Julianus the Egyptian

Julianus, or Julian, surnamed the Egyptian (Greek: Ἰουλιανός ὁ Αἰγύπτιος, Ioulianos; Latin: Julianus Aegyptius; fl. 6th century AD) was a Greek Byzantine administrator and epigrammatist.

Life

Described in the lemmata of his epigrams as apo hypaton and apo hyparchon ("ex-prefect"), it is inferred that Julianus served as Prefect of Egypt at some point during the reign of Justinian, and is likely to be the Julianus who was Praetorian Prefect of the East in 530/531, who supported the short-lived usurper Hypatius.

Works

Seventy-one epigrams are ascribed to Julianus in the Greek Anthology. They are primarily of a sensual and descriptive character derivative of earlier poems of the same kind. There are also two epigrams addressed to Hypatius, the nephew of the emperor Anastasius, who was put to death in AD 532 for inciting a failed rebellion against Justinian (7.591 and 7.592). Another epigram concerns Joannes, the nephew or grandson of Hypatius (7.590). One of Julianus' epigrams from the Greek Anthology (16.388) was included in the Anacreontea, attributed to Anacreon.

Translations

Epigram	Title	Translator	Publication
16.388	In Imitation of Anacreon	George Ogle	The Loves of Hero and Leander, 1728
16.388	On Cupid	Joseph Addison	The Works of Anacreon, 1735
6.18	"Lais, when Time had spoil'd her wonted Grace,"	George Ogle	Antiquities Explained, 1737
7.32	"What oft alive I sung, now dead I cry"	Francis Fawkes	The Works of Anacreon, Sappho, Bion, Moschus and Musæus, 1760
16.388	The Love-Draught	Francis Fawkes	The Works of Anacreon, Sappho, Bion, Moschus and Musæus, 1760
16.388	Ode VI	Thomas Moore	Odes of Anacreon, 1800
7.32	"This lesson oft in life I sung,"	Thomas Moore	Odes of Anacreon, 1800
9.447	From the Greek of Julianus	William Cowper	The Life and Posthumous Writings of William Cowper, 1803
7.565	Another	William Cowper	The Life and Posthumous Writings of William Cowper, 1803
16.388	An Anacreontic	John Herman Merivale	The Athenæum, January 1809
7.59	On Democritus	John Herman Merivale	Collections from the Greek Anthology, 1813
6.12	The Offering of Three Brother Sportsmen	John Herman Merivale	Collections from the Greek Anthology, 1813
16.388	"While for my fair a wreath I twined,"	Charles James Blomfield	Museum Criticum, 1814
7.600	"Thine, Laura—thou, of every grace the bloom!"	Francis Wrangham	Psychæ; or, Songs on Butterflies, 1828
16.388	From the Greek of Julianus	John Doran	The Royal Lady's Magazine, June 1831
7.599	"She that was called the Beautiful—(so named)"	William Mcleager Hay	Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, April 1835
16.130	On a Statue of Niobe	William Mcleager Hay	Blackwood's, November 1835
16.388	Cupid Swallowed! A Paraphrase	Leigh Hunt	The New Monthly Magazine and Literary Journal, September 1836
7.590	Epitaph	William Mcleager Hay	Blackwood's, May 1837
5.298	To Mary	William Mcleager Hay	Blackwood's, May 1837
16.113	"'Tis Philoctetes' self! To all how well"	Goldwin Smith	Anthologia Polyglotta, 1849
7.603	"Cruel is Death? Nay kind. He that is ta'en"	Goldwin Smith	Anthologia Polyglotta, 1849
7.599	"More for her gracious spirit than her face"	John Burgon	Anthologia Polyglotta, 1849
16.388	An Ode in the Manner of Anacreon	Samuel Taylor Coleridge	The Poetical Works of Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 1893
7.600	The Bride of Sixteen	F. L. Lucas	A Greek Garland: A Selection from the Palatine Anthology, 1939

Sources

• Cameron, Alan. "Some Prefects Called Julian". Byzantion, vol. 47, 1977, pp. 42–64. JSTOR. Accessed 21 Aug. 2021.
• Paton, W. R., ed. (1916). The Greek Anthology I, II, III, IV, V (Loeb Classical Library). London: Heinemann, 1916.
• Smith, William, ed. (1870). "Julianus. 2.". Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology. Vol. II. London. p. 643.