Avienius

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Postumius Rufius Festus Avienius (Avienus) was a 4th‑century Latin writer from Volsinii in Etruria, belonging to the noble Rufii Festi family. He is not the same person as the historian Festus. Avienius freely translated Greek works into Latin: he rendered Aratus’s didactic poem Phaenomena and adapted the Periegesis of Dionysius Periegetes into an archaising Latin called Descriptio orbis terrae (Description of the World). Only Book I survives, and it shows a rough grasp of geography and some imaginative etymologies, such as Ophiussa.

He also wrote Ora Maritima, a long sea-poem that is said to draw on the Massiliote Periplus. Avienius held political posts, serving as governor of Achaia and of Africa. A popular legend claims he answered what he did in the country with a mnemonic line—Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lavo, caeno, quiesco (I dine, drink, sing, play, bathe, sup, rest)—but this is probably a misattribution, likely from Martial.