Late antique Roman writer and collector of prodigies
Julius Obsequens was a Roman writer active in the 4th or early 5th centuries AD, during late antiquity. His sole known work is the Prodigiorum liber (Book of Prodigies), a tabulation of the wonders and portents that had occurred in the Roman Republic and early Principate in the years 249–12 BC.[1] The material for the Prodigiorum liber was largely excerpted from the 1st century AD Ab Urbe Condita Libri of the Augustan historian Livy, which chronicled the history of the Roman state from its origin to the beginning of the imperial period, though Julius used it selectively and sometimes added interpretations of the omens and incidents he included.[1] There is a common view that Julius only knew Livy's text wholly or in part from an epitome, but there is scant evidence of this.[1]
The work was first printed by the Italian humanist Aldus Manutius in 1508, after a manuscript belonging to Jodocus of Verona (now lost). Of great importance was the edition by the Basle humanist Conrad Lycosthenes (1552), trying to reconstruct lost parts and illustrating the text with wood-cuts. Later editions were printed by Johannes Schefferus (Amsterdam, 1679), Franciscus Oudendorp (Leiden, 1720) and Otto Jahn (1853, with the periochae of Livy).
The text of Julius Obsequens frequently makes reference to unusual astronomical and meteorological events as portentous signs like meteor showers, comets, and sun dogs, alongside earthquakes, aberrant births, haruspicy, and sweating, crying, or bleeding statues.
After the alleged Kenneth Arnold UFO sighting in 1947, Harold T. Wilkins among others, interpreted Julius Obsequens as preserving ancient reports of unidentified flying objects (UFOs).[2] Since Julius wrote some four centuries after the latest of the events he describes, his is not an eye-witness account, and for most of his subject matter his source Livy was himself neither an eye-witness nor even a contemporary. Obsequens was interested in signs and omens, not accurate weather reporting.
^ abcPelling, Christopher Brendan Reginald (2012), Hornblower, Simon; Spawforth, Antony; Eidinow, Esther (eds.), "Obsequens (RE 2), Iulius", The Oxford Classical Dictionary (4th ed.), Oxford University Press, doi:10.1093/acref/9780199545568.001.0001, ISBN 978-0-19-954556-8, retrieved 2020-05-06
^Östling, Erik A. W. (2016). "What Does God Need with a Starship? UFOs and Extraterrestrials in the Contemporary Religious Landscape". In Lewis, James R.; Tollefsen, Inga B. (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements. Vol. II. Oxford University Press. pp. 417–418. ISBN 978-0-19-046619-0.
JuliusObsequens was a Roman writer active in the 4th or early 5th centuries AD, during late antiquity. His sole known work is the Prodigiorum liber (Book...
the Great; he is likely the same Polemius who was consul in AD 338. JuliusObsequens, perhaps of the fourth century, an author of a tract known as De Prodigiis...
Gaius Julius Caesar (/ˈsiːzər/, SEE-zər; Latin: [ˈɡaːiʊs ˈjuːliʊs ˈkae̯sar]; 12 July 100 BC – 15 March 44 BC) was a Roman general and statesman. A member...
(Appian), Bellum Civile (The Civil War). Cassius Dio, Roman History. JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis (The Book of Prodigies). Servius, Ad Virgilii Aeneidem...
Cassiodorus, Eutropius, Festus, Florus, Granius Licinianus and Orosius. JuliusObsequens used Livy, or a source with access to Livy, to compose his De Prodigiis...
Romans. Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (Cassius Dio), Roman History. JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis (The Book of Prodigies). Dictionary of Greek and...
p. 46 (ed. Orelli). Cicero, De Natura Deorum, iii. 30, Brutus 43. JuliusObsequens, 97. Livy, Epitome 63. Münzer, Roman Aristocratic Parties, pp. 375...
Pope Julius II. Giocondo also published the works of JuliusObsequens, Aurelius Victor, and Cato the Elder's De re rustica. He also edited Julius Caesar's...
War). Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (Cassius Dio), Roman History. JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis (The Book of Prodigies). Augustine of Hippo, De...
of pre-contemporary reports about unusual aerial phenomena include: JuliusObsequens was a Roman writer who is believed to have lived in the middle of the...
Books 43–45 L404) History of Rome: Volume XIV. Summaries. Fragments. JuliusObsequens. General Index L116N) Volume I. War with Catiline. War with Jugurtha...
Broughton, vol. I, p. 345. Livy, xl. 59, xli. 9, 14, 15, xlii. 45, xliii. 16. Obsequens, 62. Broughton, vol. I, pp. 195, 399, Cicero, De Oratore, ii. 32, 55....
Mithridatica (The Mithridatic Wars), Bellum Civile (The Civil War). JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis (The Book of Prodigies). Paulus Orosius, Historiarum...
(Summary of the History of the Roman People). Libanius, Orations. JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis (The Book of Prodigies). Eutropius, Breviarium...
Landino's commentaries to Virgil and the works of the latter. 1508 JuliusObsequens Aldus Manutius Venice The only surviving manuscript was found by Giovanni...
Spartianus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, Vulcatius Gallicanus, & Flavius Vopiscus, Historia Augusta (Augustan History). JuliusObsequens, Liber de...
Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, Historia Augusta (Augustan History). JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis...
Geminius"). Livy, viii. 7. Valerius Maximus, ii. 7. § 6. Livy, Epitome, 70. JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis, 113. Plutarch, "The Life of Marius", 36–38. Plutarch...
Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, Historia Augusta (Augustan History). JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis...
Wars). Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus (Cassius Dio), Roman History. JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis (The Book of Prodigies). Sextus Aurelius Victor...
Flavius Vopiscus, Julius Capitolinus, Trebellius Pollio, and Vulcatius Gallicanus, Historia Augusta (Augustan History). JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis...
Samniticum (History of the Samnite War). Cassius Dio, Roman History. JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis (The Book of Prodigies). Eutropius, Breviarium...
Oratore, i. 57. Marcus Tullius Cicero, Philippicae, xiii. 12. § 26. JuliusObsequens, Liber de Prodigiis, 132. Lucius Cassius Dio Cocceianus, Roman History...
The constitutional reforms of Julius Caesar were a series of laws to the Constitution of the Roman Republic enacted between 49 and 44 BC, during Caesar's...
honours by citizens and city officials of the Empire, including Colonia Obsequens Iulia Pisana (Pisa), where it was decreed that proper rites must be observed...