De auctoribus artium.
Founders of Theology and Philosophy
Linus, Varro, and John Scotus pioneered theology, while Thales and Pliny established natural philosophy.
The theologian among the Greeks was Linus; among the Latins, Varro; and in our own time, John Scotus, on the ten categories in reference to God. Natural philosophy was discovered among the Greeks by Thales of Miletus, one of the seven wise men; among the Latins, Pliny described it.
The Quadrivium Arts
Pythagoras, Euclid, and Ptolemy are among the Greek, Latin, and biblical figures who originated arithmetic, music, geometry, and astronomy.
Arithmetic was invented by Pythagoras of Samos; Nicomachus wrote on it. Among the Latins, Apuleius first, and then Boethius, translated it. This same Pythagoras also composed the Mathen Tetrados — that is, a book on the teaching of the quadrivium — and devised the letter Y as an image of human life.12 Moses says the inventor of music was Tubal, who was of the lineage of Cain. The Greeks say Pythagoras; others say Mercury, who first established the tetrachord; others say Linus, or Zetus, or Amphion.✦34 They say geometry was first discovered in Egypt, and that its foremost author among the Greeks was the excellent Euclid. Boethius translated this art. Eratosthenes was also remarkably sharp in geometry — the man who figured out the circumference of the earth. Some say that it was actually Ham, Noah's son, who first discovered astronomy. The Chaldeans were the first to teach astrology, based on the observation of a person's birth. Josephus, however, insists that Abraham was the one who first instructed the Egyptians in astrology. Ptolemy, the king of Egypt, restored astronomy. He also established the rules by which the movement of the stars is determined. Some say that Nimrod the giant was the greatest astrologer, and that astronomy is even named after him. The Greeks say that this art was first devised by Atlas — which is also why he is said to have held up the sky.
Ethics, Mechanics, and Agriculture
Socrates and Plato founded ethics, while later authors like Vitruvius and Palladius codified the practical arts of mechanics, agriculture, and architecture.
Socrates was the founder of ethics, and he wrote twenty-four books on positive justice. Then Plato, his student, wrote many books on the republic according to both kinds of justice — namely, natural and positive. Then Cicero arranged books on the republic in the Latin language. The philosopher Fronto also wrote a book called Strategemata, that is, On Military Charm. Mechanics had various authors. Hesiod of Ascra was the first among the Greeks to devote himself to describing rural affairs, and then Democritus. Mago the Carthaginian also composed a study of agriculture in twenty-eight volumes; among the Romans, Cato was the first to establish a work on agriculture, which Marcus Terentius then polished. Virgil also wrote the Georgics; then Cornelius and Julius Atticus, and Aemilianus, or Columella, a distinguished orator who embraced the entire body of this discipline. Vitruvius also wrote on architecture, and Palladius on agriculture.
Inventions of Daily Life
Mythological and ancient figures discovered the crafts of weaving, building, warfare, metalwork, seafaring, and even cookery.
They say that Minerva first showed the Greeks the art of weaving. They also believe that she was the first to set up a loom, to dye wool, and to be the discoverer of the olive and of building. Daedalus learned it from her, and he too is believed to have later practiced the craft of building. In Egypt, however, Isis, daughter of Inachus, discovered how to sow flax and then showed how clothing could be made from it. In that same place, she also discovered how to work wool. In Libya, the use of wool first arose from the temple of Ammon. Ninus, king of the Assyrians, was the first to wage war. They believe Vulcan was the first craftsman, and Tubal in divine history. Prometheus was the first to invent the use of a ring, pressing a stone into an iron circle. The Petasgians were the first to invent the use of ships. Ceres first invented the use of grain in Greece, at Eleusis; Isis did so in Egypt. Pilumnus, in Italy, invented the use of grain and spelt along with the practice of grinding and pounding, and Tagus, in Spain, the practice of sowing. Osiris discovered the cultivation of vineyards in Egypt; Liber, among the Indians. Daedalus was the first to make a table and a chair. A certain Apicius was the first to compile a record of cookery, who at last, after consuming his wealth, perished by a voluntary death.
Medicine, Games, and Writing
Apollo and Hippocrates revived medicine, while diverse cultures established public games and the foundational systems of Hebrew, Greek, and Latin writing.
