Greek and Latin authors in the Roman Empire and Late Antiquity (hard)

The Roman Empire lasted a long time! Try to identify the following authors writing in Greek and Latin from the 1st century BC to the 6th century AD. Some are hard. Not all descriptions cover the author's most famous works. Note that you don't have to name the authors in order.
Quiz by Shikari
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Last updated: September 10, 2014
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First submittedAugust 31, 2014
Times taken156
Average score28.0%
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Answer
Author of a short epic poem on the marriage of Peleus and Thetis. [First Century BC]
Latin
Catullus
Wrote the Christian epic 'The Battle of the Soul' (Psychomachia). [Fourth Century AD]
Latin
Prudentius
Philosopher and dramatist who tutored Nero. [First Century AD]
Latin
Seneca (the younger)
Marcus Aurelius's doctor, author of 'Why the Best Doctor is also a Philosopher'. [Second Century AD]
Greek
Galen
Poet, author of a description of Justinian's Hagia Sophia. [Sixth Century AD]
Greek
Paul the Silentiary
Architect and author of 'On Architecture' (De Architectura). [First Century BC]
Latin
Vitruvius
Author of a history admired by Gibbon that includes a detailed account of the emperor Julian, and also of the author's experiences during the siege of Amida by the Persians. [Fourth Century AD]
Latin
Ammianus Marcellinus
Epic poet whose poem on the defeat of the Berbers under Justinian by John Troglita (the Iohannis or De bellis Libycis) is the last Latin epic poem of antiquity. [Sixth Century AD]
Latin
Corippus
Author of 'The Abduction of Proserpina' (de raptu Proserpinae), a pagan court poet at the court of the Christian emperor Honorius. [Fourth-Fifth Century AD]
Latin
Claudian
Emperor and philosopher, pupil of the following stoic phosopher. [Second Century AD]
Greek
Marcus Aurelius
Freed slave and stoic philosopher. [Second Century AD]
Greek
Epictetus
Greek historian and another pupil of this stoic philosopher, who wrote down his master's works in Koine Greek. [Second Century AD]
Greek
Arrian
Statesman, philosopher and major translator of Aristotle into Latin. [Sixth Century AD]
Latin
Boethius
Hint
 
Answer
Christian head of the philosophical school in Alexandria in the mid Sixth Century AD. More of his writings survive than those of any other ancient philosopher.
Greek
John Philoponus
Roman senator whose work on Roman traditions is framed as a dialogue set at the festival of the Saturnalia. [Fifth Century AD]
Latin
Macrobius
Rhetor and teacher of John Chrysosthom whose one thousand five hundred letters cast a clear light on Antioch. [Fourth Century AD]
Greek
Libanius
Author of a history of Alexander written as a study in tyranny. [First Century AD]
Latin
Quintus Curtius Rufus
Novelist whose erotic novel has the heroine undergoing three apparent deaths. [Third (?) Century AD]
Greek
Achilles Tatius
Influential fifth-century theologian, philosopher, autobiographer and former teacher of rhetoric from modern Algeria. [Fifth Century AD]
Latin
Augustine
Literary critic whose works on the Greek orators and historians are supplemented by a great work on Roman origins. [First Century AD]
Greek
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Satirist of the second century AD whose works include proto-science-fiction, dialogues and an essay on 'How to Write History'. [Second Century AD]
Greek
Lucian of Samasata
Author of an epic poem on Jason and the Argonauts in Latin. [First Century AD]
Latin
Valerius Flaccus
Orator and novelist from North Africa whose works include a speech defending himself on a charge of sorcery. [Second Century AD]
Latin
Apuleius
Orator and aristocratic magnate whose hypochondriac autobiography sheds much light on pagan piety of the Second Century AD.
Greek
Aelius Aristides
Pre-Christian epic poet whose lines on a promised child were seen to reveal him as a pagan prophet of the birth of Christ during the Middle Ages. [First Century BC]
Latin
Vergil
+1
Level 41
Sep 6, 2014
An amazing quiz, thank you! And, yes, very hard (: I have a degree in Latin philology, but only got 10 correctly - maybe I should retur my diploma? (:
+1
Level 33
Sep 7, 2014
I'm very glad you liked it! I must admit I was surprised people find certain authors so hard (like the author of the Latin Argonautica who ought to be known by most classicists - there aren't _that_ many Silver Latin epics) so much so that Im not sure the system is recording everybody's answers. But a quarter of people get the author of the Psychomachia, which is good!
+1
Level 33
Sep 13, 2014
Hmm, made a tiny change and all the past scores have disappeared. To summarize, all but two authors had been identified by someone. Two authors were identified by most people. The others were between those. but the average was about seven.