Works
de Die Natalithe compiler of a treatise entitled
de Die Natali, which
treats of the generation of man, of his natal hour, of the influence of the stars and genii
upon his career, and discusses the various methods employed for the division and calculation
of time, together with sundry topics connected with astronomy, mathematics, geography, and
music. It affords much valuable information with regard to the various systems of ancient
chronology, and is constantly referred to by those who have investigated these topics. The
book is dedicated to a certain Q. Cerellius, whom the writer addresses as his patron and
benefactor (100.1), and was composed in the year
A. D. 238, in the
consulship of Ulpius and Pontianus (100.21). Censorinus terms Rome the "communis patria" of
himself and Cerellius (100.16); and this fact, along with those detailed above, comprise the
whole knowledge we possess with regard to the work and its author.
Other Works
A fragment de Metris and lost tracts de
Accentibus and de Geometria are ascribed, but upon no sure
evidence, to this same Censorinus. Carrio, in his edition published at Paris
in 1583, divided the twenty-fourth chapter of the
de Die Natali into two
parts, considering the latter half to be from a different hand, and to belong to an essay
de Naturali Institutione.Editions
The editio princeps of Censorinus is in 4to., without date, place, or printer's name,
and contains also the Tabula of Cebes, Plutarch De Invidia et
Odio, an oration of Basil upon the same subject and his epistle to Gregory of
Nazianzus "de Vita Solitaria," all translated into Latin.
The second edition, printed at Bologna, fol. 1497, is combined with the Tabula of Cebes, a dialogue of Lucian, the
Enchiridion of Epictetus,
Plutarch and Basil
De Invidia et Odio.The first critical edition is that by Vinetus, Pictav. 4to. 1568, followed by those of
Aldus Manutius, Venet. 8vo. 1581, and Carrio, Lutet. 8vo. 1583.
The most complete and valuable is that by Havercamp, Lug. Bat. 8vo. 1743.
The most recent edition is that of Gruber, Noremb. 8vo. 1805.