53-556: Philemon Holland (1552 – 9 February 1637) was an English schoolmaster, physician and translator. He is known for the first English translations of several works by Livy , Pliny the Elder , and Plutarch , and also for translating William Camden 's Britannia into English. Philemon Holland, born at Chelmsford , Essex , in 1552, was the son of John Holland (died 1578), a member of the same Norfolk family as Sir John Holland, 1st Baronet (1603–1701). The Norfolk branch claimed kinship with
106-400: A Scotsman involved in the first Jacobite uprising of 1715 was recaptured (and executed) because, having escaped, he yet lingered near the place of his captivity in "the hope of recovering his favourite Titus Livius ". The authority supplying information from which possible vital data on Livy can be deduced is Eusebius of Caesarea , a bishop of the early Christian Church . One of his works
159-620: A book on geography and a daughter married Lucius Magius, a rhetorician. Titus Livius died at his home city of Patavium in AD 17. The tombstone of Livy and his wife might have been found in Padua. Livy's only surviving work is commonly known as History of Rome (or Ab Urbe Condita , 'From the Founding of the City';). Together with Polybius it is considered one of the main accounts of
212-503: A century after Livy's time, described the Emperor Augustus as his friend. Describing the trial of Cremutius Cordus , Tacitus represents him as defending himself face-to-face with the frowning Tiberius as follows: I am said to have praised Brutus and Cassius , whose careers many have described and no one mentioned without eulogy. Titus Livius, pre-eminently famous for eloquence and truthfulness, extolled Cn. Pompeius in such
265-442: A common pastime. He was familiar with the emperor Augustus and the imperial family. Augustus was considered by later Romans to have been the greatest Roman emperor, benefiting Livy's reputation long after his death. Suetonius described how Livy encouraged the future emperor Claudius , who was born in 10 BC, to write historiographical works during his childhood. Livy's most famous work was his history of Rome . In it he narrates
318-502: A complete history of the city of Rome, from its foundation to the death of Augustus. Because he was writing under the reign of Augustus, Livy's history emphasizes the great triumphs of Rome. He wrote his history with embellished accounts of Roman heroism in order to promote the new type of government implemented by Augustus when he became emperor. In Livy's preface to his history, he said that he did not care whether his personal fame remained in darkness, as long as his work helped to "preserve
371-511: A complex formula (made so by the 0 reference point not falling on the border of an Olympiad), these codes correspond to 59 BC for the birth, 17 AD for the death. In another manuscript the birth is in 180.4, or 57 BC. Holy Trinity Church, Coventry Holy Trinity Church, Coventry, is a parish church of the Church of England in Coventry , West Midlands , England. Above the chancel arch
424-416: A country gentleman a competent library for historians." However, his colloquial language soon dated. John Aubrey , reading his translations of Livy and Pliny as an undergraduate in the 1640s, compiled lists of examples of what he saw as quaint and archaic terms. Edmund Bohun published a new translation of Livy in 1686, criticising Holland's version by saying that "our English Language is much refined within
477-489: A grey Goose quill A Pen I found it, us'd before, a Pen I leave it still. Summing up this early period of extraordinary productivity, Considine points out, "In all, over the four years 1600–1603, Holland published 4332 folio pages of translations of the very highest quality." Three years later came The Historie of Twelve Caesars (1606), his translation of Suetonius 's De Vita Caesarum , dedicated to Lady Anne Harington (c. 1554–1620), daughter of Robert Keilway , Surveyor of
530-438: A major Fellow on 3 April 1574. His fellowship was terminated automatically when he married in 1579. After his marriage Holland moved to Coventry , about 25 miles from the home of his wife's family at Perry Hall . He became usher (assistant master) at King Henry VIII School , founded in 1545 by John Hales . The position brought him a house and £10 a year. On 11 July 1585 Holland was incorporated MA at Oxford , and in 1597
583-473: A panegyric that Augustus called him Pompeianus, and yet this was no obstacle to their friendship. Livy's reasons for returning to Padua after the death of Augustus (if he did) are unclear, but the circumstances of Tiberius 's reign certainly allow for speculation. During the Middle Ages , due to the length of the work, the literate class was already reading summaries rather than the work itself, which
