17 - ΑΓΑΘΙΟΥ ΣΧΟΛΑΣΤΙΚΟΥ [AGATHIAE]: [ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΙΟΥΣΤΙΝΙΑΝΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑΣ και ΕΠΙΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΑ] HISTORICI E POETAE eximij de Imperio et rebus gestis IUSTINIANI IMPERATORIS Libri Quinque. Leiden, ex Officina Plantiniana, 1594

ΑΓΑΘΙΟΥ ΣΧΟΛΑΣΤΙΚΟΥ [AGATHIAE]: [ΠΕΡΙ ΤΗΣ ΙΟΥΣΤΙΝΙΑΝΟΥ ΒΑΣΙΛΕΙΑΣ και ΕΠΙΓΡΑΜΜΑΤΑ] HISTORICI E POETAE eximij de Imperio et rebus gestis IUSTINIANI IMPERATORIS Libri Quinque. Leiden, ex Officina Plantiniana, 1594 EDITIO PRINCEPS. First edition in Greek of the works of Agathias, a prominent Greek writer of the 6th century. In 4to. Complete: title, [15], 200, 158, [9], 32 pp. The first part contains the text in the original Greek, the second part a Latin translation. Bound in early 20th-century full leather, preserving 16th-century decorative covers. Text very clean and bright; only a few scattered light spots in the final pages of the Latin translation. Overall, a brilliant copy. Agathias’ poems and epigrams were highly praised, but his Histories remain an invaluable source for 6th-century events, especially for the years 520–559. He records the earliest description of backgammon-called τάβλι, still the Greek word today-in a story about an unlucky game played by the emperor Zeno. A wide traveler in the eastern Mediterranean, Agathias visited Alexandria and several Greek islands; his vivid account of Kos in 553 includes the devastating effects of an earthquake. He is also the sole authority for the closure of the Platonic Academy in Athens under Justinian, often cited as marking the end of Antiquity. This elegant edition was noted by the Flemish humanist Bonaventure Vulcanius. Reference: USTC 441253