Fabius Planciades Fulgentius (
fl. late
5th – early
6th century) was a
Latin grammarian, and a native of
Africa. Four extant works are attributed to him:
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Mythologiarum libri iii, dedicated to a certain Catus, a
presbyter of
Carthage, containing 75
myths briefly told, and then explained in the mystical and allegorical manner of the
Stoics and
Neoplatonists. For this purpose the author generally invokes the aid of etymologies which, borrowed from the
philosophers, are highly absurd. As a
Christian, Fulgentius sometimes (but less frequently than might have been expected) quotes the
Bible by the side of the philosophers, to give a Christian colouring to the moral lesson.
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Expositio Vergilianae continentiae, a sort of appendix to the above, dedicated to Catus. The poet himself appears to the author and explains the twelve books of the
Aeneid as a picture of human life. The three words
arma ("virtus"),
vir ("sapientia"),
Primus ("princeps") in the first line represent respectively
substantia corporalis, sensualis, ornans. Book i. symbolizes the birth and early childhood of man (the shipwreck of Aeneas denotes the peril of birth), book vi. the plunge into the depths of wisdom.
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Expositio sermonum antiquorum, explanations of 63 rare and obsolete words, supported by quotations (sometimes from authors and works that never existed). It is much inferior to the similar work of
Nonius Marcellus, with which it is often edited.
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Liber absque litteris de aetatibus mundi et hominis. In the manuscript heading of this work, the name of the author is given as Fabius Claudius Gordianus Fulgentius (Claudius is the name of the father, and Gordianus that of the grandfather of the bishop, to whom some attribute the work). The title
Absque litteris indicates that one letter of the alphabet is wholly omitted in each successive book ('A' in book i, 'B' in book ii.). Only 14 books are preserved. The matter is chiefly taken from sacred history.
In addition to these, Fulgentius speaks of early poetical attempts after the manner of
Anacreon, and of a work called
Physiologus, dealing with medical questions, and including a discussion of the mystical signification of the numbers 7 and 9.
Fulgentius is a representative of the so-called late African style, taking for his models
Apuleius, Tertullian, and
Martianus Capella. His language is bombastic, affected and incorrect, while the lengthy and elaborate periods make it difficult to understand his meaning.
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