Dictys Cretensis De bello Troiano libri VI. Q. Septimio Romano interprete. Daretis Phrygii De excidio Troiae liber, interprete Cornelio Nepote. Declamationes Tres eiusdem ferè argumenti, prima Libanii Sophistae reliquae incerti autoris ab Erasmo Roterodamo, latio donatae.

Dictys Cretensis (Dictys of Crete) was a legendary companion of Idomeneus during the Trojan War, and the purported author of a diary chronicling the events, which utilized some of the same material that Homer processed in the Iliad. The story of the diary —which was an entertaining fiction intended for an informed Alexandrian audience — began to be treated as historical fact in Late Antiquity. In the 4th century AD, a certain Q. Septimius published the work titled Dictys Cretensis Ephemeris belli Trojani in six books, which claimed to be a Latin translation of the Greek original. The primary significance of the work lies in the fact that — as knowledge of the Greek language declined and then disappeared in Western Europe — this work, along with Dares Phrygius's writing, served as the sources through which the Homeric legends were transmitted into medieval chivalric romances and literature. The first printed edition is very early, published no later than 1471. For a long time, it was a subject of debate among modern scholars whether a Greek original actually existed at all. However, all doubts regarding this were dispelled by the discovery of a Greek-language fragment among the Tebtunis papyri. The first critical edition of the text was published by Ferdinand Meister under the title Daretis Phrygii de excidio Troiae historia in Leipzig in 1873.


Dares Phrygius, according to Homer, was a Trojan priest of Hephaestus. It was later believed that he wrote an account of the destruction of Troy. The present Latin-language volume was ostensibly produced as a translation of this writing, which was read extensively in the Middle Ages. At the time, the work was attributed to Cornelius Nepos, who, according to the text, dedicated it to Sallust; its language, however, fits much better with a period significantly later than Nepos's era (probably the 5th century AD). Both works influenced many in the Middle Ages and became the source for later Trojan stories and histories.

At the end of the volume, featuring the publication and translation by Erasmus of Rotterdam, the book contains one declamation by the sophist Libanius (c. 314–393 AD) and two by an unknown author.

At the beginning of the work is an introduction addressed to the volume's editor, the humanist scholar Franciscus Faragonius, who had already edited an abridged version of this work in 1498: Historia Troiana. Tr: Lucius Septimius. Ed: Franciscus Faragonius. Messina, Guilelmus Schonberger, 1498.

On the title page, there is a library inscription from a Catholic monastery with the year 1693 and a name; on the verso, there is an erased stamp with a tiny loss of paper. On the inside of the rear board, the year 1545 is inscribed. There are woodcut initials on a few leaves, along with contemporary ink underlining and short annotations. A woodcut printer's device is present on the final leaf.

Bound in a contemporary full parchment (vellum) binding with raised bands, richly decorated with pressed and blind-tooled patterns, an affixed paper label on the spine, and two well-closing brass clasps on leather straps. There are tiny wormholes at the hinges where the boards meet the spine, both at the front and the rear. A rare work with wide margins, a firm binding, clean leaves, and in beautiful condition.