Macrobius in english-language research

Abstract

The article examines the principal English-language studies of the last century focused on exploring the personality of Macrobius (5th century) and his works — Saturnalia (Saturnalia [ed. Willis, 1963]), Commentary on the 'Dream of Scipio' (Commentarii in Somnium Scipionis [ed. Willis, 1963]), and On the differences and similarities of Greek and Latin verbs (De verborum graeci et latini differentiis vel societatibus excerpta [ed. De Paolis, 1990]), written for educational purposes and representing a compen-dium of Greek knowledge. Interest in Macrobius's creative legacy notably intensified towards the end of the 19th century, a trend linked to the release of critical editions of Macrobian texts and their subsequent translations into French. In particular, the study analyzes the research of Thomas Whittaker (Macrobius; or philosophy, science and letters in the year 400; published in 1923), William Harris Stahl (Macrobius, Commentary on the ‘Dream of Scipio’, published in 1952), Alan Cameron (The date and identity of Macro-bius [published in 1966] and Macrobius, Avienus, and Avianus [published in 1967]), Herman De Ley (Macrobius and Numenius. A study of Macrobius, ‘In Somn.’ I, c. 12; published in 1972), Stephen Gersh (Middle platonism and neoplatonism, the Latin tradition; published in 1986), Roger A. Pack (A medieval critic of Macrobius’ cosmometrics; published in 1981), Alison Peden (Science and philosophy in Wales at the time of the Norman con-quest: a Macrobius manuscript from Llabadarn; published in 1981), among others. It highlights the primary issues that researchers have focused on when studying Macrobius's literary legacy, identifies the challenges in ana-lyzing his works, and acknowledges the contribution of English-speaking scholars to the global historiography.

Keywords

• macrobius
• late antiquity – middle ages
• edition
• research
• historiography
• problem
• text