Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, Roman grammarian and Neoplatonist philosopher, flourished during the reigns of Honorius and Arcadius (395–423). For other uses, see Roman Empire (disambiguation) The Roman Empire is the term conventionally used to describe the Ancient Roman polity in the centuries following its reorganization under the leadership of Octavian (better known as Augustus), until its radical reformation in what was later to be known as the Byzantine... This article is about grammar from a linguistic perspective. ... Neoplatonism (also Neo-Platonism) is an ancient school of philosophy beginning in the 3rd century A.D. It was based on the teachings of Plato and Platonists; but it interpreted Plato in many new ways, such that Neoplatonism was quite different from what Plato taught, though not many Neoplatonists would... A philosopher is a person devoted to studying and producing results in philosophy. ... Bronze coin bearing the profile of Honorius Flavius Augustus Honorius (September 9, 384–August 15, 423) was Emperor of the Western Roman Empire from 395 until his death. ... Arcadius, holding a labarum, defeating an enemy. ... Events After the death of emperor Theodosius I, the Roman Empire is divided in an eastern and a western half. ... Events On the death of Honorius, the primicerius notariorum Joannes seizes the throne of the Western Roman Empire, and is declared emperor. ...

He himself states that he was not a Roman, but there is no certain evidence whether he was of Greek or perhaps African descent. He may be identical with a Macrobius who is mentioned in the Codex Theodosianus as a praetorian praefect in Spain in 399-400, proconsul of Africa in 410, and lord chamberlain in 422. But the tenure of high office at that date was limited to Christians, and there is no evidence in the writings of Macrobius that he was a Christian. Hence the identification is more than doubtful, unless it be assumed that his conversion to Christianity was subsequent to the composition of his books. It is also possible that he was the Theodosius to whom Avianus dedicates his fables. Africa is the worlds second-largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. ... The Codex Theodosianus (Book of Theodosius) was a compilation of the laws of the Roman Empire under the Christian emperors since 312. ... The word prefect can refer to any of a number of types of official, including: in Latin, praefectus: a high-ranking military or civil official in the Roman Empire; the title now attaches to the heads of some departments of the Roman Curia, who are traditionally Cardinals, and if they... Christianity is a monotheistic religion that recognizes Jesus Christ as its central figure, Lord and Messiah. ... Avianus, a Latin writer of fables, placed by some critics in the age of the Antonines, by others as late as the 6th century AD. The 42 fables which bear his name are dedicated to a certain Theodosius, whose learning is spoken of in most flattering terms. ...

The most important of his works is the Saturnalia, containing an account of the discussions held at the house of Vettius Praetextatus (c. 325-385) during the holiday of the Saturnalia. It was written by the author for the benefit of his son Eustathius (or Eustachius), and contains a great variety of curious historical, mythological, critical and grammatical discussions. There is but little attempt to give any dramatic character to the dialogue; in each book some one of the personages takes the leading part, and the remarks of the others serve only as occasions for calling forth fresh displays of erudition. Saturnalia was the feast at which the the Romans commemorated the dedication of the temple of the god Saturn, which took place on 17 December. ...

