Fulgentius

• a Roman mythographer and grammarian in the beginning of the sixth century of the Christian era.

A Latin grammarian, a native of Carthage, who wrote towards the end of the fifth century A.D. His works include, among other things, an allegorical interpretation of the ancient mythology in three books (Mythologiae), the form of which reminds one of Martianus Capella (q.v.); an allegorical exposition of the Aeneid (Vergiliana Continentia); an explanation of strange and antiquated words illustrated by forged citations (Expositio Sermonis Antiqui); and a sort of universal history (De Aetatibus Mundi), of which fourteen books are extant. The plan of this last work is the absurd one called λειπογράμματος — that is, in the respective books, one letter of the alphabet in succession remains unemployed, a fact which is duly announced at the beginning and close of each book. Of the first three works, the text is printed in the edition of the Mythographi Latini by Staveren (Leyden, 1742). The De Aetatibus has been edited by Reifferscheid (Breslau, 1883-84). See Zink, Der Mytholog Fulgentius (Würzburg, 1867).