Dionis Cassii - Romanae Historiae - 1559

THE MASTERPIECE OF ROMAN HISTORIOGRAPHY, IN THE CELEBRATED ROUILLÉ EDITION
Among the great publishing enterprises of the Renaissance dedicated to the historians of antiquity, this edition of Dione Cassius’ Historia Romana occupies a position of absolute prominence. Printed in Lyon in 1559 by the famous Guillaume Rouillé, it presents the Latin translation by Wilhelm Holtzman, called Xylander, destined to become for over a century the standard text for European scholars. The work gathers the twenty-five books then surviving of the monumental history of Rome (books XXXVI-LXI), accompanied by the broad philological annotations of Xylander and by Giovanni Xifilino’s Epitome, thanks to which important sections of the work that are today lost have survived. It is one of the editions that most contributed to the revival of the study of Roman history in European humanistic culture.
WHY TO BUY
• One of the most important Renaissance editions of Dione Cassio’s Historia Romana.
• The famous Latin translation by Wilhelm Xylander, which remained for over a century the reference text for European scholars.
• Printed by Guillaume Rouillé, one of the most prestigious publishers of the French Renaissance.
• Complete with Giovanni Xifilino’s Epitome, essential for reconstructing the currently lost books of Historia Romana.

MARKET VALUE
Complete copies of this edition are today sought after on the international antiquarian market. Copies preserved in the bindings contemporary to the edition generally range between €500 and €1,000, with higher valuations for copies of particular freshness, significant provenance, or exceptional state of preservation.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Contemporary full parchment binding with a handwritten title on the spine. Parchment shows physiological signs of age, light stains, small ancient restorations and modest deformations. Pages with normal browning and sporadic foxing; some small tears or marginal missing pieces present. Pp. 884; (2). As is usual with books from the XVIth century, imperfections not explicitly noted in the description may be present.

FULL TITLE AND AUTHOR
Romanae Historiae Libri XXV, nimirum à XXXVI ad LXI.
Lugduni, Apud Gulielmum Rouillium sub Scuto Veneto, 1559.
Dione Cassio (Cassius Dio).
Latin translation and annotations by Wilhelm Holtzman, called Guglielmo Xylander.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Dione Cassius occupies a central position in the historiography of antiquity. A Greek-speaking Roman senator and protagonist of imperial political life, he composed a monumental Historia Romana in eighty books that narrated over a thousand years of history, from the founding of Rome to the reign of Alexander Severus. No other ancient historian managed to combine with such authority the direct experience of imperial government with a systematic reconstruction of Rome’s political and institutional evolution.

The loss of most of the work makes the surviving books even more precious, forming an essential source for the final decades of the Republic and for the Julio-Claudian era. The fortunes of Caesar, Pompey, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius and Nero are known also thanks to the testimony of Dione Cassius.

The Rouillé edition of 1559 marks one of the most important moments in the humanistic rediscovery of Greek historians. Wilhelm Xylander produced an exceptional Latin translation, accompanied by a vast apparatus of philological annotations dedicated to textual problems, manuscript variants, and the identification of historical figures. For more than a century this was the version through which Dione Cassius was studied in universities and major European libraries.

Of extraordinary importance is also the presence of Giovanni Xifilino’s Epitome, an 11th-century Byzantine monk, whose compendium preserves the content of numerous books of Historia Romana today completely lost. Without his work, a considerable part of the original work would have been irretrievably dispersed.

The edition also attests to the very high level reached by Lyonese publishing in the sixteenth century. Guillaume Rouillé was one of the most famous European publishers of his time and contributed decisively to the diffusion of the great classical authors during the Renaissance.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Dione Cassio (ca. 155–235 AD) was born in Nicea of Bithynia to a senatorial family. He was a consul, governor, and member of the political elite of the Roman Empire. After a long public career he devoted the last decades of his life to the composition of the monumental Historia Romana, one of the most extensive historical works of antiquity and still today an indispensable source for knowledge of the late Republic and the early centuries of the Empire.

Wilhelm Holtzman, latinized Xylander (1532-1576), was one of the major German humanists of the Renaissance. A professor at the University of Heidelberg, he translated Plutarch, Strabo, Marcus Aurelius, Dione Cassius and numerous other Greek authors. His translations contributed decisively to the transmission of classical culture in modern Europe.

PRINTING HISTORY AND CIRCULATION
Printed in Lyon in 1559, this edition constitutes one of the most important testimonies to the publishing fortune of Dione Cassio in the Renaissance. Xylander’s translation quickly became the standard text for historians, jurists and humanists, maintaining that role until the birth of modern classical philology. Many copies were destined for university and convent libraries and were intensely used for centuries; for this reason complete copies preserved in their original binding are today relatively rare and highly prized by specialized collectors.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND REFERENCES
Adams, D-548.
USTC, 154830.
Brunet, Manuel du Libraire, II.
Graesse, Trésor de Livres Rares, II.
Hoffmann, Lexicon Bibliographicum.
Schweiger, Handbuch der klassischen Bibliographie.
Dibdin, Introduction to the Knowledge of Rare and Valuable Editions of the Greek and Latin Classics.