The epithet is the epitome of an epithet. The epitome is a work that is itself an extract from a more comprehensive work. The epitome is therefore an excerpt which exemplifies an important aspect of the main work and illustrates this, whereby the essentials are brought to the point. In addition, this term can be a scarce textbook that summarizes the essential aspects of a subject, which is also used for historical sketches (short presentation of a thing), as well as the contents or summaries of literary works. The person who composes or composes one of the described writings is hereinafter referred to as an epitomator.
The term goes back to the Greek noun epitomé (ἐπιτομή), which can be translated with excerpt, section or also demolition. According to this, the translation already gives the decisive indication of what an epitome is about: a section or a collection of excerpts from a larger work. The epitomizer thus composes such collected extracts.
Such epitomators are found mainly in late Roman and Hellenistic antiquity, with the main focus of their work being the compilation of excerpts from historical works in order to concentrate the depicted historical connections on the essentials. Epitoms are also found in humanist literature (see Renaissance, Literaturepochen).
Known epitomers are, for example, Eutropius, a Roman historian of the fourth century, and Florus, also a Roman historian, who lived in the 2nd century. One of the principal works of Eutropius is the work of Breviarium ab urbe condita, which, in ten scarce books, describes the Roman history of the founding of Rome in 753 BC, Until the reign of the emperor Valens in 364. This work subsequently served as an important source for numerous authors.
The epithet is the epitome of an epithet. The epitome is a work that is itself an extract from a more extensive work. The epitome is therefore an excerpt which exemplifies and illustrates an important aspect of the main work, whereby the essentials are brought to the point. In addition, this term can be a scarce textbook that summarizes the essential aspects of a subject, which is also used for historical sketches (short presentation of a thing), as well as the contents or summaries of literary works. The person who composes or composes one of the described writings is hereinafter referred to as an epitomator.