*Of Ambrosius original: "Ambrosii"; referring to the author’s full name, Ambrosius Theodosius Macrobius.

OF MACROBIUS

AURELIUS THEODOSIUS

The first book of the most elegant exposition on the Dream of Scipio, by a man of Consular and most illustrious rank.

A large ornamental woodcut initial 'I' depicting a figure standing in a forest beside a large stag.
Between the books of Plato and Cicero, both of which were established concerning the Republic, Eustathius—my son, who is equally the sweetness and the glory of my life—we have observed at first glance this difference: that the former [Plato] organized a Republic, while the latter [Cicero] recounted one. The one discussed what a Republic ought to be; the other discussed how one was established by our ancestors. In this respect, however, Cicero’s imitation preserved the similarity of the work most especially: for just as Plato, at the conclusion of his volume, makes it known through a certain man returned to life Why either Plato introduced Er returning to life, or Cicero introduced Scipio aroused by a dream. (which he seemed to have left) what the state of souls is after they have put off their bodies—adding to this a significant description of the spheres and stars—so too is a vision of no dissimilar matters narrated by Cicero's Scipio, as it was presented to him during his rest. But why there was a need for either such a fictional account original: "commento"; referring to Plato's Myth of Er. or such a dream in these particular books, in which the authors were speaking of the state of Republics; and what purpose it served to describe circles, orbits, and spheres among the principles of governing cities, or to treat the measurements of the stars and the rotation of the heavens, seemed to me a matter worthy of inquiry.