Nummius Aemilianus Dexter facts for kids

Nummius Aemilianus Dexter was an important person who lived a long time ago, around the late 300s. He was known as a historian and was a good friend of St Jerome, a famous Christian scholar. Dexter's father was St Pacian, who also held important government jobs.

Who Was Nummius Aemilianus Dexter?

Nummius Aemilianus Dexter lived during the time of the Roman Empire, specifically between the years 380 and 395. He is sometimes mistakenly called Flavius Lucius Dexter. His father, St Pacian, was an important government official.

Dexter himself held high-ranking positions in the Roman government. He served as a proconsul (a type of governor) in the Roman province of Asia. This was under the rule of Emperor Theodosius I, who was emperor from 379 to 395. Later, in the year 395, Dexter became the praetorian prefect of Italy. This was a very powerful job, like being a chief minister or head administrator for a large part of the empire.

His Connection to St. Jerome

Dexter was a close friend of St Jerome, who was a very famous writer and scholar of his time. St. Jerome even dedicated one of his important books to Dexter. This book was called De Viris Illustribus, which means "On Illustrious Men." It was a collection of short biographies of important Christian writers.

The Mystery of His Writings

Nummius Aemilianus Dexter was believed to be the author of a historical book called the Omnimoda Historia. However, there's a bit of a mystery and a misunderstanding about this book.

The Fake Chronicle

For a long time, a book called the Omnimoda Historia or the Chronicle of Pseudo-Dexter was thought to be written by Dexter. But it turned out to be a fake! It was actually created by a Spanish writer named Jerónimo Román de la Higuera (1538–1611). In 1594, Higuera published a collection of false historical documents. He claimed they were written by "Flavius Lucius Dexter" and other made-up authors.

People started to realize these chronicles were not real even before the 1600s. A Spanish expert on books, Nicolás Antonio, wrote a book in 1742 called Censura de historias fabulosas (which means "Censorship of Fictional Histories"). In this book, he clearly showed that the "Chronicle of Pseudo-Dexter" was a forgery. Even so, some people continued to believe it was real well into the 1700s and even the 1800s. For example, it was included in a large collection of religious writings called the Patrologia Latina.

His Real Work

Historians today agree that the real Dexter did write a genuine book also called the Omnimoda Historia. St. Jerome mentions this real book in his work On Illustrious Men. However, St. Jerome also said he hadn't actually read it.

The exact nature of Dexter's real Omnimoda Historia is still debated by historians. Some think it might have been a continuation or a translation of another famous historical work, the Chronicle by Eusebius. This is because St. Jerome used similar words when talking about both books.

There is also another work that some people believe Dexter wrote. It is titled In prophetam Danielis de quatuor animalibus, which means "Against the prophet Daniel on the four animals."

See also

In Spanish: Flavio Lucio Dextro para niños