Among the Greeks, Apollo was the founder of medicine; his son Aesculapius expanded it through both renown and practice, and he later died by a lightning strike. After being neglected for a long time, the practice of healing lay hidden for almost five hundred years, down to the time of King Artaxerxes. Then Hippocrates brought it back into the light, the son of Asclepius, born on the island of Cos. Games are believed to have gotten their start from the Lydians, who came from Asia and settled in Etruria under the leadership of Tyrrenus. There, among their other religious rites, they established spectacles, a custom the Romans later imitated, having summoned craftsmen from there, and from that source the games were called Lydian. Hebrew writing is believed to have gotten its start from Moses through the law, and that of the Chaldeans and Syrians through Abraham. Isis invented Egyptian writing; the Phoenicians invented Greek writing, which Cadmus brought from Phoenicia into Greece. Carmentis, the mother of Evander, who by her own name was called Nicostrata, discovered Latin writing. Moses was the first to write sacred history.
History, Fable, and the Journey of Logic
From the first historians and fabulists, the arts of grammar and dialectic traveled from Egypt to Greece, culminating in the Latin translation of logic and rhetoric.
Among the Gentiles, Dares the Phrygian was the first to publish the Trojan history, which they say was written by him on palm leaves. After Dares, in Greece Herodotus was considered the first historian, and after him Pherecydes was famous during the same times when Ezra wrote the law. Alcmon of Croton is believed to have invented fables first. Egypt is the mother of the arts, and from there they came into Greece, and then into Italy. In Egypt grammar was first discovered, in the time of Osiris, the husband of Isis. In Egypt too dialectic was first invented by Parmenides, who fled from cities and gatherings of people and settled on a cliff for a considerable time, and so worked out dialectic, which is why the cliff of Parmenides is named after him. Plato, however, after the death of Socrates his teacher, out of a love of wisdom emigrated to Egypt, and having absorbed the liberal studies there, he returned to Athens, and at the Academy, his estate, having gathered disciples, devoted his attention to philosophical studies. He first established rational logic among the Greeks, which was afterwards expanded, perfected, and reduced into a systematic art by Aristotle, his disciple. Marcus Terentius Varro was the first to translate dialectic from Greek into Latin. Afterward Cicero devised the Topica. Demosthenes, the son of a craftsman, is credited among the Greeks as the discoverer of rhetoric, Tisias among the Latins, and Corax among the Syracusans. These works, written in Greek by Aristotle, Gorgias, and Hermagoras, were translated into Latin by Cicero, Quintilian, and Titianus.
Read the original Latin
Theologus apud Graecos Linus fuit, apud Latinos, Varro, et nostri temporis, Ioannes Scotus de decem categoriis in Deum. physicam naturalem, apud Graecos, Thales Milesius unus de septem sapientibus repperit, apud Latinos, Plinius descripsit. arithmeticam Samius Pythagoras invenit, Nicomachus scripsit. apud Latinos primum Apuleius, deinde Boethius transtulit. hic etiam Pythagoras Mathen tetrados fecit, id est, librum de doctrina quadrivii, et Y ad similitudinem vitae humanae invenit. musicae repertorem Moyses dicit fuisse Tubal, qui fuit de stirpe Cain, Graeci Pythagoram, alii Mercurium, qui primus tetrachordum instituit, alii Linum, vel Zetum, vel Amphionem. geometriam apud Aegyptum primum dicunt esse repertam, cuius auctor apud Graecos optimus Euclides fuit. huius artem transtulit Boethius.
Eratosthenes quoque sagacissimus in geometria, qui ambitum orbis repperit. dicunt quidam quod Cham filius Noe astronomiam primus invenerit. Chaldaei primum astrologiam docuerunt, secundum nativitatis observantiam. Iosephus autem asseverat Abraham primum instituisse Aegyptios astrologiam. astronomiam Ptolomaeus rex Aegypti reparavit. hic etiam canones instituit quibus cursus astrorum invenitur. aiunt quidam Nemroth gigantem summum fuisse astrologum, sub cuius nomine etiam astronomia invenitur. Graeci dicunt hanc artem ab Atlante prius excogitatam, propter quod etiam caelum sustinuisse fertur.
ethicae inventor Socrates fuit, de qua viginti quattuor libros secundum positivam iustitiam scripsit. deinde Plato discipulus eius libros multos De republica secundum utramque iustitiam, naturalem scilicet et positivam, conscripsit. deinde Tullius in Latino sermone libros De republica ordinavit. Fronto quoque philosophus scripsit librum Strategematon, id est, militaris suavitatis. mechanica diversos habuit auctores. Hesiodus Ascraeus primus apud Graecos in describendis rebus rusticis studuit, deinde Democritus. magnus quoque Carthaginiensis in viginti octo voluminibus studium agriculturae conscripsit, apud Romanos primus Cato De agricultura instituit, quod deinde Marcus Terentius expolivit. Vergilius quoque Georgica fecit, deinde Cornelius et Iulius Atticus, Aemilianus sive Columella insignis orator, qui totum corpus disciplinae huius complexus est.
