Florus, Roman historian, lived in the time of Trajan and Hadrian. He was born in Africa.

He compiled, chiefly from Livy, a brief sketch of the history of Rome from the foundation of the city to the closing of the temple of Janus by Augustus (25 BC). The work, which is called Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum omnium annorum DCC Libri duo, is written in a bombastic and rhetorical style — a panegyric of the greatness of Rome, the life of which is divided into the periods of infancy, youth and manhood. It is often wrong in geographical and chronological details. In spite of its faults, however, the book was much used as a handy epitome of Roman history, in the Middle Ages and survived as a textbook into the nineteenth century. In the manuscripts the writer is variously named as Julius Florus, Lucius Anneus Florus, or simply Annaeus Florus. From certain similarities of style, he has been identified as Publius Annius Florus, poet, rhetorician and friend of Hadrian, author of a dialogue on the question of whether Virgil was an orator or poet, of which the introduction has been preserved.

The most accessible modern text and translation are in the Loeb Classical Library (no. 231, published 1984, ISBN 0-674-99254-7).

Christopher Plantin, Antwerp, in 1567, published two Lucius Florus texts (two title pages) in one volume. The titles were roughly as follows: 1) L.IVLII Flori de Gestis Romanorum, Historiarum; 2) Commentarius I STADII L.IVLII Flori de Gestis Romanorum, Historiarum. The first title has 149 pages, the 2nd has 222 pages plus an index in a 12mo-size book.

Notes[link]

References[link]

Wikisource has original text related to this article: Florus

• Livius.org: Publius Annius Florus
• Luigi Bessone, "Floro : un retore storico e poeta", ANRW II.34.1: 80-117.
• W. den Boer, Some Minor Roman Historians (1972). Leiden: Brill.

External links[link]

Latin and English texts of Florus, Epitome of Roman History, the 1929 Loeb Classical Library translation by E.S. Forster, Bill Thayer's edition at LacusCurtius

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. 

Saint Florus and Laurus
A 15th-century Novgorod icon of Sts. Florus and Laurus
Martyrs
Born	Byzantium
Died	Illyricum
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church; Eastern Orthodox Church; Serbian Orthodox Church
Feast	August 18

Saints Florus and Laurus are venerated as Christian martyrs of the 2nd century.^[1] According to a Greek^[2] tale, they were twin brothers who worked as stonemasons.^[1] They were originally from Constantinople, Byzantium^[3] but settled in Ulpiani, in the district of Illyricum.^[4]

They were educated in the art of masonry by two men named Maximus and Proculus,^[1] who were Christians.^[4]

According to their legend, Likaion, the prefect of Illyricum, employed the brothers in the construction of a pagan temple.^[4] The brothers gave their salaries to the poor.^[4] When the son of a local pagan priest named Mamertin was injured by a chip of stone from the saints' temple, Florus and Laurus cured the boy after the boy converted to Christianity. Mamertin also decided to convert to Christianity as a result of his son's recovery.^[4]

After the temple was built, Florus and Laurus brought together many local Christians there. The group smashed all of the statues of the Greek gods, and a cross was set up in the temple.^[4]

The Christians spent the whole night in prayer in the converted temple. As a result of this action, the local authorities had 300 Christians, including Mamertin and Mamertin's son, burned to death.^[4]

Florus and Laurus were executed in a different manner; Likaion had them thrown down an empty well.^[4] The well was covered over with earth.^[4]

Veneration[link]

The relics are said to have been found incorruptible.^[4] It was on the very same day that a severe horse plague came to an end, which led to the martyrs' association with horses. The relics were translated to Constantinople.^[4] The existence of the relics in Constantinople is testified by an account of a pilgrim from Novgorod named Anthony, who saw them in 1200, while Stephen of Novgorod saw the heads of the two martyrs in 1350 at the Pantokrator Monastery.^[4]

Sts. Florus and Laurus have been considered the patrons of horses in Rus and Russia. They have been shown on icons with horses around them. Peasants didn't plough with horses on their feast day for fear of causing a cattle plague. "On this day the Russians lead their horses round the church of their village" (The Golden Bough). Florovsky Monastery in Kiev and many Orthodox churches have been dedicated to the martyr twins.

Other twin martyrs[link]

• Saints Cosmas and Damian
• Gervasius and Protasius

References[link]