Avienus was a Latin writer of the 4th century. His full name Postumius Rufius Festus (qui et) Avien(i)us is mentioned on an inscription from Bulla Regia, but "Avienus" has become the usual form of reference.
He was a native of Volsinii in Etruria, a highly educated man from the distinguished family of the Rufii Festi. He was twice appointed consul (if an inscription published by the 17th-century antiquaries Jacob Spon and Raffaello Fabretti really refers to him).
Famously asked what he did in the country, in a poem (erroneously attributed to him) he answered Prandeo, poto, cano, ludo, lavo, caeno, quiesco ("I dine, drink, sing, play, bathe, sup, rest" in Richard Lovelace's translation). There is no hint of Christianity in his written work. In fact, there is a lack of any religious undertones in his work, indicating that he may have been Agnostic.
He made somewhat inexact translations into Latin of Aratus' didactic poem Phaenomena.
Avienus also took a popular Greek poem in hexameters, Periegesis, briefly delimiting the habitable world from the perspective of Alexandria, written by Dionysius Periegetes in a terse and elegant style that was easy to memorize for Roman students, and translated it into an archaising Latin, as descriptio orbis terrae . Only Book I survives, with an unsteady grasp of actual geography and some far-fetched etymologies: see Ophiussa.