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#1732772162520636-416: A result, standard information in a standard rendition is used, which gives the impression of a standard set of dates for Livy. There are no such dates. A typical presumption is of a birth in the 2nd year of the 180th Olympiad and a death in the first year of the 199th Olympiad, which are coded 180.2 and 199.1 respectively. All sources use the same first Olympiad , 776/775–773/772 BC by the modern calendar. By
689-653: A search for the now missing books. Laurentius Valla published an amended text initiating the field of Livy scholarship. Dante speaks highly of him in his poetry, and Francis I of France commissioned extensive artwork treating Livian themes; Niccolò Machiavelli 's work on republics , the Discourses on Livy , is presented as a commentary on the History of Rome . Respect for Livy rose to lofty heights. Walter Scott reports in Waverley (1814) as an historical fact that
742-587: A translation from English into Latin of Speed 's The Theatre of the Empire of Great Britaine . In 1617 he translated the Regimen Sanitatis Salerni , publishing it together with Thomas Paynell 's earlier translation of Arnaldus de Villa Nova 's commentary on the Regimen . Holland also translated Xenophon's Cyropaedia , completing a first draft in 1621, and continuing to work on it for
795-525: Is accurate, and often lively, and although it does not attempt to imitate the terseness of Latin, it avoids prolixity. As part of his book Holland translated two other substantial works – an ancient epitome of Roman history which provides an outline of the lost books of Livy , and Bartolomeo Marliani 's guide to the topography of Rome – as well as some smaller texts. These were taken from the edition of Livy published in Paris in 1573; by translating them, Holland
848-517: Is an impressive Doom wall-painting. The church dates from the 12th century and is the only Medieval church in Coventry that is still complete. It is 59 metres (194 ft) long and has a spire 72 metres (236 ft) high, one of the tallest non-cathedral spires in the UK. The church was restored in 1665–1668, and the tower was recased in 1826 by Thomas Rickman . The east end was rebuilt in 1786 and
901-656: The Chronographia , a summary of history in annalist form, and the Chronikoi Kanones , tables of years and events. St. Jerome translated the tables into Latin as the Chronicon , probably adding some information of his own from unknown sources. Livy's dates appear in Jerome's Chronicon. The main problem with the information given in the manuscripts is that, between them, they often give different dates for
954-607: The Court of Wards and Liveries , and wife of John Harington, 1st Baron Harington of Exton . In 1609 he published his translation of the surviving books of Ammianus Marcellinus 's history of the Roman Empire in the later 4th century AD, dedicating it to the mayor and aldermen of Coventry. The Corporation paid £4 towards the publication. In 1610 Holland translated the 1607 edition of William Camden 's Britannia into English. Although he appears to have been solely responsible for
1007-478: The Roman army . However, he was educated in philosophy and rhetoric. It seems that Livy had the financial resources and means to live an independent life, though the origin of that wealth is unknown. He devoted a large part of his life to his writings, which he was able to do because of his financial freedom. Livy was known to give recitations to small audiences, but he was not heard of to engage in declamation , then
1060-610: The Second Punic War . When he began this work he was already past his youth, probably 33; presumably, events in his life prior to that time had led to his intense activity as a historian. He continued working on it until he left Rome for Padua in his old age, probably in the reign of Tiberius after the death of Augustus. Seneca the Younger says he was an orator and philosopher and had written some historical treatises in those fields. History of Rome also served as
1113-594: The Stationers' Register in 1625, was not published until 1637. In 1615 Holland published Thomae Thomasii Dictionarium , a supplement to the Latin dictionary published in 1587 by the Cambridge printer, Thomas Thomas (1553–1588), adding to Thomas's original some 6000 words and meanings culled from the works of both ancient and modern Latin authors. In the following year he published Theatrum Imperii Magnae Britanniae ,
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#17327721625201166-474: The 40s BC, a period of civil wars throughout the Roman world . The governor of Cisalpine Gaul at the time, Asinius Pollio , tried to sway Patavium into supporting Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) , the leader of one of the warring factions during Caesar's Civil War (49-45 BC). The wealthy citizens of Patavium refused to contribute money and arms to Asinius Pollio, and went into hiding. Pollio then attempted to bribe
