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Flavii Cresconii Corippi Iohannidos
The Iohannis, an epic poem of the mid-sixth century, narrates the wars of a Roman general against Berber rebels in north Africa. The subject-matter is of considerable interest both for the history of the period and for what it reveals of the ethnography of north Africa in late antiquity. The poem is also of literary interest because of its numerous debts to earlier Latin poetry. It is in the establishment of a reliable text, however, in the field emendatio, that the importance of this 1970 edition lies. The editors have purged the text so far as possible from error; and in their numerous conjectures they have had to decide what abnormalities should be ascribed to the changed Latinity of the age, what to scribal error. The apparatus is thus full of imaginative and scholarly touches: it can be approached as a 'bank' of ideas and suggestions for scholars of late Latin. There are a short praefatio on the history of the text and the usual indexes.
- GenresHistory
210 pages, Hardcover
First published February 1, 1970
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April 29, 2017Running Notes:
04/11/17
The "praefatio" is a curious development in Late Antique literature, but I am far too inexperienced in these post-Flavian centuries to suss the source, the germ. Claudian uses prefaces some 150 years prior to Corippus. In an epic context, one might think a preface ideal territory to lay out all the beautiful baggage of the genre -- subject, imperial dedicatee, the attendant Muse; thus, come Book One, the poet can dive headlong into the narrative. Not quite. Corippus utilizes his preface for more personal matters: to excuse his provincial status & naturally his rustic Muse ("musa est rustica namque mea", 28); and to explicitly establish his literary forebears -- Virgil &, to my astonishment, Quintus Smyrnaeus (ca. 4th c. Greek poet of the epic "Posthomerica", the text that picks up from the "Iliad" through the catastrophe of Troy's destruction & heroes' various departures). I nearly sprang from the couch when I read this. Amid these humble credentials & the necessary support of poets of epic-past, C. does name his subject, Iohannes. In a line that tilts his humility -- a common literary pose -- C. insists that Iohannes surpasses Aeneas in virtue (15).
The hook is sweetened. I'll press on.
04/13/17
That is Book 1, line 175:
As John & fleet sail from the Eastern Empire, they pass what was once Troy. At this moment "they recite the famous epic of the poet Smyrnaeus" (inclita tunc referunt Smyrnaei carmina vatis). For approx. 20 lines the crew recalls episodes from the Trojan narrative -- particularly the famous deaths of Memnon, Penthesilea, Paris.
An epic that stems from/inhabits a literate world, that refers to other epics specifically is quite exceptional, quite stirring!
04/11/17
The "praefatio" is a curious development in Late Antique literature, but I am far too inexperienced in these post-Flavian centuries to suss the source, the germ. Claudian uses prefaces some 150 years prior to Corippus. In an epic context, one might think a preface ideal territory to lay out all the beautiful baggage of the genre -- subject, imperial dedicatee, the attendant Muse; thus, come Book One, the poet can dive headlong into the narrative. Not quite. Corippus utilizes his preface for more personal matters: to excuse his provincial status & naturally his rustic Muse ("musa est rustica namque mea", 28); and to explicitly establish his literary forebears -- Virgil &, to my astonishment, Quintus Smyrnaeus (ca. 4th c. Greek poet of the epic "Posthomerica", the text that picks up from the "Iliad" through the catastrophe of Troy's destruction & heroes' various departures). I nearly sprang from the couch when I read this. Amid these humble credentials & the necessary support of poets of epic-past, C. does name his subject, Iohannes. In a line that tilts his humility -- a common literary pose -- C. insists that Iohannes surpasses Aeneas in virtue (15).
The hook is sweetened. I'll press on.
04/13/17
That is Book 1, line 175:
As John & fleet sail from the Eastern Empire, they pass what was once Troy. At this moment "they recite the famous epic of the poet Smyrnaeus" (inclita tunc referunt Smyrnaei carmina vatis). For approx. 20 lines the crew recalls episodes from the Trojan narrative -- particularly the famous deaths of Memnon, Penthesilea, Paris.
An epic that stems from/inhabits a literate world, that refers to other epics specifically is quite exceptional, quite stirring!
February 3, 2018
Very interesting commentary regarding central north Africa in the post roman, pre islamic period. I Went through it in great detail but it offers more questions than answers.
The worship of a Neo kemetic/Neo Punic/Berber/Garamantean god "Gurzil" is particularly fascinating. He appears to be at once a worshiped deity and some kind of physical weapon. It seems that "Gurzil" was brought into battles and deployed against the enemies of his people.
Perhaps he was a semi mobile shrine like the one dedicated to Nerthus and perhaps it doubled as some formation shattering battering ram. In any event it didn't appear to be extremely effective.
Flavius Cresconius Corippus is interesting man himself. One of the last East Roman functionaries who spoke Latin as his primary language. Perhaps the looming extinction of his culture group is what made him so sympathetic to the relatively unknown post Roman/liberated client states in northern Africa.
The worship of a Neo kemetic/Neo Punic/Berber/Garamantean god "Gurzil" is particularly fascinating. He appears to be at once a worshiped deity and some kind of physical weapon. It seems that "Gurzil" was brought into battles and deployed against the enemies of his people.
Perhaps he was a semi mobile shrine like the one dedicated to Nerthus and perhaps it doubled as some formation shattering battering ram. In any event it didn't appear to be extremely effective.
Flavius Cresconius Corippus is interesting man himself. One of the last East Roman functionaries who spoke Latin as his primary language. Perhaps the looming extinction of his culture group is what made him so sympathetic to the relatively unknown post Roman/liberated client states in northern Africa.
May 26, 2025
Bijwijlen betrekkelijk boeiend laat-antiek epos, vooral vrij vol van vele alliteraties
March 3, 2016
As I have yet to look at the Latin I have no idea if this verse-to-prose translation is any good, but it was certainly a good read! I flew through this because it's very much an ancillary text to my thesis work, but as a whole it was shockingly enjoyable and the prose is very vivid. The introduction is decent, but the bibliography and notes are very limited, unfortunately.
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April 17, 2022549/50 - first Christian historical epic
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews