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The Poet Nemesianus and the Historia Augusta

Stover, Justin; Woudhuysen, George

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Authors

Justin Stover



Abstract

Lurking in the Historia Augusta’s life of the short-lived Emperor Carus is what appears to be a reference to the genuine contemporary poet Nemesianus and an extant work by him, the Cynegetica. Given the HA’s predilection for ‘bogus authors’, this is rather surprising, but because some of what the HA says about Nemesianus is true, the otherwise unique details of his life and works that it provides have been generally accepted. We show first that the reference to the Cynegetica is an incorporated gloss in the text of the HA, one that reveals that the text was being read and studied in northern Francia. We then demonstrate that the name ‘Olympius’, which the HA gives to Nemesianus, is not authentic, offering an analysis of the text’s onomastic habits more generally. We show that ‘Olympius Nemesianus’ is one of several invented authors in the HA, lent a superficial plausibility by borrowing the name of a real ancient writer. Finally, we reflect on the way that these conclusions might undermine two developing tendencies in the study of the Historia Augusta.

Citation

Stover, J., & Woudhuysen, G. (2022). The Poet Nemesianus and the Historia Augusta. Journal of Roman Studies, 112, 173-197. https://doi.org/10.1017/s007543582200034x

Journal Article Type Article
Acceptance Date May 18, 2022
Online Publication Date Aug 3, 2022
Publication Date 2022-11
Deposit Date May 18, 2022
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Journal of Roman Studies
Print ISSN 0075-4358
Electronic ISSN 1753-528X
Publisher Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 112
Pages 173-197
DOI https://doi.org/10.1017/s007543582200034x
Keywords Literature and Literary Theory; Archeology; Visual Arts and Performing Arts; History; Archeology; Classics
Public URL https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/8132343
Publisher URL https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-roman-studies/article/poet-nemesianus-and-the-historia-augusta/81388501F51D5CAEC1FEB2487E7F8481

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