, a celebrated grammarian in the fourth century, wrote a grammar,
, a celebrated grammarian in the
fourth century, wrote a grammar, which long continued in
the schools, and notes upon Terence and Virgil. Vossius
mentions him amongst his Latin historians, on account of
the lives of Virgil and Terence, of which some have fancied him to be the author; but he believes that the first
was written by Tiberius Claudius Donatus, as it is certain
the latter was by Suetonius. Our Donatus flourished in
the time of Constantius, and taught rhetoric and polite
literature at Rome with applause, in the year 356, and
afterwards; about which time St. Jerom, who has several
times mentioned him as his master, studied grammar under
him. Jerom also speaks of his commentaries upon Terence
and Virgil; and in his own commentary upon the first
chapter of the book of Ecclesiastes, verse 9th, he quotes
a verse out of Terence, and then an observation of his
master Donatus upon it, which was probably made yi his
lectures, as it does not now appear in the notes of Donatus upon Terence. Donatus has given ample employment to the Bibliographers, who all speak of the “Editio
Tabellaris, sine ulla nota
” of his Grammar, as one of the
first efforts at printing by means of letters cut on wooden
blocks. This work has been printed with several titles,
as “Donatus,
” “Donatus minor,
” “Donatus pro puerulis,
” &c. but the work is the same, viz. Elements of
the Latin language for the use of children. Dr. Clarke
has given an account of twelve editions, all of great rarity,
one of which, by Wynkyn de Worde, is described by Mr.
Dibdin. His “Commentarii in quinque Comujclias Terentii,
” was first printed without a date, probably before
1460, and reprinted in 1471, 1476; and his “Commentarius in Virgilium,
” fol. was printed at Venice in