The first book is devoted to an inquiry as to the origin of the Saturnalia and the festivals of Janus, which leads to a history and discussion of the Roman calendar, and to an attempt to derive all forms of worship from that of the sun. The second book begins with a collection of bons mots, to which all present make their contributions, many of them being ascribed to Cicero and Augustus; a discussion of various pleasures, especially of the senses, then seems to have taken place, but almost the whole of this is lost. The third, fourth, fifth and sixth books are devoted to Virgil, dwelling respectively on his learning in religious matters, his rhetorical skill, his debt to Homer (with a comparison of the art of the two) and to other Greek writers, and the nature and extent of his borrowings from the earlier Latin poets. The latter part of the third book is taken up with a dissertation upon luxury and the sumptuary laws intended to check it, which is probably a dislocated portion of the second book. The seventh book consists largely of the discussion of various physiological questions. In Roman mythology, Janus was the god of gates, doors, doorways, beginnings, and endings. ... Marcus Tullius Cicero (standard English pronunciation ; Classical Latin pronunciation ) (January 3, 106 BC – December 7, 43 BC) was an orator and statesman of Ancient Rome, and is generally considered the greatest Latin orator and prose stylist. ... The famous statue of Octavian at the Prima Porta Caesar Augustus (Latin:IMP·CAESAR·DIVI·F·AVGVSTVS) ¹ (23 September 63 BC–19 August AD 14), known to modern historians as Octavian for the period of his life prior to 27 BC, is considered the first and one of the most... A sculpture of Virgil, probably from the 1st century AD. Publius Vergilius Maro (October 15, 70 BC–19 BC), known in English as Virgil or Vergil, is a Latin poet, the author of the Eclogues, the Georgics and the Aeneid, the last being an epic poem of twelve books that... Bust of Homer in the British Museum For other uses, see Homer (disambiguation). ... Latin is an ancient Indo-European language originally spoken in the region around Rome called Latium. ...

The primary value of the work lies in the facts and opinions quoted from earlier writers. The form of the Saturnalia is copied from Plato's Symposium and Gellius's Noctes atticae; the chief authorities (whose names, however, are not quoted) are Gellius, Seneca the philosopher, Plutarch (Quaestiones conviviales), Athenaeus and the commentaries of Servius (excluded by some) and others on Virgil. Plato Plato (Greek: Πλάτων Plátōn) (ca. ... Aulus Gellius (c. ... Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca (often known simply as Seneca, or Seneca the Younger) (ca. ... Plutarch Mestrius Plutarchus (ca. ... Athenaeus (ca. ... Maurus (or Marius) Servius Honoratius, Roman grammarian and commentator on Virgil, flourished at the end of the 4th century AD. He is one of the interlocutors in the Saturnalia of Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius, and allusions in that work and a letter from Quintus Aurelius Symmachus to Servius show that he...

Macrobius is also the author of a commentary in two books on the Somnium Scipionis narrated by Cicero at the end of his De re publica. The nature of the dream, in which the elder Scipio appears to his (adopted) grandson, and describes the life of the good after death and the constitution of the universe from the Stoic point of view, gives occasion for Macrobius to discourse upon many points of physics in a series of essays interesting as showing the astronomical notions then current. The moral elevation of the fragment of Cicero thus preserved to us gave the work a popularity in the middle ages to which its own merits have little claim. Of a third work De differentiis et societatibus graeci latinique verbi, we only possess an abstract by a certain Johannes, identified with Johannes Scotus Erigena (9th century). Stoicism is a school of philosophy founded (308 BCE) in Athens by Zeno of Citium (Cyprus). ... Johannes Scotus Eriugena (c. ... This earthenware dish was made in 9th century Iraq. ...

See editions by L von Jan (1848-1852, with bibliog. of previous editions, and commentary) and F Eyssenhardt (1893, Teubner text); on the sources of the Saturnalia see H Linke (1880) and G Wissowa (1880). The grammatical treatise will be found in Jan's edition and H Neil's Grammatici latini, v.; see also GF Schömann, Commentatio macrobiana (1871). Georg Friedrich Schömann (June 28, 1793 - March 25, 1879), was a German classical scholar. ...

See also

• Allegory in the Middle Ages

Noah and the baptismal flood of the Old Testament (top panel) is typographically linked (prefigured) by the baptism of Jesus in the New Testament (bottom panel). ...

External link

• Macrobius: The Saturnalia, the Latin text of the critical edition edited by Ludwig von Jan (Gottfried Bass; Quedlinburg and Leipzig, 1852), web edition by Bill Thayer.

This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain. Supporters contend that the Eleventh Edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica (1910-1911) represents the sum of human knowledge at the beginning of the 20th century; indeed, it was advertised as such. ... The public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. ...