Dionis Cassii - Romanae Historiae - 1559

ROMAN HISTORICAL MASTERPIECE IN THE CELEBRATED edition BY ROUILLÉ
Among the great editorial undertakings of the Renaissance devoted to ancient historians, this edition of Dione Cassio’s Historia Romana occupies a position of absolute prominence. Printed in Lyon in 1559 by the renowned Guillaume Rouillé, it presents Wilhelm Holtzman’s Latin translation, known as Xylander, which for over a century would become the reference text for European scholars. The work collects the twenty-five books then surviving of the monumental history of Rome (books XXXVI–LXI), accompanied by Xylander’s extensive philological annotations and Giovanni Xifilino’s Epitome, thanks to which important portions of the work that are now lost have survived. It is one of the editions that most contributed to the rebirth of studies on Roman history within European humanistic culture.
WHY TO BUY
• One of the most important Renaissance editions of Historia Romana by Dione Cassio.
• 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 editors of the French Renaissance.
• Complete with Giovanni Xifilino’s Epitome, essential for reconstructing the books of Historia Romana that are today lost.

MARKET VALUE
Complete copies of this edition are today sought after on the international antiquarian market. Copies bound in the original period binding typically range from €500 to €1,000, with higher valuations for copies with exceptional freshness, significant provenance, or outstanding condition.

PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION AND CONDITION
Original full parchment binding with manuscript title on the spine. Parchment bears natural signs of age, light stains, old minor restorations, and modest distortions. Pages with normal browning and occasional foxing; present are some small tears or marginal omissions. Pp. 884; (2). As is common in 16th‑century books, there may be imperfections not expressly noted in the description.

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).
Traduzione latina e annotazioni di Wilhelm Holtzman, detto Guglielmo Xylander.

CONTEXT AND SIGNIFICANCE
Dione Cassio holds a central position in the historiography of antiquity. A Greek-speaking Roman senator and political actor of the Empire, he composed a monumental Historia Romana in eighty books narrating over a thousand years of history, from the founding of Rome to the reign of Alexander Severus. No other ancient historian managed to blend with such authority the direct experience of imperial governance with a systematic reconstruction of Rome’s political and institutional evolution.

The loss of much of the work makes the surviving books even more valuable, serving as an essential source for the final decades of the Republic and for the Julio-Claudian period. The fates of Caesar, Pompey, Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero are also known thanks to Dione Cassio’s testimony.

The edition published by Guillaume Rouillé in 1559 represents one of the most important moments in the humanistic rediscovery of Greek historians. Wilhelm Xylander produced an extraordinarily high-quality Latin translation, accompanied by an extensive apparatus of philological annotations addressing textual problems, manuscript variants, and the identification of historical figures. For more than a century this was the version through which Dione Cassio was studied in universities and major European libraries.

Equally significant is the presence of Giovanni Xifilino’s Epitome, an 11th‑century Byzantine monk whose compendium preserves the content of numerous books of Historia Romana that are today completely lost. Without his work a considerable portion of the original work would have been irretrievably dispersed.

The edition also attests to the exceedingly high level reached by Lyonese publishing in the Cinquecento. Guillaume Rouillé was one of the most famous European editors of his time and played a decisive role in the diffusion of great classical authors during the Renaissance.

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR
Dione Cassio (c. 155–235 CE) was born in Nicaea of Bithynia into a senatorial family. He served as consul, governor, and member of the Empire’s political elite. After a long public career, he devoted the last decades of his life to composing the monumental Historia Romana, one of the most extensive historical works of antiquity and still today an indispensable source for understanding the late Republic and the early centuries of the Empire.

Wilhelm Holtzman, Latinized Xylander (1532–1576), was one of the leading German humanists of the Renaissance. A professor at the University of Heidelberg, he translated Plutarch, Strabo, Marcus Aurelius, Dione Cassio, and many 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 testaments to the editorial fortune of Dione Cassio in the Renaissance. Xylander’s translation quickly became the reference text for historians, jurists, and humanists, maintaining this role until the advent of modern classical philology. Many copies were destined for university and convent libraries and were heavily used for centuries; for this reason, copies complete in the original binding are today relatively rare and highly valued 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.