Avienius
Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius (or Avienus) was a Latin writer of the 4th century AD. He was a native of Volsinii in Etruria, from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi. Not identical with the historian Festus.
Also recorded as Avienus Rufius Festus · Rufius Festus Avienus · Rufus Festus Avienus · Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius
Avienius
- Born
- 305 · Bolsena.
- Died
- 375
- Nationality
- Ancient Rome
- Occupation
- poet · writer
- Known for
- Ora Maritima · Aratea · Paraphrase of Livy
- Languages
- Latin
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Avienius. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Documentary basis
Authority files
wikidata · Q366793 · wikipedia · Avienius
In this article
Background
Background
Avienius made a free translation into Latin of Aratus' didactic poem Phaenomena. He also took a popular Greek poem in hexameters, Periegesis, briefly delimiting the habitable world from the perspective of Alexandria, written by Dionysius Periegetes in a terse and elegant style that was easy to memorize for students, and translated it into an archaising Latin as his Descriptio orbis terrae ("Description of the World's Lands"). Only Book I survives, with an unsteady grasp of actual geography and some far-fetched etymologies: see Ophiussa. He wrote Ora Maritima, a poem claimed to contain borrowings from the 6th-century BC Massiliote Periplus. Avienius also served as governor of Achaia and Africa. According to legend, when asked what he did in the country, he answered Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lavo, caeno, quiesco: I dine, drink, sing, play, bathe, sup, rest.However this quote is a misattribution and likely comes from the works of Martial.
Life and career
Dated record
Life and career
The full dated record · 2 entries
305
Avienius born at Bolsena.
375
Avienius died.
Editions
• A. Berthelot: Ora maritima. Paris 1934. (text of reference) • J. P. Murphy: Ora maritima or Description of the seacoast. (Chicago) 1977. • J. Soubiran: Aviénus: Les Phénomènes d'Aratos. CUF, Paris 1981. (text of reference) • D. Stichtenoth: Ora maritima, lateinisch und deutsch. Darmstadt 1968. (the Latin text is that of the editio princeps of 1488 and is better not cited) • P. van de Woestijne: Descriptio orbis terrae. Brugge 1961. (text of reference) • Commentaries, monographs and articles • F. Bellandi, E. Berti und M. Ciappi: "Iustissima Virgo": Il mito della Vergine in Germanico e in Avieno (saggio di commento a Germanico Arati Phaen. 96 - 139 e Avieno Arati Phaen. 273 - 352), Pisa 2001 * • Concordantia in Rufium Festum Avienum. Curavit Manfred WACHT. G. Olms Verlag 1995 • M. Fiedler: Kommentar zu V. 367-746 von Aviens Neugestaltung der Phainomena Arats. Stuttgart Saur 2004 • C. Ihlemann: De Avieni in vertendis Arateis arte et ratione. Diss. Göttingen 1909 • H. Kühne: De arte grammatica Rufi Festi Avieni. Essen 1905 • K. Smolak: Postumius Rufius Festus Avienus. In: Handbuch der lateinischen Literatur der Antike, hrsg. von R. Herzog und P. L. Schmidt, Fünfter Band. Restauration und Erneuerung. Die lateinische Literatur von 284 bis 374 n. Chr., München 1989, S. 320-327 • D. Weber: Aviens Phaenomena, eine Arat-Bearbeitung aus der lateinischen Spätanike. Untersuchungen zu ausgewählten Partien. Dissertationen der Universität Wien 173, Wien 1986 • L. Willms Übersetzung, philologischer Kommentar und vergleichende Interpretation des Tierkreises in Aviens Phaenomena (Verse 1014 – 1325) AKAN-Einzelschriften – Antike Naturwissenschaften und ihre Rezeption, vol. 8. Trier WVT 2014 • P. van de Woestijne: De vroegste uitgaven van Avienus' Descriptio orbis terrae (1488-1515). 1959 • H. Zehnacker: D'Aratos à Aviénus: Astronomie et idéologie. Illinois Classical Studies 44 (1989), S. 317-329
Primary material
Documents and archives
scholarly publication
- Avienus (Avienius), Ora maritima (The Sea Coast), Geographers of the Ancient Greek World, 2024
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2024
- Der Dichter und zweimalige Proconsul Postumius Rufius Festus signo Avienius, Mnemosyne, 2012
Scholarly · Crossref registry · 2012
reference work
- “Avienius”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q366793: Avienius
Reputable secondary · Wikimedia Foundation
Text attribution
Licensing
Text attribution
Part of the biographical narrative on this page reuses licensed material. Its origin, revision and licence are recorded here.
The biographical narrative on this page is based on the Wikipedia article Avienius, revision 1278323672 (EN edition), by its contributors. VALÉORINE has edited that text and built its own documentary record around it. The reused material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, and this page's reuse of it is offered under the same licence. Everything else on this page — the chronology, the holdings, the evidence, the plates and the connections — is VALÉORINE's own record. Sources and licences.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly publication
Avienus (Avienius), Ora maritima (The Sea Coast), Geographers of the Ancient Greek World, 2024Crossref registry
Institutional witnessscholarly publication
Der Dichter und zweimalige Proconsul Postumius Rufius Festus signo Avienius, Mnemosyne, 2012Crossref registry
Institutional witnessreference work
Secondary witnessreference work
Wikidata, structured authority record Q366793: AvieniusWikimedia Foundation
Secondary witness
Further particulars
Held on the record
Further particulars
Open the remaining particulars
The authorities additionally record the headings Avienus Rufius Festus, Rufius Festus Avienus, Rufus Festus Avienus, Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius and Avienus. His recorded language was Latin. One child is recorded: Festus.
Identity and origins
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Books
39,529 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Avetis NazarbekianAuthor
- Avi SharonAuthor
- AvianusAuthor
- AvicennaAuthor
- Avigdor DaganAuthor
- Avigdor HameiriAuthor
- Avigdor KaraAuthor
- Avinash VyasAuthor
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Avienius?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.