1219-686: The City'', covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditional founding in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own lifetime. He was on good terms with members of the Julio-Claudian dynasty and was a friend of Augustus , whose young grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius , he encouraged to take up the writing of history. Livy was born in Patavium in northern Italy , now modern Padua , probably in 59 BC. At
1272-613: The Hollands of Up Holland , Lancashire , but this is questionable. Holland's grandfather, Edward Holland, was from Glassthorpe , Northamptonshire . Holland's father, John Holland, was one of the Marian exiles with Miles Coverdale during the reign of Mary I , when Catholicism was re-established. After the accession of Elizabeth I in November 1558, he returned to England, and in 1559 was ordained priest by Bishop Edmund Grindal . He
1325-435: The classics." On 10 February 1579 Holland married Anne Bott (1555–1627), the daughter of William Bott ( alias Peyton) of Perry Hall , Handsworth , Staffordshire , by whom he had seven sons and three daughters, including the poet Abraham Holland, the publisher and miscellanist Henry Holland, the print publisher Compton Holland (died 1622), the surgeon William Holland (1592–1632), whose treatise on gout , Gutta Podagrica ,
1378-534: The driving force behind the "northern theory" regarding the Etruscans' origins. This is because in the book Livy states, "The Greeks also call them the 'Tyrrhene' and the 'Adriatic ... The Alpine tribes are undoubtedly of the same kind, especially the Raetii, who had through the nature of their country become so uncivilized that they retained no trace of their original condition except their language, and even this
1431-546: The ensuing decade. It was published in 1632, prefaced by his portrait and a dedication to Charles I by Holland's son, the printer Henry Holland . The volume included a reprint of a poem on the Battle of Lepanto by another son, the poet Abraham Holland , and a description by Henry Holland of his father's signet ring . Holland's translation style was free and colloquial, sometimes employing relatively obscure dialect and archaic vocabulary, and often expanding on his source text in
1484-435: The interests of clarity. He justified this approach in prefaces to his translations of Livy and Pliny, saying that he had opted for "a meane and popular stile", and for "that Dialect or Idiome which [is] familiar to the basest clowne", while elaborating on the original in order to avoid being "obscure and darke". When fragments of poetry were cited in the works Holland translated, he usually versified them into couplets. Holland
1537-556: The last four score years", and in 1692–1693, Holland's edition of Britannia was described as "a very bad one, and the Translation very ill". Twentieth-century critics were more generous. It has been suggested that "Holland's Pliny is sometimes superior, despite the antiquated language he uses, to the 20th-century English translations commonly available", and that there are passages in his translation of Plutarch's Moralia which "have hardly been excelled by any later prose translator of
1590-590: The mayor and alderman granted him a pension of £3 6s 8d for the ensuing three years, "forasmuch as Dr. Holland, by reason of his age, is now grown weak and decayed in his estate." On 11 April 1635 a licence was granted by Henry Smythe, Vice-chancellor of the University of Cambridge to the Masters and Fellows of all colleges at Cambridge to bestow such charitable benevolence on Holland as they should see fit, considering his learning and his financial need. In 1636 he
1643-508: The memory of the deeds of the world’s preeminent nation." Because Livy was mostly writing about events that had occurred hundreds of years earlier, the historical value of his work was questionable, although many Romans came to believe his account to be true. Livy was married and had at least one daughter and one son. He also produced other works, including an essay in the form of a letter to his son, and numerous dialogues, most likely modelled on similar works by Cicero . One of his sons wrote
Philemon Holland - Misplaced Pages Continue
1696-589: The natural world had already had a great indirect influence in England, as elsewhere in Europe, but had not been translated into English before, and would not be again for 250 years. Indeed, after four centuries, Holland is still the only translator of this work to attempt to evoke its literary richness and beauty. In 1603 Holland published The Philosophie, commonly called, the Morals , dedicating it to King James . This
1749-424: The publication, and considered doubling this to £40. However, when the first printed pages were circulated, it was reported that Camden "misliketh it & thinketh he [i. e. Holland] hath don him wrong", and Lady Berkeley may have reconsidered her support: her patronage is not mentioned in the published volume. At the last minute, Coventry Corporation contributed £5 towards the publication. A second edition, entered in
