Raphael Fabretti (1618 – 7 January 1700) was an Italianantiquarian.
Born atUrbino in theMarche, he studiedlaw atCagli and Urbino, where he took his doctorate at the age of eighteen. While inRome he attracted the notice of CardinalLorenzo Imperiali, who employed him successively as treasurer and auditor of the papal legation in Spain, where he remained thirteen years. Meanwhile, his favourite classical and antiquarian studies were not neglected; and on his return journey he made important observations of the relics and monuments ofSpain,France, and Italy.
At Rome he was appointed judge of appellation of the Capitol, but left to be auditor of the legation at Urbino. After three years he returned to Rome, on the invitation of CardinalGaspare Carpegna, vicar ofPope Innocent XI, and devoted himself to antiquarian research, examining with minute care the monuments and inscriptions of theCampagna.[1] He always rode a horse which his friends nicknamed "Marco Polo", after the Venetian traveller.Pope Innocent XII made him keeper of the archives of theCastel Sant'Angelo, a charge he retained until his death. His collection of inscriptions and monuments was purchased by CardinalGiovanni Francesco Stoppani, and placed in the ducal palace at Urbino, where they may still be seen.
His workDe Aquis et Aquaeductibus veteris Romae (1680), three dissertations on thetopography of ancientLatium, is inserted inGraevius'sThesaurus, iv (1677).[2] His interpretation of certain passages inLivy and other classical authors involved him in a dispute withGronovius, which bore a strong resemblance to that betweenJohn Milton andClaudius Salmasius, Gronovius addressing Fabretti as Faber Rusticus, and the latter, in reply, speaking of Gronovius and his "titivilitia". In this controversy Fabretti used the pseudonym "Iasitheus", which he afterwards took as his pastoral name in theAcademy of the Arcadians.
His other works,De Columna Trajani Syntagma (1683),[3] andInscriptionum Antiquarum Explicatio (1699), throw much light on Roman antiquity. In the former is to be found his explication of an early Imperial Romanbas-relief, with inscriptions, now in the Capitol at Rome, representing the war and taking ofTroy, one of theTabulae Iliacae.[4] Letters and other shorter works of Fabretti are to be found in publications of the time, such as theJournal des Savants.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Fabretti, Raphael".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 10 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 118.