[Milton-L] Maximianus (not the 6th century one)

[Angelica Duran]

Dear scholars,

A little late on the e-discussion below, but I want to make sure I have all
this right:
€ In /A Defence of the People of England/, Milton refers to Marcus Aurelius
Valerius Maximianus Herculius [MAVMH] (250-310 CE) when he refers to "pairs
of Roman Emperors" (/CPW 4.465/). I understand this reference readily
because Milton's text refers to "Diocletian and Maximianus."
€ My confusion lies with the "Maximianus" in /History of Britain/ Book 3
(CPW 5.1.134) to which Jameela L. first referred. The footnotes for
/History/ and the text's context leave me unsure. The section that mentions
"Maximianus" refers to the time of Honorius (384-423 CE), which is much
later.

On the one hand, I don't feel bad about my confusion because Milton's very
section in /History/ refers to the difficulty of parsing all the events,
figures, etc. of history.  On the other hand, I assume Milton and his
audience knew whom they were talking about. But I find it confusing, even
with footnotes, hence my delayed query.

Adios,
Angelica Duran
Associate Professor, English and Comparative Literature
Director, Religious Studies
Purdue University
500 Oval Drive
West Lafayette, Indiana 47907
USA
(765) 496-3957
<duran0 at purdue.edu>
<http://www.cla.purdue.edu/english/directory/?personid=80>


> From: Jameela Lares <Jameela.Lares at usm.edu>
> Reply-To: John Milton Discussion List <milton-l at lists.richmond.edu>
> Date: Mon, 1 Jun 2009 21:35:12 -0500
> To: John Milton Discussion List <milton-l at lists.richmond.edu>
> Subject: RE: [Milton-L] Query on 6th century Latin author
> 
> Thanks, Erick.
> 
> Jameela Lares
> Professor of English
> The University of Southern Mississippi
> 118 College Drive, #5037
> Hattiesburg, MS  39406-0001
> 601 266-4319 ofc
> 601 266-5757 fax
> ________________________________________
> From: milton-l-bounces at lists.richmond.edu
> [milton-l-bounces at lists.richmond.edu] On Behalf Of Erick Ramalho
> [ramalhoerick at yahoo.co.uk]
> Sent: Monday, June 01, 2009 7:16 PM
> To: John Milton Discussion List
> Subject: Re: [Milton-L] Query on 6th century Latin author
> 
> Dear Dr Lares,
> 
> Milton mentions one Maximianus in ŒA Defence of the People of England¹, but
> that is of course Emperor Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maximianus Herculius. As
> for Milton¹s reading of the 6th century poet Maximian, or Maximianus Etruscos,
> sound evidence is much harder to come by. One possible hint is Richard
> Webster¹s claim that the phrasing of line 127 in Milton¹s fifth Latin elegy
> (ŒIamque latet, latitansque cupit male tecta videri¹) indicates Maximian¹s
> first elegy as its source rather than Virgil, to whom it is commonly
> associated. Webster¹s claim (which I believe is the only one he makes in the
> whole book) is to be found in his 1900 edition of ŒThe Elegies of Maximianus¹
> (The Princeton Press). A careful reading of Douglas Bush¹s Variorum Commentary
> on Milton¹s Latin and Greek poems, in which nearly all possible Latin sources
> are identified, may be worthy in looking for further evidence.
> 
> Regards,
> 
> Erick Ramalho
> 
> 
> --- On Mon, 1/6/09, Jameela Lares <Jameela.Lares at usm.edu> wrote:
> 
> From: Jameela Lares <Jameela.Lares at usm.edu>
> Subject: [Milton-L] Query on 6th century Latin author
> To: "John Milton Discussion List" <milton-l at lists.richmond.edu>
> Date: Monday, 1 June, 2009, 4:10 PM
> 
> A friend just sent me a link to a new book in German on the elegies of
> Maximian, who is claimed to have some traces in various later authors,
> including Milton.  I'm curious as to whether any work has been done in English
> on such a connection.
> 
> The link:  
> http://www.steiner-verlag.de/sachgebiete/altertumswissenschaften/altphilologie
> /reihen/view/titel/53365.html
> 
> I didn't get much further than the Wikipedia entry,
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maximianus_(poet), which looks fairly competent
> but makes no mention of Milton.  There's a Maximianus in Milton's History of
> Britain, but he's during Diocletian's rule.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Jameela Lares
> Professor of English
> The University of Southern Mississippi
> 118 College Drive, #5037
> Hattiesburg, MS  39406-0001
> 601 266-4319 ofc
> 601 266-5757 fax
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Milton-L mailing list
> Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu</mc/compose?to=Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu>
> Manage your list membership and access list archives at
> http://lists.richmond.edu/mailman/listinfo/milton-l
> 
> Milton-L web site: http://johnmilton.org/
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Milton-L mailing list
> Milton-L at lists.richmond.edu
> Manage your list membership and access list archives at
> http://lists.richmond.edu/mailman/listinfo/milton-l
> 
> Milton-L web site: http://johnmilton.org/