Balbus (102 – 106 CE?)
Nothing is known of this man’s life. If the beginning of his treatise does refer to Trajan’s
expedition to Dacia, it can be dated to between 102 and 106. The Expositio et ratio omnium
formarum has come to us in mutilated form; this is why, contrary to what its title promises,
it does not deal with all figures. This handbook of geometry was written by an agrimensor:
the author therefore always keeps in mind the relationship between geometry and a sur-
veyor’s work. Beside definitions concerning the categories of Roman land management
(rigor, extremitas, decumanus, cardo, ager arcifinius), the geometrical definitions (point, line, parallel,
area, and so on) to be found in the extant part of the Expositio testify that E’s Elements
had already been translated into Latin, at least Books 1 to 3, when Balbus wrote, therefore a
long time before such translations as attested by M C or attributed to
B. The fortunes of this handbook, to be found in many MSS and still used in
the medieval Demonstratio artis geometricae edited by Lachmann, are precisely due to its offer-
ing only definitions together with very elaborate figure classifications. In this respect it is
comparable with the Greek Definitiones attributed to H A, actually
apocryphal but whose substance may date back to him.
K. Lachmann, Die Schriften der Römischen Feldmesser, v.1 (1848); French translation and commentary:
Guillaumin, Balbus (1996) = CAR 3.
Jean-Yves Guillaumin
Bardaisan of Edessa (174 – 222 CE)
Bardaisan was born in Edessa in 154 CE, and grew up in the court of Abgar VIII, the
Great. A pagan convert to Christianity, his distinct ideas diverged enough from orthodoxy
that later writers counted him a heretic. He travelled through Armenia, about which
he wrote a history that is known in Greek translation. He was also an accomplished poet
whose skill was admired even by his opponents. He died at the fortress of Anium in 222 CE.
Almost unique among Christian writers of his cultural milieu, Bardaisan did not embrace
sexual abstinence but stated that sexual activity was beneficial, particularly for women. He
thus had a son, Harmonius, who was also a poet.
His one major surviving work is the Book of the Laws of the Countries (BLC) that, although
ascribed to him, was probably written by his pupil Philip. Written in Syriac, BLC contains a
philosophical argument about freewill and determination. This entails discussions of the cus-
toms of various regions, hence its title, but also much cosmological speculation and a dis-
cernible anthropological discourse. The structure of the kosmos, with its various (probably
seven) spheres of influence, is thus reflected in the individual, whose various constituent
parts are duly influenced by the corresponding cosmological element. BLC is extant in its
Syriac version, and a Greek translation is quoted by later writers including E.
H.J.W. Drijvers, Bardaisan of Edessa (1966); KP 1.824, K. Wegenast; Brock (1997) 15; BNP 2 (2003)
507 – 508, Idem.
Siam Bhayro
Basil of Caesarea (Kappadokia) (ca 365 – 379 CE)
Born in Caesarea around 330 in a Christian upper-class family, older brother to G
N. Basil was educated first in his native city and then at Antioch and Athens by
L, Himerios, Prohairesios, and was a fellow student with his friend G
BASIL OF CAESAREA