Aetiou tou Amide ̄nou Biblion IA, in Oeuvres de Rufus d’Éphèse (1879; repr. 1963) 85–131; S. Zervos, “Aetiou
Amide ̄nou Logos Enatos,” Athe ̄na 23 (1911) 265–392; G.A. Kostomiris, Aetiou logos dodekatos (1892);
S. Zervos, Aetiou Amidinou [sic] Logos dekatos pemptos in Athe ̄na 21 (1909) 3–144; Idem, Aetii Sermo
sextidecimus et ultimus. Ersten aus Handschriften veröffentlicht (1901); Brock (1929) 247–249 (“Aetius of
Amida: Aneurysms” and “Fatty Tumours”).
I. Bloch, “Aëtios von Amida,” in HGM 529 – 535; Scarborough (1985b) 224–226; R. Masullo, “Prob-
lemi relativi alle fonti di Aezio Amideno nei libri IX–XVI: Filumeno, Areteo e altri medici minori;”
A. Pignani, “Aezio Amideno L.XI: La considerazione delle fonti nella costituzione del testo;” and
R. Maisano, “L’edizione di Aezio Amideno, IX–XVI,” in A. Garzya, ed., Tradizione e ecdotica dei testi
medici tardoantichi e bizantini (1992) 237–256, 271–274, and 350–353; John Scarborough, “Teaching
Surgery in Late Byzantine Alexandria,” in H.D.F. Horstmanshoff, ed., Medical Education in Antiquity
(forthcoming).
John Scarborough
Aetna (55 BCE – 78 CE)
Latin didactic poem, of unknown authorship and date, treating the causes of volcanic
activity in general by focusing on Sicily’s Mount Etna in particular. It is generally seen as
postdating L for stylistic reasons, and predating the eruption of Vesuvius (79 CE)
because of the poem’s reference to the Naples area as having been long volcanically inactive
(line 431). The poem’s authorship has always been a question of some debate. Many of the
poem’s MSS are ascribed to V, though most (but certainly not all) recent commenta-
tors reject this ascription. Other candidates, including S, M, and P,
have been variously (and sometimes rashly) offered. The Augustan poet Cornelius Seuerus
was long preferred, but more recently, C. Lucilius, to whom Seneca dedicated his Naturales
Quaestiones, has been proposed. Nevertheless, the question is far from settled and the evi-
dence does not strongly favor any candidate.
The poem’s explanation of volcanism is similar to Seneca’s explanation of earthquakes
(Q.Nat. 6). Several other passages in the poem may also indicate a Stoic author, and P-
’ influence is often hypothesized. A longish passage extolling the importance of
studying both physics and astronomy also includes references to the divinity of the stars, and
possibly to the Stoic end-of-the-world conflagration. The basic argument of the poem is
that volcanic activity is caused by the powerful motion of wind through natural subter-
ranean passages. Certain types of sulfurous stones, with which Aetna is prodigiously fur-
nished, serve in combination with the subterranean winds to “feed” and “nourish” the
flames of the volcano during an eruption. Much of the argument’s detail is, however,
obscure and the difficulty is compounded by the highly corrupted state of the text.
Ed.: J. Vessereau, L’Etna (1905; repr. 1961) with commentary; W. Richter, Aetna (1963), with German
translation; F.R.D. Goodyear, Incerti auctoris Aetna (1965) with commentary.
Daryn Lehoux
A ⇒ I A
Africanus (Metrol.) (200 – 300 CE)
A short treatise On measures and weights is transmitted by the MSS under, among others,
Africanus’ name, which modern scholars ascribe either to I A or, alter-
natively, to this later Africanus.
AFRICANUS (METROL.)