Terentianus, surnamedMaurus (a native ofMauretania), was aLatingrammarian and writer onprosody who flourished probably at the end of the 2nd century AD.[1]
His references toSeptimius Serenus andAlphius Avitus, who belonged to the school of "new poets" (poetae neoterici ornovelli) of the reign ofHadrian and later, seem to show that he was a near contemporary of those writers. He was the author of a treatise (incomplete) in four books (written in a variety of metres), on letters, syllables, feet and metres, of which considerable use was made by later writers on similar subjects. The most important part of it is that which deals with metres, based on the work ofCaesius Bassus, the friend ofPersius.[1]
By some authorities Terentianus has been identified with the prefect ofSyene mentioned inMartial (i. 86), which would make his date about a century earlier; others, again, who placedPetronius at the end of the 3rd century (a date no longer held), assigned Terentianus to the same period, from his frequent references to that author.[1]
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Terentianus".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 26 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 641.