Ampelius, Lucius
- Leofranc Holford-Strevens
Extract
Ampelius, Lucius, dedicated his 50-chapter Liber memorialis to a Macrinus still sometimes identified with the emperor M. *Opellius Macrinus, but language and intellectual level are those of late-antique compendia: moreover, there are far more errors and absurdities than can be blamed on later copyists. Subjects covered are cosmography, geography, marvels (some not found elsewhere), religion (from a Euhemeristic standpoint; see euhemerus), and history; the Roman items are almost exclusively republican. Some items derive, even if indirectly, from *Nigidius Figulus, *Nepos, and the Roman historians, but several sources, at least one Greek, remain unknown.
