Maximianus (poet)
Encyclopedia
Maximianus or Maximian was a Latin elegiac
poet
of the 6th century who has been called "in some sort, the last of the Roman poets".
descent (me … Etruscae gentis alumnum [5.5]); describes his youth and manhood, including his friendship with Boethius
, whom he apostrophizes as "greatest investigator of the greatest matters" (magnarum scrutator maxime rerum [3.47]); and says that, already aged, he was sent as an ambassador to the emperor's court at Constantinople
(5.1–4). Some scholars, however, have maintained that the poetry represents the utterances of one or more persona
s and that nothing therein, including the name Maximianus, is to be taken as reliable information about the poet.
:
Perhaps because of this use of the poetry in elementary education, echoes of and references to it are found in a wide variety of medieval writers. A Middle English poem entitled "Le Regret de Maximian" was based on Maximianus's first elegy, and Chaucer
's use of the Latin poet's work has been investigated by a number of scholars.
Although one or more printed editions of the work had appeared in the 15th century, it was the 1501 edition by the Neapolitan teenager Pomponius Gauricus that attracted the most attention among Renaissance
scholars. Gauricus, suppressing the distich in which the name Maximianus appears and altering the reference to Boethius, published the verse as the work of the first-century-BC poet Cornelius Gallus
, whose elegies were thought to be entirely lost. This enthusiastic error (or deliberate fraud) caused Maximianus's poetry to be widely misattributed to Gallus for hundreds of years. Gauricus also appears responsible for the division of the verse, which in almost all the manuscripts appears as a continuous poem, into six elegies—a division that has been followed by subsequent editors.
The first published English translation, by Hovenden Walker
, was titled The Impotent Lover: Accurately Described in Six Elegies upon Old Age, with the Old Doting Letcher's Resentments on the Past Pleasures and Vigorous Performances of Youth.
Elegiac
Elegiac refers either to those compositions that are like elegies or to a specific poetic meter used in Classical elegies. The Classical elegiac meter has two lines, making it a couplet: a line of dactylic hexameter, followed by a line of dactylic pentameter...
poet
Poet
A poet is a person who writes poetry. A poet's work can be literal, meaning that his work is derived from a specific event, or metaphorical, meaning that his work can take on many meanings and forms. Poets have existed since antiquity, in nearly all languages, and have produced works that vary...
of the 6th century who has been called "in some sort, the last of the Roman poets".
Life
Nothing is known of Maximianus's life save what can be inferred from his poetry. In it, he claims EtruscanEtruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
descent (me … Etruscae gentis alumnum [5.5]); describes his youth and manhood, including his friendship with Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius
Anicius Manlius Severinus Boëthius, commonly called Boethius was a philosopher of the early 6th century. He was born in Rome to an ancient and important family which included emperors Petronius Maximus and Olybrius and many consuls. His father, Flavius Manlius Boethius, was consul in 487 after...
, whom he apostrophizes as "greatest investigator of the greatest matters" (magnarum scrutator maxime rerum [3.47]); and says that, already aged, he was sent as an ambassador to the emperor's court at Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
(5.1–4). Some scholars, however, have maintained that the poetry represents the utterances of one or more persona
Persona
A persona, in the word's everyday usage, is a social role or a character played by an actor. The word is derived from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. The Latin word probably derived from the Etruscan word "phersu", with the same meaning, and that from the Greek πρόσωπον...
s and that nothing therein, including the name Maximianus, is to be taken as reliable information about the poet.
Poetry
Maximianus's poetry, usually divided into six separate elegies, deals with the contrast between the infirmities of age and the vigor and amours of youth. The first, and longest, elegy presents in detail the miseries of the "prison", the "living death", that is old age. The second tells of the poet's long love for Lycoris, who abandoned him as he began to grow old; the third and fourth, of his youthful passions for Aquilina and Candida. The fifth recounts his abortive tryst with a Greek girl during his embassy in the East, along with her reaction to his impotence; and the sixth, consisting of only twelve lines, again expresses the horror of approaching death. Throughout, "the imminence of death and the sadness of growing old are seen as representing the end of pagan culture and its joy in living".Reception
Despite its erotic content, Maximianus's verse was part of the corpus of texts used in the 11th and 12th centuries to teach schoolboys the rudiments of Latin, though its use for this purpose was criticized by Alexander of VilledieuAlexander of Villedieu
Alexander of Villedieu was a French author, teacher and poet, who wrote text books on Latin grammar and arithmetic, everything in verse. He was born around 1175 in Villedieu-les-Poêles in Normandy, studied in Paris, and later taught at Dol in Brittany. His greatest fame stems from his versified...
:
quamvis haec non sit doctrina satis generalis,
proderit ipsa tamen plus nugis Maximiani.
(Although this [that is, Alexander's] instruction is not wholly sufficient,
it is more profitable than the trifles of Maximianus.)
Perhaps because of this use of the poetry in elementary education, echoes of and references to it are found in a wide variety of medieval writers. A Middle English poem entitled "Le Regret de Maximian" was based on Maximianus's first elegy, and Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer
Geoffrey Chaucer , known as the Father of English literature, is widely considered the greatest English poet of the Middle Ages and was the first poet to have been buried in Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey...
's use of the Latin poet's work has been investigated by a number of scholars.
Although one or more printed editions of the work had appeared in the 15th century, it was the 1501 edition by the Neapolitan teenager Pomponius Gauricus that attracted the most attention among Renaissance
Renaissance
The Renaissance was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Italy in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe. The term is also used more loosely to refer to the historical era, but since the changes of the Renaissance were not...
scholars. Gauricus, suppressing the distich in which the name Maximianus appears and altering the reference to Boethius, published the verse as the work of the first-century-BC poet Cornelius Gallus
Cornelius Gallus
Gaius Cornelius Gallus , Roman poet, orator and politician, was born of humble parents at Forum Livii in Italy.At an early age he moved to Rome, where he was taught by the same master as Virgil and Varius Rufus. Virgil, who dedicated one of his eclogues to him, was in great measure indebted to...
, whose elegies were thought to be entirely lost. This enthusiastic error (or deliberate fraud) caused Maximianus's poetry to be widely misattributed to Gallus for hundreds of years. Gauricus also appears responsible for the division of the verse, which in almost all the manuscripts appears as a continuous poem, into six elegies—a division that has been followed by subsequent editors.
The first published English translation, by Hovenden Walker
Hovenden Walker
Sir Hovenden Walker was a British naval officer noted for having led an abortive 1711 expedition against Quebec City, then the capital of New France....
, was titled The Impotent Lover: Accurately Described in Six Elegies upon Old Age, with the Old Doting Letcher's Resentments on the Past Pleasures and Vigorous Performances of Youth.
External links
- Maximiani Elegiarum Liber at the Latin Library
- Helen WaddellHelen WaddellHelen Jane Waddell was an Irish poet, translator and playwright.-Biography:She was born in Tokyo, the tenth and youngest child of Hugh Waddell, a Presbyterian minister and missionary who was lecturing in the Imperial University. She spent the first eleven years of her life in Japan before her...
on Maximianus: The Wandering Scholars, pages 17–18