Entry Version:
This is the English version of this article translated by Patrick Hogan. The original Italian version was written by Lara Pagani and first published on 03/11/2014.
Grammarian:
| Name: | Diogenes [2] | Διογένης |
| Place of Origin: | Rhodes |
| Date: | 1st c. BCE-1st c. CE |
Biography:
Diogenes is known only from one mention by Suetonius1940, who states that he was active as a “grammaticus” on Rhodes and used to hold readings on the Sabbath. The anecdote about him places him there when Tiberius1941 resided at Rhodes (between 6 BCE and 2 CE): the future emperor, when he presented himself to hear Diogenes on a different day than the Sabbath, was rebuffed and invited, through a slave messenger, to return on the seventh day; later when Diogenes went to Rome to pay homage to Tiberius who was now emperor, Tiberius asked Diogenes to come back after seven years.
According to Colson (Week, 1926, p. 16), Diogenes designated the Sabbath as the time for his work because, being a day of rest for many, it would have given him the opportunity to attract a larger audience.
Moreover, it has been suggested (J. Hubaux, Tibère et le grammairien de Rhodes, «Latomus» 5 (1946), pp. 99-102; cf. Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, ed. with introd., transl. and comm. by M. Stern, 2, Jerusalem 1980) that Diogenes was not a grammarian in the traditional sense of the term but a rabbi, and that the seven years of waiting set by Tiberius was an allusion to the Sabbath year of the Jews.
Bibliography:
Studies:
A. Stein, Diogenes (n. 24), RE 5, 1 (1903), 736.
F.H. Colson, The week: an essay on the origin and development of the seven-day cycle, Cambridge 1926, p. 16.
J. Hubaux, Tibère et le grammairien de Rhodes, «Latomus» 5 (1946), pp. 99-102.
Greek and Latin Authors on Jews and Judaism, ed. with introd., transl. and comm. by M. Stern, 2, Jerusalem 1980, pp. 111-112.
Source 1: Suet. Tib. 32
| Source: | Suet. Tib. 32 |
| Edition: | Max Ihm, Suetoni Tranquili opera, vol. I (Leipzig, 1908; Perseus | HathiTrust) |
| Source date: | 2nd c. CE |
| Language: | Latin |
Diogenes grammaticus, disputare sabbatis Rhodi solitus, venientem eum [sc. Tiberium], ut se extra ordinem audiret, non admiserat ac per servolum suum in septimum diem distulerat; hunc Romae salutandi sui causa pro foribus adstantem nihil amplius quam ut post septimum annum rediret admonuit.