1802-569: The reign of Augustus, who came to power after a civil war with generals and consuls claiming to be defending the Roman Republic , such as Pompey . Patavium had been pro-Pompey. To clarify his status, the victor of the civil war, Octavian Caesar , had wanted to take the title Romulus (the first king of Rome) but in the end accepted the senate proposal of Augustus . Rather than abolishing the republic, he adapted it and its institutions to imperial rule. The historian Tacitus , writing about
1855-526: The result of bad feelings he harboured toward the city of Patavium from his experiences there during the civil wars. Livy probably went to Rome in the 30s BC, and it is likely that he spent a large amount of time in the city after this, although it may not have been his primary home. During his time in Rome, he was never a senator nor held a government position. His writings contain elementary mistakes on military matters, indicating that he probably never served in
1908-590: The same events or different events, do not include the same material entirely, and reformat what they do include. A date may be in Ab Urbe Condita or in Olympiads or in some other form, such as age. These variations may have occurred through scribal error or scribal license. Some material has been inserted under the aegis of Eusebius . The topic of manuscript variants is a large and specialized one, on which authors of works on Livy seldom care to linger. As
1961-613: The slaves of those wealthy citizens to expose the whereabouts of their masters; his bribery did not work, and the citizens instead pledged their allegiance to the Senate . It is therefore likely that the Roman civil wars prevented Livy from pursuing a higher education in Rome or going on a tour of Greece , which was common for adolescent males of the nobility at the time. Many years later, Asinius Pollio derisively commented on Livy's "patavinity", saying that Livy's Latin showed certain "provincialisms" frowned on at Rome. Pollio's dig may have been
2014-607: The time of his birth, his home city of Patavium was the second wealthiest on the Italian peninsula, and the largest in the province of Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy). Cisalpine Gaul was merged in Italy proper during his lifetime and its inhabitants were given Roman citizenship by Julius Caesar . In his works, Livy often expressed his deep affection and pride for Patavium, and the city was well known for its conservative values in morality and politics. Livy's teenage years were during
2067-518: The translation of classical and contemporary works. His first published translation, The Romane Historie (1600), was the first complete rendering of Livy 's Latin history of Rome, Ab Urbe Condita , into English. According to John Considine: It was a work of great importance, presented in a grand folio volume of 1458 pages, and dedicated to the Queen . The translation set out to be lucid and unpretentious, and achieved its aim with marked success. It
2120-480: The translation, the work was expanded with a certain amount of new material supplied by Camden. One of the printer-publishers of the volume was John Norton, to whom Holland's son, Henry , had been apprenticed, and it was probably Henry who recruited his father to the project. Philemon in turn found a patron in Elizabeth, Lady Berkeley , whose son, George , he would later tutor: she appears to have offered £20 towards
2173-426: The west front by Richard Charles Hussey in 1843. The inside of the church was restored by George Gilbert Scott in 1854. The doom painting was painted above the tower arch in 1430s. It was discovered in 1831, covered by a lime wash, and was then restored and varnished over by David Gee . In the years following, the varnish darkened and hid the painting from view again. In 1995, conservation and restoration work
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2226-597: Was a summary of world history in ancient Greek , termed the Chronikon , dating from the early 4th century AD. This work was lost except for fragments (mainly excerpts), but not before it had been translated in whole and in part by various authors such as St. Jerome . The entire work survives in two separate manuscripts, Armenian and Greek (Christesen and Martirosova-Torlone 2006). St. Jerome wrote in Latin. Fragments in Syriac exist. Eusebius ' work consists of two books:
2279-438: Was already bedridden. He died at Coventry on 9 February 1637 and was buried at Holy Trinity Church , where he is remembered in an epitaph of his own composition, lamenting the deaths of the six sons who had predeceased him. Holland's wife, Anne, who died in 1627 at the age of 72, is also buried in the church, where there is a Latin epitaph to her composed by her son, Henry. Holland combined his teaching and medical practice with
