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Brevis expositio Vergilii Georgicorum

  • Latin
  • prose
Latin commentary on Virgil’s Georgics, books I and II. The extant texts are comparable to parts of the so-called Scholia Bernensia and are thought to represent an early medieval recension of material that may have originated in late antiquity. The presence of two Old Irish glosses has been taken to speak in favour of Irish involvement in the compilation of this recension. This notion has been reinforced by more intricate arguments based on textual relationships with the Scholia and another Virgilian commentary, which precedes the Expositio in three out of four manuscripts.
Includes a scholium on pictos Gelonos (Georgica v. 115), with a reference to the Cruithne: Pictos, quos alii dicunt Cruithnecdiu sed false (see Michael Clarke, ‘The Leabhar gabhála and Carolingian origin legends’ in Early medieval Ireland and Europe... (2015)).
Manuscripts

In three out of four manuscripts, the text follows a commentary on Virgil’s Eclogues attributed to Philargyrius (Explanationes in Bucolica Vergilii). Two Old Irish glosses are found in these copies, while the latter features a much larger set of such glosses.

Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Plut. 45.14 [s. ix2/3]
f. 22v ff
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 7960 [s. x]
f. 18v ff
Paris, Bibliothèque nationale de France, MS lat. 11308 [s. ix]
f. 41v ff
Leiden, University Library, MS BPL 135 ff. 87-111 [s. ix2/4]
ff. 95–111
Language
  • Latin
Form
prose (primary)
Textual relationships
(Possible) sources: Georgica (Virgil)Georgica (Virgil)View incoming data
Related: De epythetis VirgiliiDe epythetis Virgilii

Glossary on the works of Virgil (Eclogues, Georgics and most of the Aneid), preserved in one manuscript compiled under the direction of Martin of Laon (Laon MS 468). Many of the glosses are parallelled by a group of related Servian commentaries.

Explanationes in Bucolica VergiliiExplanationes in Bucolica VergiliiLatin commentary on Virgil’s Eclogae, al. Bucolica, attributed to one Iunius Philargyrius and dedicated to Valentinianus, possibly referring to Valentinian III (r. 425-455). Its transmission owes something to Irish scholarly interest of the seventh or eighth century. Two recensions (explanationes or expositiones) of the text are preserved, Explanatio I and the shorter Explanatio II (or Brevis expositio), which include Old Irish glosses, accounts of the life of Virgil and other material not originally part of the commentary. Recension I may have been compiled or at least written down by one Fatosus, if that much can be inferred from its colophon.Irish glosses to the Brevis expositio Vergilii GeorgicorumIrish glosses to the Brevis expositio Vergilii Georgicorum

Two Old Irish glosses to the Brevis expositio Vergilii Georgicorum, a commentary on Virgil’s Georgics, as it stands in a Florence MS (Plutarch 45.14). The glosses in this manuscript reflect a later stage of transmission in which they are found integrated within the main text and were presumably copied by a scribe who had no knowledge of Irish.

Scholia Bernensia in Vergilii Bucolica et GeorgicaScholia Bernensia in Vergilii Bucolica et GeorgicaLatin commentary on Virgil’s Eclogues (al. Bucolics) and Georgics. It is regarded as a representative of the so-called Servius auctus or Servius Danielis (DS), an expansion and reworking of Servius’ commentaries along with other material incorporated into the text. The extant manuscript versions, different though each of them may be, represent an early medieval recension of material which probably originated in late antiquity and which may have been written by the commentator Philagyrius.
Associated items
Irish glosses to the Brevis expositio Vergilii GeorgicorumIrish glosses to the Brevis expositio Vergilii Georgicorum

Two Old Irish glosses to the Brevis expositio Vergilii Georgicorum, a commentary on Virgil’s Georgics, as it stands in a Florence MS (Plutarch 45.14). The glosses in this manuscript reflect a later stage of transmission in which they are found integrated within the main text and were presumably copied by a scribe who had no knowledge of Irish.

Scholia Bernensia in Vergilii Bucolica et GeorgicaScholia Bernensia in Vergilii Bucolica et GeorgicaLatin commentary on Virgil’s Eclogues (al. Bucolics) and Georgics. It is regarded as a representative of the so-called Servius auctus or Servius Danielis (DS), an expansion and reworking of Servius’ commentaries along with other material incorporated into the text. The extant manuscript versions, different though each of them may be, represent an early medieval recension of material which probably originated in late antiquity and which may have been written by the commentator Philagyrius.

Classification

Sources

Primary sources Text editions and/or modern translations – in whole or in part – along with publications containing additions and corrections, if known. Diplomatic editions, facsimiles and digital image reproductions of the manuscripts are not always listed here but may be found in entries for the relevant manuscripts. For historical purposes, early editions, transcriptions and translations are not excluded, even if their reliability does not meet modern standards.

[ed.] Cadili, Luca, Scholia Bernensia in Vergilii Bucolica et Georgica, vol. 2.1: In Georgia commentarii (Prooemium, liber I, 1–42), Amsterdam: A. Hakkert, 2003.
Parallel edition of the Bern scholia on the first books of the Georgics, together with the related parts of the Brevis expositio.
[ed.] Hagen, Hermann, and Georg Thilo, Servii grammatici: qui feruntur in Vergilii carmina commentarii, 3 vols, vol. 3.2: Appendix Serviana: ceteros praeter Servium et scholia Bernensia Vergilii commentatores continens, Leipzig, 1902.
Internet Archive: <link> DigilibLT – Explanationes (TEI XML): <link> DigilibLT – Brevis expositio (TEI XML): <link>
191–320

Secondary sources (select)

Digital library of late-antique latin texts, Online: Università degli Studi del Piemonte Orientale, Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Vercelli, 2010–present. URL: <https://digiliblt.lett.unipmn.it>. 
abstract:
The 'Digital Library of Late-Antique Latin Texts' was officially established on March 1, 2010, thanks to funds granted by the 'Regione Piemonte' to support research in the area of Humanities and Social Sciences. The project, conceived by Raffaella Tabacco, was developed and substantiated by her and Maurizio Lana. It aims to produce a digital corpus of late-antique Latin literary texts (from the second to the fifth century AD), making it freely available to the scholarly community.
(source: http://digiliblt.lett.unipmn.it/progetto.php)
Contains a useful summary by Fabio Stok. direct link
Miles, Brent, Heroic saga and classical epic in medieval Ireland, Studies in Celtic History, 30, Woodbridge: Boydell & Brewer, 2011.  
abstract:
The puzzle of Ireland's role in the preservation of classical learning into the middle ages has always excited scholars, but the evidence from the island's vernacular literature - as opposed to that in Latin - for the study of pagan epic has largely escaped notice. In this book the author breaks new ground by examining the Irish texts alongside the Latin evidence for the study of classical epic in medieval Ireland, surveying the corpus of Irish texts based on histories and poetry from antiquity, in particular Togail Troi, the Irish history of the Fall of Troy. He argues that Irish scholars' study of Virgil and Statius in particular left a profound imprint on the native heroic literature, especially the Irish prose epic Táin Bó Cúailnge (“The Cattle-Raid of Cooley”).
28–33
Herren, Michael W., “Literary and glossarial evidence for the study of classical mythology in Ireland A.D. 600–800”, in: Helen Conrad-O’Briain, Anne-Marie D'Arcy, and John Scattergood (eds), Text and gloss: studies in insular language and literature presented to Joseph Donovan Pheifer, Dublin: Four Courts Press, 1999. 49–67.
web page identifiers
Contributors
Dennis Groenewegen
Page created
November 2019, last updated: July 2023
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