Tiberianus (poet)

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Poems of Tiberianus in the manuscript London, British Library , Harley 3685, fol. 26r (15th century)

Tiberianus was a late ancient Roman poet . He lived in the 4th century and was a pagan follower of Neoplatonic philosophy.

Identity question

Nothing is known about the poet's life. His name is only known from the manuscripts of his poems and from later literature where he is quoted. It is unclear whether the poet Tiberianus can be identified with another person of that name. For this, three officials have been considered in research: Gaius Annius Tiberianus , who is attested in inscriptions as well as in the Codex Theodosianus and in the Codex Iustinianus , Gaius Iunius Tiberianus , who was consul in 291 , and Iunius Tiberianus , who was from 303 to 304 as City Prefect officiated.

Gaius Annius Tiberianus is described by the church father and chronicler Hieronymus as a linguistically skilled man ( vir disertus ), which suits the poet; the adjective disertus - also in the superlative form disertissimus - was used to praise poets. Hence, the suggestion that this official was the poet finds favor with research. Annius Tiberianus is attested 325–327 as comes Africae , 332 as comes Hispaniarum ; a few years later he was praefectus praetorio per Gallias .

Alan Cameron prefers a different hypothesis; he thinks that the poet is more likely to be Gaius Junius Tiberianus or Junius Tiberianus. Gaius Junius Tiberianus obtained the consulate for the second time in 291; he was "ordinary consul" ( consul ordinarius ) and from 291 to 292 city prefect. Iunius Tiberianus - presumably a son of Gaius Iunius Tiberianus - had been proconsul of the province of Asia before he assumed the office of city prefect in 303 .

What is certain is that the poet was not a Christian, but rather professed the ancient Roman religion and Neoplatonic philosophy. A clue for determining his lifetime results from his Neoplatonism, which rules out a dating of his poetry before the second half of the 3rd century. Since Servius cites verses by Tiberianus in his Aeneid commentary, which he wrote in the early 5th century at the latest, it can be assumed that the poet's creative period fell in the second half of the 4th century at the latest. Danuta Shanzer suspects that Tiberianus alludes to the Christological disputes between Arians and supporters of the Council of Nicaea , which makes a date after 325, the year the Nicene Creed was formulated , plausible.

plant

Four poems ( carmina ) by Tiberianus as well as some poem fragments cited in later literature have survived.

  • Carmen 1 ( Amnis ibat… ) consists of twenty trochaic tetrameters . It describes a locus amoenus (lovely place, place of pleasure), the painting of which is one of the best-known depictions of landscapes in late antique poetry. The author works with the usual landscape stimuli (shady grove with flowing water, meadow, beauty of the flora, scent of flowers, gentle breeze, birdsong).
  • Carmen 2 ( Aurum, quod nigri manes… ) comprises 28 hexameters . It is a humiliating poem against gold, which Tiberianus curses and whose fateful demoralizing role he describes, thereby picking up on an old popular philosophical motif.
  • Carmen 3 ( Ales, dum madidis ... ) is an epigram in twelve phalacic verses , which deals with the fate of a bird, which falls weighted down by moisture and is killed in the process. His death should serve as a warning against recklessness.
  • Carmen 4 ( Omnipotens, annosa poli ... ) is a hymn in 32 hexameters, which is addressed to the highest deity. The poet asks for knowledge about creation and the laws, causes and forces at work in the cosmos. His questions to the deity concern central themes of Plato's dialogue Timaeus . In terms of language, the influence of Lucretius can be felt.

The hypothesis that Tiberianus is the author of the anonymously transmitted Pervigilium Veneris is controversial . It was presented for the first time in 1872 by Emil Baehrens and in 1984 by Alan Cameron again put up for discussion and given detailed reasons. The arguments of the advocates, like those of the opponents, are based in particular on the stylistic and content-related comparison with the poetry, which was certainly by Tiberianus. The hypothesis has met with a positive response from some ancient scholars, but is largely rejected in research or at least viewed with caution. An important counter-argument is that the literary quality of Pervigilium Veneris is significantly higher than that of Tiberianus' poetry; Cameron also admits this. It is therefore customary to publish and quote the famous Venus poem without stating the author.

Fulgentius mentions a "Book on Socrates " and a work on Prometheus written by Tiberianus . It may have been prosimetra ( literary texts composed of prose and poems); perhaps the poems preserved were part of such works.

reception

The handwritten tradition is sparse; the first three poems are in a manuscript from the 15th century, the second also in fragments in an early medieval codex . The fourth poem has come down to us separately; seven medieval manuscripts have survived.