2332-410: Was appointed rector of Great Dunmow , Essex, on 26 September 1564, where he died in 1578. Philemon Holland was educated at King Edward VI Grammar School, Chelmsford , before going on to Trinity College, Cambridge about 1568, where he was tutored by John Whitgift , later Archbishop of Canterbury . Holland received a BA in 1571, and was elected a minor Fellow at Trinity on 28 September 1573 and
2385-645: Was granted the degree of MD at Cambridge . Holland was admitted to the freedom of the city of Coventry on 30 September 1612, and when King James visited the city on 2 September 1617, he was chosen to make a speech in the King's honour. He wore a suit of black satin for the occasion, and his oration is said to have been "much praised". It was later published as A learned, elegant and religious Speech delivered unto His...Maiestie, at...Coventry . In addition to his school-teaching duties, Holland became by 1613 tutor to George Berkeley (later 8th Baron Berkeley), whose home
2438-616: Was making available in English a great learned compendium of historical knowledge, not simply a single ancient author. In 1601 Holland published in two folios "an equally huge translation" from Latin, Pliny the Elder 's The Historie of the World , dedicated to Sir Robert Cecil , then the Queen's Principal Secretary. This was perhaps the most popular of Holland's translations. Considine says of it: This encyclopaedia of ancient knowledge about
2491-537: Was nearby at Caludon Castle . On 23 January 1628, when he was 77 years of age, the mayor and aldermen of Coventry appointed Holland head schoolmaster; according to Sharpe, the order of appointment contains an original signature of Holland's. It appears the position was given to him at his advanced age out of respect for his talents and service to the city, and in the hope of ameliorating his financial situation. However he retained it for only 14 months, formally requesting to be relieved on 26 November 1628. On 24 October 1632
2544-533: Was not free from corruption". Thus, many scholars, like Karl Otfried Müller, utilized this statement as evidence that the Etruscans or the Tyrrhenians migrated from the north and were descendants of an Alpine tribe known as the Raeti. Livy's History of Rome was in high demand from the time it was published and remained so during the early years of the empire. Pliny the Younger reported that Livy's celebrity
2597-408: Was published posthumously in 1633, and Elizabeth Holland, who married a London merchant, William Angell. Livy Titus Livius ( Latin: [ˈtɪtʊs ˈliːwiʊs] ; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( / ˈ l ɪ v i / LIV -ee ), was a Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled Ab Urbe Condita , ''From the Founding of
2650-503: Was so widespread, a man from Cádiz travelled to Rome and back for the sole purpose of meeting him. Livy's work was a source for the later works of Aurelius Victor , Cassiodorus , Eutropius , Festus , Florus , Granius Licinianus and Orosius . Julius Obsequens used Livy, or a source with access to Livy, to compose his De Prodigiis , an account of supernatural events in Rome from the consulship of Scipio and Laelius to that of Paulus Fabius and Quintus Aelius. Livy wrote during
2703-511: Was tedious to copy, expensive, and required a lot of storage space. It must have been during this period, if not before, that manuscripts began to be lost without replacement. The Renaissance was a time of intense revival; the population discovered that Livy's work was being lost and large amounts of money changed hands in the rush to collect Livian manuscripts. The poet Beccadelli sold a country home for funding to purchase one manuscript copied by Poggio . Petrarch and Pope Nicholas V launched
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#17327721625202756-586: Was the first English translation of Plutarch 's Moralia . Holland followed the Greek of Plutarch's original, and made use as well of a Latin translation and of the French translation of 1572 by Jacques Amyot . Holland is said to have claimed that he wrote out the whole of his translation of the Moralia with a single quill, which was later preserved by Lady Harington: This Booke I wrote with one poore Pen, made of
2809-530: Was well regarded in his lifetime, both for the quantity and quality of his translations. A piece of doggerel , composed after the publication of Suetonius's Historie in 1606 (and playing on Suetonius's cognomen ), ran: Phil: Holland with translations doth so fill us, He will not let Suetonius be Tranquillus Thomas Fuller , writing in the mid-17th century, included Holland among his Worthies of England , terming him "the translator general in his age, so that those books alone of his turning into English will make
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