition Text editions appeared in 1985 and 1996–2001.

The moon crater Manilius and the asteroid (12163) Manilius are named after the ancient author .

The Astronomica are often mentioned in works by the American horror car HP Lovecraft and are said to have inspired him when he gave the title of the book he invented ( Necronomicon ).

Editions and translations

  • Manilius. Astronomica . Edited and translated by George P. Goold. Loeb Classical Library 469. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA 1977 [1] .
  • George P. Goold (Ed.): M. Manilii Astronomica . Teubner, Leipzig 1985.
  • Manilio. Il poema degli astri (Astronomica), testo critico a cura di E. Flores, traduzione di Ricardo Scarcia, commento a cura di S. Feraboli e R. Scarcia . 2 volumes. Milan 1996-2001.
  • Manilius: Astronomica / Astrology. Latin / German , transl. and ed. by Wolfgang Fels, Reclam, Stuttgart 2008.
  • Wolfgang Hübner (Ed.): Manilius "Astronomica", Book V , 2 volumes. de Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 2010 (introduction, text, translation and commentary).

literature

Overview representations

Investigations

  • Franz-Frieder Lühr: Ratio and Fatum. Poetry and teaching with Manilius. Frankfurt (Main) 1968.
  • Wolfgang Huebner: Manilius as astrologer and poet. In: Rise and Fall of the Roman World Vol. II 32, 1, de Gruyter, Berlin a. a. 1984, pp. 126-320.
  • Katharina Volk : The Poetics of Latin Didactic: Lucretius, Virgil, Ovid, Manilius. Oxford 2002.
  • Steven J. Green, Katharina Volk (eds.): Forgotten stars. Rediscovering Manilius' Astronomica. Oxford University Press, Oxford 2011, ISBN 978-0-19-958646-2 .

reception

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Manilius 1, 899-900.
  2. ↑ Wilhelm Knappich says, according to research by a Thielscher, the astrologer Navigius Fronto is hiding under the pseudonym "Manilius". Wilhelm Knappich: History of Astrology . 3rd, unchanged edition (Note: 1st edition 1967, 2nd supplemented edition 1988). Vittorio Klostermann, Frankfurt a. M. 1998, p. 83 .
personal data
SURNAME Manilius, Marcus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION roman poet
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 1st century