In late antiquity, Servius and Fulgentius quoted verses by Tiberianus; what she said gives the impression that he was considered a literary authority at the time. Also Dracontius was influenced by him. The poet Claudius Marius Victor (Victorius) built a half verse from the hymn of Tiberianus into his biblical epic Alethia . A poem in the Consolatio Philosophiae des Boëthius shows that this author also knew the hymn.

In the early Middle Ages, the author of the poem An Fidolius, attributed to Columban , knew the gold poem of Tiberianus; he used it for a poetic tirade against gold, that is, against wealth, as factual and literal correspondences between his verses and those of the late antique poet show.

In the Middle Ages (and perhaps as early as late antiquity), as can be seen from notes in copies of the fourth poem, Plato was given as the author and alleged that Tiberian translated Plato's verses from Greek into Latin.

Editions and translations

  • Ernst Robert Curtius : European literature and the Latin Middle Ages . 10th edition. Francke, Bern 1948, p. 203 (Latin text and German translation by Carmen 1)
  • John Wight Duff , Arnold M. Duff (Eds.): Minor Latin Poets . Heinemann, London 1934, pp. 558–569 (Latin text and English translation)
  • Silvia Mattiacci (Ed.): I carmi ei frammenti di Tiberiano . Olschki, Firenze 1990, ISBN 88-222-3706-4 (critical edition with Italian translation, introduction and commentary)
  • Ugo Zuccarelli (Ed.): Tiberiano . Napoli 1987 (critical edition with Italian translation, introduction and commentary)

literature

  • Tullio Agozzino: Una preghiera gnostica pagana e lo stile lucreziano nel IV secolo . In: Dignam dis a Giampaolo Vallot (1934–1966). Libreria Universitaria Editrice, Venezia 1972, pp. 169-210
  • Kurt Smolak : Tiberianus . In: Reinhart Herzog (ed.): Restoration and renewal. The Latin literature from AD 284 to 374. CH Beck, Munich 1989, ISBN 978-3-406-31863-4 , pp. 263-267

Remarks

  1. ^ Alan Cameron: The Pervigilium Veneris . In: La poesia tardoantica: tra retorica, teologia e politica , Messina 1984, pp. 209–234, here: 224.
  2. ^ Danuta Shanzer: Once again Tiberianus and the Pervigilium Veneris . In: Rivista di filologia e di istruzione classica 118, 1990, pp. 306-318, here: 314-317.
  3. ↑ See on this poem Filippo Capponi: L'avicula di Tiberiano . In: Invigilata lucernis 9, 1987, pp. 17-24.
  4. ^ Alan Cameron: The Pervigilium Veneris . In: La poesia tardoantica: tra retorica, teologia e politica , Messina 1984, pp. 209–234, here: 220–228.
  5. ↑ Andrea Cucchiarelli provides an overview of the controversial literature: Le veglia di Venere , Milano 2003, pp. 24–26. Opponents of the attribution to Tiberianus are in particular Danuta Shanzer: Once again Tiberianus and the Pervigilium Veneris . In: Rivista di filologia e di istruzione classica 118, 1990, pp. 306-318, here: 309-318; Crescenzo Formicola (Ed.): Pervigilium Veneris , Napoli 1998, pp. 51-57; Laurence Catlow (Ed.): Pervigilium Veneris , Bruxelles 1980, p. 22 f. and Ugo Zuccarelli (eds.): Tiberiano , Napoli 1987, p. 105 f.
  6. ^ Alan Cameron: The Pervigilium Veneris . In: La poesia tardoantica: tra retorica, teologia e politica , Messina 1984, pp. 209-234, here: 221-223; Silvia Mattiacci (ed.): I carmi ei frammenti di Tiberiano , Firenze 1990, pp. 23-27.
  7. ↑ Ugo Zuccarelli (Ed.): Tiberiano , Napoli 1987, p. 8 f.
  8. ↑ Silvia Mattiacci (ed.): I carmi ei frammenti di Tiberiano , Firenze 1990, p. 168 f.
  9. ↑ Boethius, Consolatio Philosophiae 3 m. 9; see Silvia Mattiacci (ed.): I carmi ei frammenti di Tiberiano , Firenze 1990, pp. 166-168.
  10. ↑ Kurt Smolak: "Auri sacra fames" in the Columbanus poem to Fidolius . In: Studi classici e orientali 30, 1980, pp. 125-137, here: 131-137.
personal data
SURNAME Tiberianus
BRIEF DESCRIPTION late antique Roman poet
DATE OF BIRTH 3rd century or 4th century
DATE OF DEATH 4th century or 5th century