Vitruvius quoque De architectura, Palladius De agricultura. lanificii usum apud Graecos primam Minervam monstrasse ferunt. hanc etiam primam telam ordinasse, lanas colorasse, olivae quoque et fabricae inventricem fuisse credunt. ab ipsa Daedalus didicit, et ipse post eam fabricam fecisse creditur. apud Aegyptum autem Isis filia Inachi usum serendi lini repperit, et qualiter inde vestimenta fierent, monstravit. similiter lanae usum ibidem ipsa repperit. in Lybia primum usus lanae exortus est a templo Ammonis. Ninus rex Assyriorum primus bella movit.
Vulcanum primum fabrum fuisse credunt, divina autem historia, Tubal. primus Prometheus ferreo circulo lapidem imprimens usum anuli invenit. navigii usum Pelasgi primi invenerunt. Ceres primum in Graecia apud Eleusim usum frumenti invenit, Isis in Aegypto. Pilumnus in Italia usum frumenti et farris et ritum molendi et pinsendi, Tagus in Hispania ritum serendi. Osiris apud Aegyptum cultum vinearum repperit, Liber apud Indos. Daedalus primus mensam et sellam fecit. Apicius quidam primus composuit apparatum coquinae, qui tandem in ea, consumptis bonis, morte voluntaria periit.
medicinae auctor apud Graecos Apollo fuit, hanc filius eius Aesculapius laude et opere ampliavit, qui postquam fulmine periit. diu medendi cura intermissa est latuitque per annos paene quingentos, usque ad tempus Artaxerxis regis. tunc eam revocavit in lucem Hippocrates, Asclepio patre genitus in insula Coo. ludi a Lydis initium sumpsisse creduntur, qui ex Asia venientes in Etruria consederunt sub Tyrreno duce, ibique inter ceteros superstitionum suarum ritus spectacula instituerunt, quem morem Romani imitati sunt, accersitis inde artificibus, indeque ludi a Lydis vocati sunt. litterae Hebraeorum a Moyse per legem initium sumpsisse creduntur, Chaldaeorum et Syrorum per Abraham. Aegyptiorum litteras Isis invenit; Graecorum, Phoenices, quas Cadmus a Phoenice in Graeciam attulit. Carmentis, mater Evandri, quae proprio nomine Nicostrata vocabatur, Latinas litteras repperit. divinam historiam primus Moyses scripsit.
Apud gentiles primus Dares Phrygius Troianam historiam edidit, quam in foliis palmarum ab eo scriptam esse ferunt. post Daretem, in Graecia Herodotus historicus primus habitus est, post quem Pherecydes hisdem temporibus claruit quibus Esdras legem scripsit. fabulas primum invenisse creditur Alcmon Crotoniensis. Aegyptus mater est artium, inde in Graeciam, deinde in Italiam venerunt. in ea primum grammatica reperta est tempore Osiris, mariti Isidis. in ea quoque dialectica primum inventa est a Parmenide, qui civitates et coetus hominum fugiens in rupe consedit non modico tempore, sicque dialecticam excogitavit, unde et rupes Parmenidis appellata est. Plato autem post mortem Socratis magistri sui amore sapientiae Aegyptum demigravit, ibique perceptis liberalibus studiis, Athenas rediit, et apud Academiam, villam suam, coadunatis discipulis, philosophiae studiis operam dedit. hic primum logicam rationalem Graecis instituit, quam postea Aristoteles, discipulus eius, ampliavit, perfecit et in artem redegit.
Marcus Terentius Varro primus dialecticam de Graeco in Latinum transtulit. postea Cicero Topica invenit. Demosthenes, fabri filius, apud Graecos rhetoricae repertor creditur, Tisias apud Latinos, Corax apud Syracusas. haec ab Aristotele et Gorgia et Hermagora in Graeco scripta est, translata in Latinum a Tullio, Quintiliano et Titiano.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Gen.4.21 — And the name of his brother was Jubal; he was the father of all who play the lyre and pipe.
Notes
- 1 ↩Mathen tetrados: uncertain Greek loan phrase; likely a title meaning something like 'mathematical tetrad' or 'mathematical set of four.' Rendered descriptively rather than transliterated to avoid over-promising on a corrupt form.
- 2 ↩Y: the letter upsilon (Greek), said to have been devised by Pythagoras as a symbol of the fork in human life's path. The source form is uncertain.
- 3 ↩Tubal as inventor of music echoes Genesis 4:21 (Jubal is named father of musicians; some traditions conflate Tubal and Jubal). Moses is cited as the source here.
- 4 ↩Zetum: uncertain proper name form; possibly a variant or corruption.
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