Naumachius the Didactic Poet (Ναυμάχιος ὁ διδακτικός)

Life Naumachius is an obscure Greek poet of the Roman Imperial period, conventionally dated to the 1st–2nd century CE. No biographical details concerning his origin or life are recorded [1][2].

Works His sole known work is the didactic epic Halieutica (On Fishing). Only a single seven-line fragment survives, preserved in the Anthologia Palatina (9.368), which describes the habits of the kestreus (mullet) [1][2].

Significance Naumachius represents the minor tradition of Greek technical didactic poetry during the Roman era. His fragment places him within a genre exemplified by Hesiod and later by Oppian. While his work was known to compilers of the Greek Anthology, he exerted no notable literary influence and is cited in modern scholarship primarily as an example of continued didactic production in this period [1][2].

Sources 1. Perseus Digital Library (Tufts University): https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2008.01.0479%3Abook%3D9%3Achapter%3D368 2. ToposText (Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation): https://topostext.org/work/209