A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. By various writers. Ed. by William Smith. Illustrated by numerous engravings on wood.

432 AVIENUS.
AVIA'NUS PHILO'XENUS. [PHILOXEN s.]
AVI'DIUS CA'SSIUS. [CASSIUS.]
AVI'DIUS FLACCUS. [FLACCUS.]
C. AVIE'NUS, tribune of the soldiers of the
tenth legion, was ignominiously dismissed from the
army, on account of misconduct in the African war,
B. c. 46. (Hirt. B. Afr. 46.)
AVIE'N US, RUFUS FESTUS. The following poems are ascribed to an author bearing
this name:1. Deseriptio Orbis Terrae, or, as it is variously
entitled in different editions and MSS., Metaphrasis
Perigeseos Dionysii-Situs Orbis-Ambitus Orbisin 1394 hexameter lines, derived directly from the
7repi 'yqreis of Dionysius, and containing a succinct
account of the most remarkable objects in the
physical and political geography of the known
world. It adheres too closely in some places, and
departs too widely in others, from the text of the
Alexandrian, to be called with propriety a translation, or even a paraphrase, and still less does it
deserve to be regarded as an independent work,
but approaches more nearly to our modern idea of
a new edition compressed in certain passages, enlarged in others, and altered throughout. These
changes can hardly be considered as improvements,
for not unfrequently the anxiety of the writer to
expand and embellish his original has made him
wander into extravagance and error, while on the
other hand the fear of becoming prolix and tedious
has led to injudicious curtailments, and induced
him to omit the names of nations and districts
which ought not to have been passed over. Nor
does he attempt to correct the mistakes of his predecessor, nor to take advantage of those stores of
knowledge which must have been available at the
period when he lived; but the blunders and follies
of the old Greek poets, who were profoundly
ignorant of all the regions to the West and North
of their own country, are implicitly followed, and
many things set down which every well-informed
man under the empire must have known to be
absurd. There is, however, a considerable energy
and liveliness of style, which animates the inherent
dulness of the undertaking and carries the reader
lightly on, while much ingenuity is displayed in
varying the expression of constantly-recurring
ideas.
2. Ora Maritima, a fragment in 703 Iambic
trimeters. The plan comprehended a full delineation of the shores of the Mediterranean, together
with those of the Euxine and sea of Asov, and a
portion of the Atlantic without the pillars of
Hercules; but we know not if this design was
ever fully carried out, for the portion which has
oeen preserved is confined almost entirely to the
coast stretching from Marseilles to Cadiz. The
author professes to have commenced the essay in
order to satisfy the intelligent inquiries of a youth
named Probus, to whom it is addressed, with regard to the geography of the Pontus and the
Maeotic Gulf; but if intended for the purposes
of instruction, it is impossible to imagine any task
executed in a less satisfactory manner. There is
an absence of all order and arrangement. Instead
of advancing steadily in a given direction, we are
carried backwards and forwards, transported
abruptly from one spot to another at a great distance, and brought again and again to the same
point without completing any circuit, besides being

AVIENUS.
distracted with discussions on localities and objects
totally foreign to the matter in hand. Moreover,
the different nations and districts are distinguished
by their ancient and forgotten names, instead of
those by which they were actually known at the
time when this guide-book was composed, and all
the old and exploded fantasies of half mythical
geography revived and gravely propounded. We
are led almost irresistibly to the conclusion, that
Avienus, possessing no practical or scientific acquaintance with his subject, had read a number of
conflicting accounts of the countries in question,
written in former times by persons who were as
ignorant as himself, and had combined and pieced
them together in the hope of elaborating a consistent
whole,-neglecting with strange perversity the
numerous sources of accurate information opened
up by the wars so long waged and the dominion
so long exercised by his countrymen in those
regions.
3. Aratea Phaenomena, and Aratea Prognostica, both in Hexameter verse, the first containing 1325, the second 552 lines. They bear
exactly the same relation to the well known works
of Aratus as the Descriptio Orbis Terrae does
to that of Dionysius. The general arrangement of
the Greek original is followed throughout, and
several passages are translated more closely than
in the versions of Cicero and Germanicus, but on
the other hand many of the mythical legends are
expanded, new tales are introduced, and extracts
from the works of celebrated astroonomers, scraps
of Pythagorean philosophy, and fragments of
Aegyptian superstition, are combined and worked
up with the materials of the old fabric. The result is much more successful than in the two efforts
previously examined. Here there was more room
for the imagination to disport itself unencumbered
with dry details and stubborn facts, and accordingly the interest is well sustained and the flowing
and spirited style of the poet appears to great
advantage.
4. Three short fugitive pieces, the first addressed
to a friend, Flavianus 11Mrmecizs, V. (., requesting
a gift of some pomegraiiates from his estates in
Africa, in order to remove an attack of bile and
indigestion; the second, De Cantu Sirenum, or
Sirenum Allegoria, on the allurements of the daughters of Achelous and the device by which Ulysses
escaped their wiles; the third, Ad Amicos de Agro,
enumerating the various occupations which by
turns occupied the time and engaged the attention
of the writer each day when living in country retirement.
We must remark, that while we can scarcely
entertain a doubt that the two Geographical Essays
are from the same pen, especially since in the
second (1. 71) we find a direct reference to the
first, we have no external evidence connecting
them with the others, except the fact, that the
same name is prefixed in all MSS. to the whole,
with the exception of the 2nd and 3rd epigrams.
But, on the other hand, the style, manner, and
phraseology of the Aratean poems correspond so
exactly with what we observe in the rest, that
scholars in general have acquiesced in the arrangement which assigns the whole to one person. They
evidently belong to an epoch when Latin literature, although fast verging to old age, was still
fresh and hale, and far from being paralyzed by
infirmities;-we still perceive with pleasure a