Concept
Martianus Capella
Overview
Martianus Minneus Felix Capella (fl. c. 410–420) was a jurist, polymath and Latin prose writer of late antiquity, one of the earliest developers of the system of the seven liberal arts that structured early medieval education. He was a native of Madaura.
His single encyclopedic work, De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii ("On the Marriage of Philology and Mercury"), also called De septem disciplinis ("On the seven disciplines"), is an elaborate didactic allegory written in a mixture of prose and elaborately allusive verse.
Martianus often presents philosophical views based on Neoplatonism, the Platonic school of philosophy pioneered by Plotinus and his followers.
Like his near-contemporary Macrobius, who also produced a major work on classical Roman religion, Martianus never directly identifies his own religious affiliation. Much of his work occurs in the form of dialogue, and the views of the interlocutors may not represent the author's own.
Overview adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0; see the article history for authors).
Possible passages
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Indeed, as the ancient oracle declares, temperance and fortitude, prudence and every virtue, are certain purgatives of the soul; and hence the sacred mysteries prophesy obscurely, yet with truth, that the soul not purified lies in Tartarus, immersed in filth. Since the impure is, from his depravity, the friend of filth, as swine, from their sordid body, delight in mire alone. For what else is true temperance than…
Plotinus, An Essay on the Beautiful, from the Greek of Plotinus
States what Martianus Capella is; the author is tied to Martianus Capella in the knowledge graph.
His penmanship was poor. He did not separate words, and his spelling was defective; he was chiefly occupied with ideas. Until his death he continuously persisted in this habit, which was for us all a subject of surprise. When he had finished composing something in his head, and when he then wrote what he had meditated on, it seemed as if he copied a book. Neither in conversation nor in discussion did he allow…
Plotinus, Plotinos
The author is tied to Martianus Capella in the knowledge graph.
*8* Quod eo magis miror, quia scriptum a discipulo eius Posidonio est triginta annis vixisse Panaetium, posteaquam illos libros edidisset. Quem locum miror a Posidonio breviter esse tactum in quibusdam commentariis, praesertim cum scribat nullum esse locum in tota philosophia tam necessarium. *9* Minime vero assentior iis, qui negant eum locum a Panaetio praetermissum, sed consulto relictum, nec omnino scribendum…
Marcus Tullius Cicero, De Officiis
Close in meaning to Martianus Capella; the term itself is not named.
Philosophers who discussed Martianus Capella
Related ideas
- De revolutionibus orbium coelestium
- John Scotus Eriugena
- Dialogue
- Apuleius
- Latin literature
- Geometry
- Mercury (planet)
- Metaphor
- Architecture
- Religion in ancient Rome
- Platonism
- Cassiodorus
- Philology
- Neoplatonism
- Macrobius
- Polymath
- Rhetoric
- Roman Empire
- Aristotelianism
- Renaissance of the 12th century
- Nicolaus Copernicus
- Plotinus
- Scholasticism
- Harmony
Place in the tradition
Part of Cosmology.