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[German version] Postumius (?) Rufius Festus. Roman poet of the mid 4th cent. AD. As an aristocrat of urban Rome, he is committed to the tendencies of the nobles of the time towards the restoration of paganism. In an inscription dedicated to the Etruscan goddess Nortia (CIL 6,537 = ILS 2944), he mentions Volsinii as his place of birth, traces his lineage back to the Stoic philosopher  Musonius Rufus and refers to his two proconsulships [8; 10; 11]. With his poetic reworking of texts from the fields of Greek science and didactic poetry, A. documents once ag…

[German version] Author of a collection of 42  fables written in distichs (beginning of the 5th cent. AD), which is probably dedicated to  Macrobius. Regarding A.'s name, see [8. 10-19]: no attempts should be made to identify A. with the didactic poet  Avienus or with the Avenius who appears in the ‘ Saturnalia by Macrobius [4. XI-XIV; 3. 392-396; cf. 11]. The subject matter of most of the fables is taken directly from  Babrius, and is not filtered through a Latin prose paraphrase [7. 71-73; 8. 163-191]. The efforts to create a pleasing poetic composition (metre, classical references) contrast with the linguistic and metrical licenses of the time [11]. The tendency towards a generally moralizing tone which colours all the fables is in obvious contrast to the socio-critical traits in  Phaedrus, for exa…

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[German version] [1] M. Aurelius N. Author of bucolic writings, before AD 284? As the name Carthagin(i)ensis appended in some MSS indicates, N. came from Africa. He wrote four bucolic poems ( Bucolica, Buc.) and a didactic poem about hunting ( Cynegetica, Cyn.), of which verses 1-325 are extant. The dedication of the Cyn. to the emperors Carinus and Numerianus [2] enables dating to shortly before AD 284. Whether N. also wrote Halieutica and Nautica, as maintained by SHA Car. 11,2, is doubtful, as is the authenticity of two fragments of a didactic poem on catching birds ( De aucipio) [11. 313f.; 1. 127-141]. Both Buc. and Cyn. are distinguished by a new classicistic mentality which was to become typical of all pagan Latin poetry from Late Antiquity [6; 8; 9]. The Buc. survived together with the Buc. of Calpurnius [III 3] Siculus; they were not separated until 1854, based on arguments of metrics and prosody [4].  The Buc. have as their main model the bucolic writings of Vergilius and Calpurnius [III 3] Siculus, but they are non-political [10. 145-159]. While the antiphonies of the lovelorn shepherds in eclogues 2 and 4 are skillful imitations and re-workings of their models [6. 28-35], the monodic eclogues 1 and 3, with their hymnal funeral song on a private individual (ecl. 1; [5]) and the broad unfolding of Dionysian themes (ecl. 3), attain greater independence in subject matter.…

[English version] [1] M. Aurelius N. Verf. bukolischer Schriften, vor 284? entsprechend dem Namenszusatz Carthagin(i)ensis in einigen Hss. aus Africa stammend, verfaßte vier bukolische Gedichte ( Bucolica, Buc.) und ein Lehrgedicht über die Jagd ( Cynegetica, Cyn.), von dem die V. 1-325 erh. sind. Die Widmung der Cyn. an die Kaiser Carinus und Numerianus [2] ermöglicht eine Datier. kurz vor 284 n.Chr. Ob N. auch Halieutica und Nautica verfaßte, …

[German version] I. Ancient Orient No evidence ex…

[English version] I. Alter Orient Eine eigene Bezeichnung für die F. ist weder für das Sumer. noch das Akkad. bezeugt. Die F. ist eine kurze, fiktive Geschichte mit inhärenter Moral, deren Charaktere personifizierte Tiere sind. Auf die Moral reduziert, haben einige F. den Status eines Sprichwortes bekommen. Die F. hat ihren Ursprung in mündlicher Lit.; sie stellt eine einfache Form der Allegorie dar. Von der F. zu trennen sind Rangstreitgespräche/Tenzonen (Hauptakteure: personifizierte Tiere, Naturph…

[German version] [1] Legendary founder of Rome The legendary founder of Rome. Perhaps literally 'the Roman'. A possible correspondence between the Etruscan nomen gentile Rumelna (Volsinii, 6th cent. BC: ET Vs 1,35) and the alleged Roman nomen gentile Romilius - the name is securely attested only in an old tribus Romilia/-ulia (Paul Fest. 331 L.) - and between R. and an Etruscan praenomen * Rumele [1. 31 f.] proves nothing about the historicity of the figure of R. Also problematic is the attempt [2. 491-520; 3. 95-150] to connect the finds from the Roman Mon…

[English version] [1] legendärer Stadtgründer Roms Der legendäre Stadtgründer Roms. Wörtl. vielleicht “der Römer”. Eine mögliche Entsprechung zw. dem etr. Gentiliz Rumelna (Volsinii, 6. Jh. v. Chr.: ET Vs 1,35) und dem angeblichen röm. Gentilnamen Romilius - der Name läßt sich histor. sicher nur in einer alten tribus Romilia/-ulia nachweisen (Paul. Fest. 331 L.) - sowie zw. R. und einem etr. Praenomen * Rumele [1. 31 f.] ergibt nichts für die Historizität der R.-Gestalt. Problematisch ist auch der Versuch [2. 491-520; 3. 95-150], die in das 8. Jh. v. Chr. …